Despite miserable weather conditions, the women's cross country team was able to run well enough to show improvement over last year at the NCAA District III meet on Saturday.
In order to place 17th in the meet, the Blue Devils had to contend not only with the other 42 teams in the race, but also with the heavy rain, thick mud and two-inch deep puddles which made the five-kilometer course in Greenville, S.C., more treacherous than usual. But led by sophomore Erin Fleming, Duke managed to score 472 points and move up two spots from its performance in the same meet last season.
"I'm pleased with how we did as a team, because I think that we all did the best that we could given the circumstances," Fleming said.
Fleming placed 58th in the race in 19:46 to lead the Blue Devils. This race, which was held on a course which is familiar to the South Carolina native, marked the first time that Fleming has been Duke's top runner in a cross country meet. Part of the reason for her success on Saturday may have been that she was not as affected by the wet weather as some of her teammates.
"Erin had a great race," assistant coach Mike Forbes said. "What really helped her was the conditions of the course. Erin is more of a strong runner than a speed runner, so the conditions didn't get to her as much."
Fleming also believes that her mental approach to the race helped her run well.
"I went in with the attitude that it would be fun," Fleming said. "It was like being a little kid running through the puddles."
Freshman Kim Folk (20:05) and junior Raquel Salume (20:07) were Duke's next two finishers, placing 82nd and 85th, respectively. The large field of runners--350 harriers started the race, and 297 runners made it to the finish line--made things more difficult for Folk.
"Kim wasn't used to having 300 other runners out there," Forbes said. "It affected her a little bit. She and Raquel were within five runners of one another, but they couldn't work together like they normally do."
Sophomore Kristin Faraguna (20:33) and freshman Kim Reynolds (20:42) completed Duke's scoring by placing 119th and 128th, respectively. Sophomore Megan Pash was Duke's sixth runner, earning her 191st-place showing by running the course in 21:44, and freshman Rachel Cyrus finished 206th in 22:03.
One of the Blue Devils' goals this season has been to improve on their times. But since much of the course was completely submerged in water, Saturday's race made for extremely slow times. For instance, the winner of the race ran 17:56, which was a full minute slower than last year's winning time.
The Blue Devils fared relatively well against some of the other teams which they faced earlier this season. Furman, which tied Duke in another meet, finished 16th, just one point ahead of the Blue Devils. And Duke once again defeated Clemson and Virginia Tech, which the Blue Devils had beaten earlier in the season.
Even though Duke competed relatively well on Saturday, Forbes felt that his team could have improved even more than it did, since the Blue Devils were only 50 points behind the 13th-place team.
"I felt like if we had raced like we had at [the ACC championships], we would have been in the top 12," Forbes said.
Although the district meet marked the end of the season, the Blue Devils looked at the race as a building block for next season. Duke's team has no seniors, so the entire squad will return next year.
"It's definitely been a building year for us," Fleming said. "We all want to improve, and we all understand that anyone can step up for us in any meet."
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