Calan Gizelbach is a sophomore on the University of Dayton men's cross country team and in the infancy of his collegiate career, but he is already bringing the winning culture and fire back to the program.

The Georgia native has led the Flyers already by winning meets, setting school records, and getting nominated for the prestigious RUDYS Award, but he and the team are only starting on getting Dayton men's cross country back atop the Atlantic 10.

It has been and will continue to be a long road back to summit after being dealt a blow by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Late last summer, Gizelbach and the rest of the team were notified that they would not have a Fall 2020 season. The Flyers were coming off a disappointing sixth-place finish at the A-10 Championships and were working tirelessly to get better. That progress was halted.

"That was tough to find out. Over the summer I was in the best shape of my life. I was feeling really good, running 85 miles a week which is more than I had ever done. It was pretty late into the summer when we got the email from Coach Ordway saying our season is not going to happen. It was a pretty tough pill to swallow. With running and the way I go about it, as long as I have a goal to train for, it makes it more bearable and more fun. There is something I'm going after and something I can attack."

Getting that information did not stop Gizelbach from shifting his focus in order to continue to improve as a runner.

"I had been wanting to break 15 minutes in the 5K for some time. I switched up my training and made it more geared towards 5K. It gave me something to make running fun. That was the goal. I was able to achieve that goal. After that it was let's get to campus and see what coach has in store for us. We had a very good block of training and it was a lot of fun."

With a more narrow focus and small goals, the team was able to train throughout the fall, hoping for a return to normalcy. Eventually, the Flyers were back on campus, but it was still not their typical routine.

"In the beginning it was kind of tough because it was just run in groups of no more than four, mainly just households. That was kind of annoying because it feels like official practice, but it isn't really because we are always running with the same few people. Once we got through it, we were able to focus on running and it was a really good feeling to have our first time trial. That was really a defining moment for the year because we realized we were going to be very underclassmen heavy. Sam (Duncan) won it, I came in second as a sophomore, Bryce (Conley) came in as another freshman, then Andy (Schuster) came in as another sophomore. It was a just a group of underclassmen. That was really exciting that we have motivated people and we are finally together again as a team."

Being stuck at home and away from teammates during the pandemic, Gizelbach was eager to get back to the support of his teammates. Not only was the transition difficult competitively, but also mentally taxing.

"I was super excited to get back to my teammates. I had been home so long through quarantine and everything that I was just excited to get back and see them. That speaks for itself. Really we haven't been able to get out and meet new people which is part of the college experience. But because the team is such a strong foundation, it feels like basically still college and getting to see them and practice with them. Once we started to figure things out throughout the pandemic, testing got smoother, practices got smoother and we got into a schedule and it almost felt normal. Obviously they aren't normal and hopefully next semester with getting vaccinated, we'll get back to our normal locker room banter and being able to have fun. It's been a huge background to have that support though. The guys have an open door policy so you could go to any of them and talk about anything. We have definitely had some tough conversations with each other about what we have all been going through. I think that's huge for any team or group of friends."

The program survived the fall without a season, but soon found out they would at least compete in the spring for altered cross country and track seasons.

"Running was exciting. As we started to look good as a team, eventually we found out we were going to have a season in the spring. We didn't know what it was going to look like and it hadn't been done before. We were just hoping for the best and were very confident about things."

Dayton was able to start off the cross country season with a perfect showing and first-place finish at the Wright State Invitational. Gizelbach finished first overall and the Flyers had the top seven runners in the race.

Unfortunately, the following meets at Duquesne and Butler were cancelled due to COVID and that left just the A-10 Championships left for the cross country season. With little experience for a very young team, the team did not perform as well as they would have hoped at the conference meet. The team finished sixth once again after a very tough race.

That left only the track season for the Flyers to improve their running and their mindset. Gizelbach took advantage of that and was able to perform and focus on the future of his career.

"This track season I got the opportunity to set the school record in the steeplechase so that was pretty cool. Now I'm taking some time off as we head into the summer. The team overall is looking pretty good. We have some young, fit guys so looking forward to getting back with them and having a good fall."
Though the past few seasons have not been up to the standards of Gizelbach and UD cross country, the goals and expectations have not changed.

"Pretty much every year at this point, our goal is to win the Atlantic 10 Championship. We came in super young and had four races. We only got to run one of them with three teams and perfect scored that. We were riding high off that and did another time trial and did really well in that. We were super excited when we got to conference and it was just completely different. There was pushing and shoving in the first mile. Things didn't go as we hoped. Our goals haven't changed at all though. We are still super young and now we have had the experience, we know what it looks like. We have confidence that we are going to be able to go out and compete very well so the pieces are coming together."

"I think a lot of guys have been talking with Coach Ordway about competing at the regional. Being top six or seven would be really cool. We are in one of those regions that get five or six out at the nationals so being in that mix in the next two or three years would be really sweet. Hopefully we continue to see our guys develop and stay motivated for that."

Gizelbach understands his leadership role despite being just in his sophomore year and having one complete season under his belt. He hopes his legacy is not just one of titles and trophies, but of being the best teammate possible.

"I would say that I want my legacy to be that I was there to support my teammates. To not give up if you get an injury or stressed out with school for a semester and don't perform your best. Running is what we have done our whole life. I just want to be that person that is just like get back to the fundamentals and don't be afraid to attack your goals. We are all a team, but we are competing for limited spots to run these meets. Don't get discouraged because if you start giving up, it's going to rub off on other people and that's going to drag the team down. I want to show that no matter what happens with me and my career that I never gave up, I always gave my all, and I was there for the team."

No matter if the program is able to get back to the dominant force in the A-10 or Gizelbach is able to continue his trajectory of rewriting the record books, he will continue to be there for his teammates and help return to the culture to what it once was.

"I'm going to give it all for my teammates. I don't like to lose. These past few years where we have put in all the work and are getting better and better and then finishing sixth, it's been really frustrating. There is definitely some fuel for the fire. You haven't seen the best of us yet. You haven't seen the best of me yet. There's room to improve and there's going to be a lot of work done in the summer going into the next few years. It's going to be an exciting time for UD cross country."