DAYTON – The University of Dayton women's track and field team will open the outdoor campaign on Friday, as they will travel to nearby Oxford, Ohio for the 2022 Blizzard Buster at Miami University. The Flyers have historically found success at this meet, as in 2021 five athletes were crowned champions of individual events, including current juniors Carolyn Bakx and Katherine Santangelo tying for first in the pole vault.
 
The Flyers will look to build off the momentum they established during the indoor season, which culminated in a third place finish at the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships on February 27 in Fairfax, Va. The indoor track season was highlighted throughout by a pair of Flyer newcomers Chante' Clinkscale and Kaira Granger, who combined to re-write the UD indoor record book in the 60m and the 200m dashes. Clinkscale was named Most Outstanding Rookie Performer for the Atlantic 10 Championships after winning both the 60m and 200m dashes, and setting a new meet and UD record in the 60m with a 7.33, which ranks third in the NCAA Great Lakes Region for the 2021-22 indoor season. Her 23.90 in the 200m also ranks sixth in the region, while Granger's 7.56 in the 60m dash ranks her 24^th in the Great Lakes region. Graduate student Lainey Studebaker also had a quality indoor season on the track, and will look to carry that momentum into the outdoor season. Her two event performances at the Atlantic 10 Championships earned her the honor of Most Outstanding Track Performer after finishing second in the 5000m and winning the 1 mile race. Her 16:26.98 in the 5000m on day one of the meet ranks 12^th in the region for the event. She would also go on to win the 1 mile race on day two, setting UD's third-best all-time mark with a 4:48.90.
 
On the field side, the throwers and field events also posted solid progress during the indoor season. Taylor Robertson posted the best mark of the season for UD in the pole vault, posting a 3.80m mark, placing third in the finals of the A-10 Championships. Freshman Kelly McCloughan posted a fifth best all-time mark for the Flyers in the triple jump, finishing 10^th in the event with a 11.27m. A trio of upperclassmen pace the Flyers in the weight throw and shot put, with all three peaking at the end of the season. Grace Homan set the mark to beat in the shot put with a 13.68m at the Flag City Open at the University of Findlay, while Taylor Flight won the A-10 title in the weight throw with a season-best 19.07m that ranks 10^th in the Great Lakes region. Junior Hannah Lindenman finished seventh overall in the event with a 17.21m mark. The Flyers will also look to their talented class of disc and javelin throwers to shine in their first outdoor season with UD.

"We are excited to open this outdoor season at Miami on Friday," commented assistant track & field coach Kevin Gilhuly. "After a successful indoor season with a lot of new personal bests, A-10 Records set, and champions crowned, we are looking to build off the success we had all winter. Taylor Flight was able to take home the weight throw title at the A-10 Championship this Indoor season, so we are looking forward to see her open up in the hammer throw this outdoor season. Hannah Lindenman is also itching to get back to competing in hammer throw this outdoor season after increasing her personal best in the weight throw by over 2 meters in one season. Grace Homan and Taylor Flight will look to put on a show in discus this outdoor season, as Flight was the top ranked discus thrower in the conference last year, and after a disappointing performance at the indoor conference tournament, she is absolutely looking for redemption."

 
Friday's Blizzard Buster at Miami is set to begin with field events at 9:00 a.m., with a full slate of track events set to kick off at 10:55 a.m. Live results are available here, and updates will be posted throughout the day on the team's official Twitter account, @UDWomensTF_XC.