Scope of the Atlantic 10
In the A-10 Preseason Poll, the men's team was picked to finish seventh out of 15 teams in the conference. The team voted to finish at the top of the A-10 is last year's champions, the Loyola Chicago Ramblers. Loyola received 12 first-place votes while La Salle took three and was voted to finish in second place. Tied for third place in the voting was George Mason and George Washington.
On the women's side, the league's head coaches voted that the Flyers would finish in sixth place out of 15 teams in the preseason poll. The Loyola Chicago Ramblers, the women's 2022 A-10 Champions, were yet again voted to finish in first place. They received 13 votes and were followed by Richmond in second place and George Mason/La Salle tied for third.
Last Time Hosting A-10 Championships
The Flyers hosted the Atlantic 10 Championships for the first time in program history in 2021. The women finished in second place with
Emily Sreenan finishing first in the 5K for the Flyers with a time of 17:58.3. Rounding out the top-20 overall were
Zoe Chappelle (16th),
Abby Carter (18th), and
Hannah Moulton (20th). These Flyers will all be back to compete on Saturday on the same course, just one kilometer longer.
The men's team finished in fourth place out of 14 teams in the conference.
Sam Duncan was the first finisher for the Flyers with his eighth place finish and 8K time of 25:05.3.
Calan Gizelbach finished behind him in 11th place (25:12.6) and
Bryce Conley took 29th place (25:43.0). Duncan, Gizelbach, and Conley will be back to compete on Saturday in potentially similar rainy/wet conditions as they had in 2021.
Coach's Quote
We interviewed Head Coach
David Dobson regarding his thoughts about the opportunity his Flyers have on Saturday.
What are you looking forward to about hosting the A-10 Championships?
Dobson: "Well, I think it's a great opportunity to showcase a fantastic course that's local for us. Cedarville University has a remarkable course that I think all of the coaches and conference are excited about being at. And certainly, we're excited about having something that's close by – that we've been able to [practice] on a time or two so far this fall – to prepare us hopefully for a terrific meet!"
How do you think hosting the A-10 Championships could help our teams succeed on Saturday?
Dobson: "There's definitely a sense of familiarity. I also think that travel – the fact that we don't need to book hotels and things – is great, but we are trying to make our preparation as normal as possible. The fact that we don't need to be on a bus or plane does have its advantages, so we're gonna look to capitalize on that for sure."
Check out the links above for more information on the A-10 Championships!
