Sophia Parvizi-Wayne set for Duke cross country debut at Roy Griak Invitational

<p>Fourth-year junior Alec Kunzweiler sat out in practice after injuring his hip in Duke's last event but is expected to be at full strength this weekend.&nbsp;</p>

Fourth-year junior Alec Kunzweiler sat out in practice after injuring his hip in Duke's last event but is expected to be at full strength this weekend. 

After competing in a small meet earlier this month, the Blue Devils will see how far they've come against a loaded field featuring several top-25 teams.

Duke will toe the line at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis Saturday morning looking to improve on its times from the Sycamore Invitational Sept. 10. The Blue Devil women took second out of three teams and the men were third out of four, giving both squads an opportunity to see how they fare against a field more than five times larger in Minnesota this weekend. 

The Roy Griak field will host 30 men's and women's teams, dictating a different race strategy as the course narrows toward the end. The men will run 8,000 meters Saturday, with the women running 6,000 meters for the first time this season against a field similar in size to that of the NCAA championship.

"The balance is you've got to get out well enough so you're not buried in the field," men's head coach Norm Ogilvie said. "You can't get trapped in the back of the pack. On the other hand, if you go out too fast, you can pay a big price in the last couple of miles." 

Freshman Lindsay Billings will lead the Blue Devil women to Minnesota after pacing the team at Duke's season-opening alumni meet and the Sycamore Invitational. The Johns Creek, Ga., native finished 30 seconds ahead of any of her teammates with a 18:09.4 in the 5,000 meters, though she will have more internal competition this weekend in the 6,000 meters.

Blue Devil head coach Rhonda Riley said decorated freshman Sophia Parvizi-Wayne will run for the first time this season after sitting out following an extended track season in London. Parvizi-Wayne finished first at the 2013 London Youth Games, and Riley said she expects her to boost a team dominated by other underclassmen.

"She's fit and ready to go, so it will be fun to see what she can do for her first race of the season," Riley said.

Sophomores Olivia Gwynn, Sheridan Wilbur and Gabrielle Richichi and freshman Brittany Aveni rounded out Duke's top-five finishers in Indiana. Riley noted that Richichi seems poised for a big weekend after looking strong in the team's longer-distance workouts leading up to the meet. 

"She is training extremely well and has a lot of confidence," Riley said. "She's been having a lot of fun with the workouts and just been feeling strong right now. I look for her to be up there with Sofia and Lindsay."

Although the Blue Devil women impressed in the first meet of the season, the men struggled, finishing far ahead Indiana State, but unable to stay with then-No. 3 Northern Arizona and then-No. 18 Michigan. Ogilvie said he was looking forward to the larger field because each of Duke's runners will likely have realistic competition for the entire race, something the team lacked at the Sycamore meet.

"We'll get to see how we react to that. Do we rise to the occasion or do we back down? I'm willing to bet we're going to rise to the occasion," Ogilvie said. "I've been very happy with the way practices have gone and the spirit. The guys are working really hard. We'll find out a lot more come Saturday."

Fourth-year junior Stephen Shine paced the Blue Devils in their first two meets, finishing 12th in Indiana with a time of 25:52.8. Sophomore Stephen Garrett and freshman Tom Sullivan were 13th and 14th at the meet, finishing about 30 seconds behind Shine. 

One of Duke's best runners, fourth-year junior captain Alec Kunzweiler, was fourth on the team at the event after injuring his hip when he stepped in a puddle. Ogilvie said Kunzweiler took some time off to get healthy but has been going through full workouts this week and is expected to be at full strength this weekend.

Ogilvie noted that he has been trying to push the team in training while protecting his runners from injury, a balance made more difficult by the fact that he is trying to rely on five main runners to score well throughout the season. Sophomore Nikhil Pulimood was the team's fifth finisher in Indiana with a time of 26:48 in the 8,000 meters.

One factor that could work in the Blue Devils' favor is Saturday's forecast. After running in rainy, muddy conditions in its first two meets of the season, Duke is expected to run under sunny skies Saturday, which Ogilvie said could give the Blue Devils an edge against northern schools who train in cooler conditions. 

Regardless of the conditions, the Duke men and women will try to build momentum before its next meet Oct. 7, the Royals Challenge in Charlotte

"The mentality is to really assess ourselves and see where we are on a regional scale and then also nationally," Riley said.

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