The women's cross country team ended its season at the NCAA District III meet in Greensboro, S.C. this past weekend, already looking forward to next season.
The Blue Devils finished 19th out of 48 teams with a total of 520 points, but all but one member of the top seven will be returning next year, including four freshmen.
"This meet ends a year of learning," head coach Mike Forbes said. "Now we need to take that experience and build on it."
The top runner for the Blue Devils was junior Erin Fleming, who placed 53rd out of 325 runners in a time of 18:23. Fleming's time was the fourth-fastest time by a Duke runner on the hilly district course at Furman University, and two of the times ahead of her were run by All-American Ellen Reynolds. At the halfway point of the five-kilometer race, Fleming was in 37th place, and at the finish, five seconds ahead and behind her constituted 25 places, an indication of the closeness of the finishers.
"Erin had a tremendous race," Forbes said. "She did a good job of staying in the middle of the group at the finish. She also beat three [Appalachian State] girls who had beat her at the state meet. The tougher the meet, the tougher Erin is."
Sophomore Kim Folk was the team's second finisher, coming through in 78th place in 18:40. Freshmen Liz Kane (18:58) and Camile Wilson (19:09) finished in 108th and 124th places, respectively. Freshman Kourtney Gallo rounded out the scoring with her 158th-place finish in 19:25.
The coaches were excited about Folk's race, which was three seconds off her best time this season, and Kane, who ran the second-fastest time for a freshman on the district course.
This year, the district was considerably more competitive than it has been in the past. The Blue Devils' times this year would have put them at 12th place at the meet two years ago, and the top four Duke runners would have been in the top 75. Also, because the field was so large, it was often difficult for team members to see each other and work together during the race. Next year, this problem will be solved when the District III is divided into two smaller districts.
"This was the most competitive race we've had," Forbes said. "I'm happy with the way they ran-they beat several teams that had beaten us earlier this season. This meet was a good step to next year as a rebuilding year."
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