The women's track and field team has come a long way.

Things came full circle for the team as they grabbed a share of the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships, tying Charlotte in team points at 145.

It was Dayton's first ever conference championship, and it came after a very successful indoor season leading up to the meet.

The team had put on strong performances in each of its meets during the indoor season this year, claiming 19 individual winners and two second place finishes as a team in their last three meets: the BGSU Challenge, the Jane Hermann Invitational and the Akron Invitational.

All things led to the A-10 meet, though, where the Flyers had come up short in recent years to a dominant Charlotte team.

Track and field is very different from many other Dayton sports because the teams do not see conference opponents until the A-10 Championship meet.

"It makes for an exciting atmosphere," head coach Adam Steinwachs said. "Our sport is all about the indoor and outdoor conference meet. The other meets in between are important for development, but it really comes down to this meet, which brings out the best in our girls."

Bring out the best it did, as the women produced four individual champions and five second place finishes, en route to a 63-point Friday and an 82-point Saturday resulting in the shared title.

Mallory Barnes, perhaps Dayton's most consistent performer this season, continued to show off in the weight throw, where she launched a toss of 65 feet, 11.5 inches to set a meet record. She broke her own record from last year, and set a school record for UD as well.

Other individual winners were Maura Bulgrin in the 5000-meter race, Katie Nageotte in pole vault and Johnna Zaccari in shot put.

The ladies fared well in the sprinting events as well, placing in the 55-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter dashes.

Charlotte, which had beaten the Flyers in last year's A-10 Championships, turned in an impressive 131 point performance Saturday to come back for the tie. Still, the tie shows that Dayton has improved significantly to contend for the conference title.

Coming into the meet, Steinwachs said the goal was to "close the gap" between them and Charlotte.

"We feel pretty good about how we compare with the rest of the conference," he said. "We feel we can improve on this from last year."

Now Dayton looks to Indoor Nationals, which Barnes has already provisionally qualified for. Other Flyers such as middle distance runner Ashley Cattran will look to do so as well at the Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame, the last chance to qualify.

After that, the outdoor season will begin, and preparation for another A-10 title will commence. Neither season is more important, but the team tries to key on the outdoor conference championship.

"Some [of the girls] like indoor better, some like outdoor better," Steinwachs said. "The goal is not to have a peak performance until May. Balance is important, because it is a long year and the health of the team is critical."

The team is looking to have just as much success in outdoors as it has enjoyed so far indoors. The Flyers will be looking to contend for a second A-10 title, and qualify as many ladies as possible for nationals.

"We have a few who are capable of making it to that level so it's a matter of training, timing, health and execution."