April 15, 2009

The Dayton Flyers look to build on another strong outing and improve upon last season's fourth place finish on Saturday as UD heads to the 2009 Atlantic 10 Women's Rowing Championship.

Last season the Flyers finished in fourth recording a total of 81 points. At last year's event, Kate Athmer earned a first-team, All-Atlantic 10 selection, while Allison Gates and Anna Heink received All-Atlantic 10 Second Team honors.

For Dayton to continue its success at the A-10's, the Varsity 8 will have to come up and deliver a clutch performance. At last year's championship the Varsity 8 placed in fourth of the Grand Final with a time of 7:19.1.

Other boats that will race in the A-10 Championship for UD include the Second Varsity 8, Lightweight 4, Varsity 4 and the Novice 8. The Flyers will also race a Second Novice 8 and a 4X.

In their last event two weeks ago, three Flyer boats came in second place as UD continued its spring season at a four-team meet hosted by West Virginia. The Flyers' Varsity 8 continues to make strides during the spring season as UD came in second with a time of 6:27.7 in the four-team meet.

UD has prepared for this championship by competing in five events during the spring season. In those five events, the Flyers have already competed against Saint Joseph's, Fordham, Temple and Duquesne.

This will be Dayton's 14th appearance in the championship. The event will be held at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, N.J., on Saturday, April 18. Cooper River Park is home to many prestigious rowing events. Ideal rowing conditions exist on the Cooper River which boasts a world-class, Olympic-distance, 2000 meter narrow and sheltered straightaway.

The A-10 Championship will be a tough challenge for the Flyers. Massachusetts has won 12 of the previous 13 team titles and Rhode Island, who won the event last season, returns a strong squad again this year.

The championship begins at 8 a.m. ET with trials. Finals will begin at approximately 11:50 a.m. ET.

Competing in this year's Atlantic 10 Championship are Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph's, and Temple. The highest the Flyers have ever finished in the conference championship was in second at the 2005 event.

For complete results of the Atlantic 10 Women's Rowing Championship, log on to atlantic10.org.