When the women's cross country team failed to make the NCAA National meet this past weekend, it was a severe disappointment to a squad that was ranked as high as 20th nationally during the season. But this failure is tempered by the bright outlook for the future of the program, mainly due to the presence of some talented young runners.
Though the team featured youth throughout its ranks, and boasted one of Duke's strongest recruiting classes ever, freshmen Paige Miller and Paris Edwards stood out as the premier runners of a deep freshmen class.
"It is very difficult to have certain expectations for incoming freshmen, [because there are] a lot changes between high school and college, and some runners can take more than a year to make this transition," coach Jan Samuelson-Ogilvie said. "We're lucky that the freshmen we have had on our team have made a very nice transition into college."
With returning All-American junior Sheela Agrawal unable to compete this season due to a foot injury, both Miller and Edwards were quickly forced to the forefront of an inexperienced team.
"I came into this year wanting to contribute to the team, but I didn't know how much I would be able to," Miller said.
Both Edwards and Miller were highly accomplished runners coming out of high school. Edwards was the 2000 Oregon State Cross Country Champion and the 1999 Washington-Oregon Cross Country Border Clash Champion, while Miller was the 2000 Pennsylvania Cross Country State Champion.
"Both Paige and Paris came in with great work ethics. They are strong role models. They show up on time, don't complain and really want to get better," Samuelson-Ogilvie said. "They understand that, to be successful in college, there are things they must sacrifice as student-athletes, like giving up that party the night before a race or important practice."
Once in college, runners typically bump up in distance and face tougher competition. So while expecting freshmen to lead a team is often unrealistic, this year proved to be an unusual one for the newcomers.
"Freshmen enter a world where they compete on a weekly basis against the best runners in the country. And unlike in high school, they don't know the people they compete with," Samuelson-Ogilvie said.
In the first collegiate race of their careers in September, Miller won the Fordham Invitational title while Edwards followed in third place overall. This was only the beginning for the duo, as Edwards went on to lead Duke once and finish second four more times, while Miller led the Blue Devils every time she ran-except for when Edwards beat her out by 0.3 seconds at the Great American Cross Country Festival. Yet another freshman, Meaghan Leon, finished first in one race and third in nearly ever other.
"Paris and Paige come from opposite sides of the country, and each has a very different personality," said Samuelson-Ogilvie. "They have different strengths and weaknesses, but both have a common goal, and that is to everyone's advantage."
In sharing this mutual goal, Edwards and Miller have proven to be positive influences on each other. Miller readily admits that having her fellow freshman with her in practices and during meets has bettered her running immensely. And because each has three years of eligibility remaining, Miller believes that the team will continue to improve.
"We know that they have much more potential there, and they also have high standards for themselves, which is a good thing," Samuelson-Ogilvie said. "We were very lucky to have Paige and Paris choose Duke. They had aspirations that included great academics, as well as athletics, and Duke has that. We are a young team on the rise, and I think they wanted to be part of that."
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