Junior Madeline Morgan, the only Duke runner at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., crossed the finish line Monday in 89th place to put Duke’s name on the results sheet for the last time this year.
Villanova’s Sheila Reid successfully defended her individual title, beating out Oregon’s Jordon Hasay by just 0.6 seconds. Georgetown took home the team title.
After her sixth-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional earned her an automatic bid into the national meet, Morgan had expressed excitement about the upcoming race in Terre Haute. The junior went into the meet hoping for an All-American finish but, after battling the cold and rain, fell short of her goal.
“It didn’t really end up quite the way I wanted it to,” Morgan said. “But it was definitely a good effort.”
Morgan took off at an ambitious pace and found herself in about 60th place at the halfway point. She was unable to maintain that spot, though, fading during the race’s final kilometer. She was passed by numerous runners until she crossed the finish line with a time of 20:55.7.
“She went out faster and more aggressively than she has all season and she kind of fell off of the pace,” head coach Kevin Jermyn said. “She was a little disappointed she didn’t close out the race, but it was a very good effort considering that…[doing it] on her own was not something we had planned on.”
Still, despite the fact that Morgan did not achieve everything she had hoped for, it was not a disappointing close to her season. Her presence at the meet was an accomplishment in itself, and her steady improvement throughout the year was the result of hard work and determination.
“[Morgan] finished a lot better than she did last year,” Jermyn said. “She loves to run and she loves to race, so she was able to make the best of an imperfect situation. To see her better than ever when other things were imperfect around her… is a good test of her character.”
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