CEDARVILLE, Ohio – The University of Dayton men's cross country team took ninth place at the Atlantic 10 Championships in Cedarville on Saturday. In a race which started with a 40-minute rain delay, the Flyers were able to persevere with three athletes earning PRs and one rising in the all-time 8K list.
Bryce Conley was the first finisher for the Flyers with his 32nd-place finish of 24:53.2.
Owen Pukys had a standout performance as he earned a PR with his time of 25:02.7. Pukys' time puts him at 19th all time on the UD 8K record books. Other Flyers that earned PRs were
Noah Clemens (26:07.1) and
Colin Sams (26:11.0).
"The men's race was disappointing because we do not believe it reflects where we believe we are as a program," expressed Head Coach
David Dobson. "Nearly every team and coach is going to feel that they left some points on the table, and we are no different this meet. However, the teams in front of us raced admirably and deserved their finishes. We are certainly not satisfied and we expect to learn and grow from today."
"We enjoyed two very strong races notably from two seniors,
Sam Duncan and
Adam Jones, who I was pleased to see how well they bounced back from their last race to today," said Dobson. Duncan finished third for the Flyers with his season-best time of 25:11.8, which is 54 seconds faster than his last race. Jones also finished 24 seconds ahead of his previous meet time with his 25:19.5 finish at the championships.
The Flyers will return to action in two weeks for the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals on November 10 in Madison, Wisconsin.
