Fall Break was an eventful weekend for Duke runners. The No. 27 men and No. 29 women swept all three meets they competed in, defeating a total of 31 different teams between three meets: one in Madison, Wisc. and two in North Carolina.
While the men’s second team emerged victorious from the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary Friday and the women’s second team swept the Hagan Stone Cross Country Classic Saturday, the Blue Devils’ premiere event of the weekend was the inaugural Wisconsin Invitational Saturday.
Duke’s top nine women made the trip to Madison to compete against six other ranked teams, and pulled off six upsets to take first in the meet out of 12 squads.
Sophomore Carly Seymour was first across the line for the Blue Devils, finishing the 5K race in 17:09 to take third overall. Sophomore Suejin Ahn, freshmen Madeline Morgan and Sophia Ziemian and sophomore Mary Carleton Johnson rounded out Duke’s top five, all finishing in the top 25 in a meet of 123 runners. Duke’s top five runners averaged 17 minutes and 33 seconds, faster than any other team in the competition.
As a team, the Blue Devils’ lowest five places combined for 78 points, edging out No. 21 Syracuse with 90 points and No. 10 Illinois with 95.
Last week marked the first time since 2004 that Duke has been ranked in the top 30 in both men’s and women’s rankings simultaneously. After this weekend’s performances, Duke’s positions are well-protected, and the women’s defeat of six higher-ranked teams should lift them even further up the national standings.
The Blue Devils return to competition Oct. 16, when both the women and men’s teams compete in the Virginia Invitational in Charlottesville.
—by Alex Keller
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