The men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Yale this weekend for a unique dual meet experience which few, if any, other teams get a chance to experience.
The men's team defeated the Bulldogs by a score of 23-34. Yale senior Pat McMurray won the five-mile race in a time of 26:48.8, but Blue Devil freshman Charlie Kelly was not far behind in 26:53.6. Senior Matt Haywood was also up front, finishing in 27:00.4.
Duke also secured the fifth, sixth, and seventh positions with senior Darin Mellinger (27:17.9), sophomore Tom Becker (27:23.8) and freshman Tim Schaefer (27:52.8) rounding out the top five for the Blue Devils. Senior Brett Marcus battled Yale runner Chris Karis to the finish line, finishing only 0.4 seconds behind him to finish ninth in 27:58.4.
Although the score was close, it is deceiving-the Blue Devils had four runners in the front pack that led the race at two miles, as compared to only two Bulldogs in the group. A key for Duke was that its runners worked together throughout the race. Kelly and Haywood stayed close throughout the race as did Mellinger and Becker. Schaefer fell late in the race, but was able to get up and continue running without losing his position.
"It was a strong team effort," assistant coach Norm Ogilvie said. "The key was that we broke Yale early and had five out of the top seven in the race. We were also able to split up their top two runners."
The competition on the course, however, did not carry through, either before or after the race. The runners stayed with members of the Yale team both Friday and Saturday nights, but there was no animosity between the runners.
"I was worried about staying with someone the night before our race, but once we got there, they were very accommodating," Haywood said. "It wasn't awkward at all. Our competitive edge is in our running-when you step up to the line, you're racing them, but before and after that, there's no competition."
Several other activities were planned for the men and women from both schools, which included dinner the night before the race, a tailgate party after the race, a reception Saturday evening for all the runners and coaches and a party that night which the Yale teams threw for the runners. It was during the reception that the traditional Duke-Yale Cup was presented back to Duke after staying with the Bulldogs for the last two years.
The women, conversely had to watch the cup go back to Yale. After having won the race for the last two years, the Blue Devils suffered a close loss to the Bulldogs, 25-31. Freshman Kourtney Gallo was the first finisher in the five-kilometer race for Duke, coming through in third place in 19:45. Teammates Erin Fle-ming and Becky Price were right on Gallo's heels, finishing in 19:48 and 19:51, respectively. Sophomore Kim Folk and freshman Camile Wilson finished close together as well, with Folk coming through in eighth place in 20:02 and Wilson crossing the line in 20:04.
One of the team's goals this weekend was to have only a 10-second gap between the top four runners, and head coach Mike Forbes feels that this would have been possible had Folk not been sick the week prior to the race.
"The race was very competitive," Forbes said. "With a quarter-mile to go, the meet was tied. We went to learn how to race people, and we did a good job of that-the meet could have gone either way."
The freshmen on the team have also been performing particularly well, according to the coaches.
"The freshmen have meshed well as a team and are running very competitively right now," Forbes said.
Although the race was the highlight of the weekend, the other activities planned and the student hosting made the trip different from the other meets the teams attend. Most athletes never get the chance to expose themselves to another school the way the Blue Devils did this weekend.
"We only have one dual meet a year, and it is great to meet runners that are in a similar situation as we are," Haywood said.
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