The men's and women's cross country teams travel to College Park, Md., this weekend as they face their toughest competition of the season at the Atlantic Coast Conference championships.
For the men, the Blue Devils have the opportunity to have their highest finish since 1980, when they won the meet. The men placed fifth last year, but with the addition of two freshmen in the top five, they hope to finish within the top three at the meet. N.C. State and Wake Forest are ranked seventh and 17th in the nation, respectively, and UNC and Clemson will also pose a threat to the Blue Devils.
"We haven't beaten UNC at the ACC meet since 1980," assistant coach Norm Ogilvie said. "But right now we have a lot of confidence. We ran well at Notre Dame and at the State meet and feel that if we run our best, we should be in the top three."
In addition, the Blue Devils haven't raced the Tar Heels yet this season, and the coaches feel that the runners from both teams will rise to the occasion because of the rivalry and the fact that the teams are so even this year.
"We are definitely out to beat the Heels," Ogilvie said.
Sophomore Tom Becker, who was the team's leading runner at the ACC meet last year, will again be one of the top runners for the Blue Devils. Along with Becker, freshman Charlie Kelly and senior Matt Haywood all have the potential to place in the top 10 in the conference.
"Because the team has done so well this year, it has overshadowed how good Charlie Kelly is as a freshman," Ogilvie said. "Charlie is one of the best freshmen in the country and has done an excellent job of jumping up to the five-mile race after running three miles in high school. He has done an outstanding job this year."
Another freshman who has made a successful transition to college running is Tim Schaefer. He has consistently been in the top five for the Blue Devils this season, and, along with senior Darin Mellinger, should place within the top 20 at the meet. Junior Mike Park was 16th at the meet last year, and despite an injury that had hampered his training, Park has been steadily improving all season, and again has the opportunity to place in the top 20.
"Our top three run as a group, which makes them so dangerous," Ogilvie said. "Also, when you have a five man spread under 30 seconds, you have a pretty good team, and the last two meets we have had spreads of 23 and 24 seconds."
The Blue Devils will have a chance to prove just how good a team they are Saturday at 11:15 a.m., when their race begins at the College Park golf course.
"There is no reason we can't take third," Ogilvie said. "If we fire all our cylinders, we can reach that goal, but we have to go out and work for it."
On the women's side, the Blue Devils hope to finish in the top six in the conference. Last year, the Blue Devils placed seventh with their lowest point total ever at an ACC meet, but they hope to better this achievement.
"This will be one of the best meets the ACC has had in the past few years," assistant coach Scott Yakola said. "We're a better team than we were a year ago, but so is the majority of the conference."
This year's Duke squad is a better team due to the immediate contributions from several freshmen. Of the top eight runners on the team, four or five spots are usually taken by freshmen.
"This year, the impact the freshmen have made is incredible, but there is also still some inexperience there," Yakola said. "The past two meets they have learned a lot about racing."
Junior Erin Fleming will likely be the top runner for the Blue Devils, as she has been leading the team in its last few meets.
"Erin has been running really strong all year and has continued to step it up a notch each meet," Yakola said. "She has also provided good leadership for the team, along with sophomore Kim Folk, who has been a great leader to the freshmen."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.