After a few setbacks at the start of the season, the Blue Devils are finally getting off on the right foot.
Duke swept the top five spots for both the men and women in Saturday’s Bull City Classic. The Blue Devils hosted their traditional dual meet with N.C. Central hours before the schools’ football teams meet on the field, but for the first time, the race did not start in Wallace Wade Stadium.
With the track and field squad on the sidelines alongside fans, the Duke harriers completed a lap around the Morris Williams Track & Field Stadium before heading off to the familiar Al Buehler Trail and Sally Meyer Fitness Loop. The Blue Devil women finished their four-kilometer race with another 400-meters on the track while the men took two laps in front of the spectators in the stadium to wrap up their six-kilometer course.
“It’s nice for the full track team to be able to see their distance teammates compete,” Duke women’s head coach Christine Engel said. “And it’s nice to be in front of the home fans. We really don’t get that kind of opportunity often.”
On the women’s side, Allison Sturges was the first harrier to emerge from the trail for the final lap around the track. Coming in at 15:41, the senior earned the individual win. As a mile-specialist on the track, Sturges was excited about the opportunity to run in the new stadium.
“Starting and finishing on the track is fun,” Sturges said. “It’s really nice having everyone here cheering for you, and just knowing the course is definitely an advantage. It’s been really fun racing at Duke, especially senior year getting in some races at home.”
Junior Gina Daniels finished second, stopping the clock at 16:40. Senior captains Anima Banks and Madison Granger and freshman Sheridan Wilbur crossed the line together in 18:08 to round out the top five spots and give Duke a perfect score of 15.
The first Eagle runner, Shania Nicely, finished in 19:30.
Sophomore Matt Luppino led the five Blue Devil men across the line for Duke’s sixth straight sweep against N.C. Central, crossing the line in 19:59. Luppino and 10 of his teammates had formed the lead pack at the Hokie Invitational Sept. 4 but were forced off the course due to lightning, making Saturday Duke's first full six-kilometer race of the season.
“The race was longer than I remember,” Luppino said. “Getting pulled off at the 3K [mark] last week, [I] didn’t get the chance to feel what racing feels like again. It’s great to get out and compete again. It seems like today was a good race for all of our guys that were out there and it was a good way to jumpstart us for the rest of the season.”
Sophomore Josiah Hanko was not far behind his classmate, racing for the first time since the fall of his freshman year and finishing in 20:20. The Montville, N.J., native missed the indoor and outdoor track seasons last year due to injury.
“That probably is my biggest takeaway from the meet, that we got Josiah running again,” Duke men’s head coach Norm Ogilvie said. “It’s great to see him healthy again and on the way back…. They took control of the race early and came in strong. It’s always good when you can go one through five.”
Coming in in 20:32, junior Brian Benesch was Duke’s third man across the line. Sophomores Kyle Francis and Sean Kelly clinched the win for the Blue Devils with times of 21:15 and 21:22, respectively.
The women’s squad will toe the line again Friday at the adidas Cross-Country Challenge in Cary, N.C., but the men will have three weeks to devote to training before heading up to Princeton, N.J., for the Princeton Invitational Oct. 3.
“The arrow is pointing up for Duke cross country,” Ogilvie said. “As of right now in early September, our workouts are comparing with some of those teams that have made the NCAAs in the past, so we have high hopes for the season.”
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