Shaun Thompson is national championship bound.
Thompson earned an automatic qualification for the NCAA championships in Louisville, Ky., with a second-place finish at the Southeast Regional championships Friday in Charlottesville, Va. The Blue Devil men finished eighth overall, and the women’s squad claimed 10th.
The graduate student will wrap up his final season on a national stage for the first time in his career.
“Shaun looked as good as I have ever seen him today,” men’s head coach Norm Ogilvie said. “Even if you haven’t been coaching for a while, you can tell when somebody is on. And he was on today.”
Thompson was out with the lead pack from the start. Ten runners passed the two-kilometer mark less than a second apart at 5:57 with the Baldwinsville, N.Y., native right in the middle. With two kilometers to go, the lead group had thinned to three: Thomas Curtin of Virginia Tech, Edwin Kibichiy of Louisville and Thompson. Closing out the final stretch holding a blistering mile pace of 4:41, the Hokie and the Blue Devil opened up even more space between themselves and the rest of the field.
Battling for the lead in the final 200 meters, Curtin pulled ahead for the win with a time of 29:07.9. But Thompson, who finished in a new personal best of 29:11.7, is guaranteed one more race against Virginia Tech’s top performer as they both automatically qualified for the NCAA championships with a top-four finish.
“Shaun was controlling that lead pack for most of the race. Curtin only got him at the end with his kick on that final straightaway,” Ogivlie said. “On this course—it’s a really hilly and challenging course—that was an incredibly good performance. And at the end he looked good. It didn’t look like it took too much out of him.”
Senior captain Blake Udland made strides toward his goal of All-Southeast Regional honors, moving up nine spots from 49th to 40th between the two- and eight-kilometer marks, but dropped back to 46th by the finish. Udland clocked a time of 30:53.1, shaving more than 30 seconds off of his previous personal best of 31:29.4 from the regional race last year.
Sophomore Stephen Shine also recorded a 10-kilometer career best with a time of 30:53.7. Shine was the third Duke harrier across the line, finishing just behind Udland in 47th place.
Stephen Garrett took out the first kilometers of the race aggressively, keeping pace with Thompson and the lead pack through more than the first 2,000 meters but fell back in the latter two-thirds of the race. The freshman concluded his postseason with a 55th-place finish and final time of 31:02.7.
Rounding out the Blue Devils’ scoring five, sophomore Jordan Burton finished his first career 10-kilometer race in 31:12.1 to earn 62nd.
“Overall this was a really great turnaround for this team from a year ago,” Ogilvie said. “Many of these guys are returning for next year, and we have some good recruits coming in, so the arrow for Duke cross country is pointing up.”
Last year Duke did not send enough representatives to the regional championships to be eligible for team scoring. This year, the squad tallied 210 points to finish eighth overall. Louisville won the meet with a team total of 77, outscoring second-place Virginia by 19 points.
On the women’s side, senior Olivia Anderson led the Blue Devils across the line for the first time in her career. Passing the two-kilometer mark in 72nd, Anderson steadily worked her way through the pack and moved up to 49th with a kilometer to go. The senior’s final kick carried her through the final 1,000 meter and up seven more spots—good for a final time of 22:07.6 and a 43rd-place finish.
The Greenwood Village, Colo., native’s performance Friday put an exclamation point on the end of her best season since 2012 when she earned the team’s honor of Cross Country Freshman of the Year.
Captains Anima Banks and Madison Granger were not far behind. Banks held a mile pace under six minutes, averaging 5:59, and crossed the line 50th in a time of 22:19.3. Granger—who competed in the ACC championships despite pain in her Achilles tendon—pushed through her discomfort again Friday, finishing 58th and third for the Blue Devils in 22:26.0.
“Olivia [Anderson] ran well,” Duke women's head coach Christine Engel told GoDuke.com. “There’s definitely been some obstacles and adversity the week leading up to ACCs and these past couple weeks with injuries and illness. It’s not where I think we’re capable of finishing as a program.”
Freshmen rounded out Duke’s six runners. Sheridan Wilbur finished 60th in 22:27.3 after moving up nine spots from her position two kilometers into the race. Gabrielle Richichi and Kim Hallowes wrapped up their first season in a Blue Devil uniform with times of 22:58.0 and 25:05.9, respectively.
Duke finished 10th in the team standings with a combined score of 294 points. The ACC swept the top three spots with Virginia claiming the team title with 53 points. N.C. State scored 74 points for second and North Carolina 100 for third.
The rest of the Blue Devils will begin preparing for the indoor track season starting in January, but Thompson’s season will continue through next Saturday.
“Our tickets are booked for Louisville,” Ogilvie said. “We are all set and excited for next week. The goal is for him to finish first-team All-American, and we believe he can do it.”
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