The men's cross country team had its highest finish at the NCAA District III meet since 1977, led by the strong racing of sophomore Tom Becker. Forty-three teams participated in the 10-kilometer race, held at the Furman University golf course in Greenville, S.C., and the Blue Devils placed sixth in the field with 231 points.
Becker's time of 30:37 and his 12th place finish earned him All-District team honors. In only his second 10K ever, Becker ran the first sub-31:00 for a Duke runner in several years.
"I went into the race thinking about it as a five-mile race [the distance the team usually races]," Becker said. "I knew I could comfortably run five miles, and then I just held on after that for the final mile and a quarter."
In addition, Becker might have the opportunity to earn a bid to the national NCAA meet to be held in Tucson on Nov. 25. The top three teams and five individuals exclusive of these three teams are invited to the NCAA meet. Also, three at-large teams from the eight districts are chosen to go to the meet. Becker was the sixth individual overall, but if UNC, the fourth place team at the meet, is chosen as an at-large team, this would move Becker up as the fifth individual since a Carolina runner was in front of him.
The NCAA board made the decision for the at-large teams on Sunday, and the decision will be announced today.
"Tom Becker really rose to a whole new level in this race," assistant coach Norm Ogilvie said. "This was a breakthrough race for Tom-he has proved he's one of the top distance runners in the Southeast.
"Tom has tremendous potential as a sophomore and is capable of running sub-30:00 for the 10,000 meters in track."
To put Becker's race into perspective, his pace for the race was 4:54 per mile. Becker set a new personal best for five miles, and then ran an additional 1.2 miles at this pace to beat out 300 other runners at the meet.
Two other runners also had strong performances at the meet-freshman Charlie Kelly and senior Matt Haywood. Kelly, running the first 10K in his career, was the second-fastest freshman at the meet, finishing in 33rd place in 31:15. Haywood was a second behind, finishing in 35th place.
"We had a solid top three," Ogilvie said. "We had three in the top 35 this year whereas last year, we didn't have anyone finish in the top 35."
Senior Darin Mellinger had his fastest time ever on the course, finishing in 76th place in 31:51. Freshman Tim Schafer was right behind Mellinger, running 31:58 to finish in 85th, and senior Brett Marcus finished closely behind in 91st with his time of 32:04.
As a team, Duke finished the year with a 57-10 record against Division I squads.
"We've had better team performances at other meets this season, but this was still a really good day for us," Ogilvie said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.