Youth and depth were the themes of the day as the men's cross country team placed two freshmen in the top three and seven runners in the top 10 to win its second consecutive meet, 24-35, in the Duke-Yale dual meet on Duke's East Campus Saturday morning.
Yale's Matt Taylor controlled the entire 7.6-kilometer race, breaking through the tape in 24:12.9. Blue Devil rookies Brendan Fitzgibbon and Terry Brennan passed Yale's Alex Zemek near the four-mile mark to take second and third, running the course in 24:20.1 and 24:22.6, respectively.
Zemek was followed by Duke's Tom Becker and Mike Park, who both overtook Bulldog runner Chris Karas late in the race. Becker, a junior, finished in 24:35.6, and Park, a senior, finished in 24:41.3.
"Karas was up in the top six for a while, and as long as he was a factor that made him able to get up there, we were in danger," men's associate head coach Norm Ogilvie said. "When Park and Becker pulled away from him, we won the meet right there."
The Blue Devils' ability to break up Yale's top three swung the odds in their favor, but it was their depth that secured the win. They placed seven harriers before Yale's fourth, as sophomore Tim Schaefer (24:57.9), freshman Mike McKeever (24:59.6) and junior Mike Caiazzo (25:11.6) rounded out the top 10 finishers.
With the emergence of its freshman runners, Duke feels that it is developing its own style and becoming more cohesive as a team. If this trend continues, the Blue Devils' 1997 campaign could be promising.
"We have not seen enough competition to know what makes all this," men's head coach Al Buehler said. "The team's starting to develop a personality. [Fitzgibbon] and Brennan are our spearheads, Park and Becker are the heart and soul of the team, And Schaefer, McKeever and Caiazzo are our stoppers because they stop the scoring and cut the other team off.
"We're seeing the freshmen come through. We're looking for our veterans to get up there and run with them. Our potential lies in getting our top four guys all together so they can run with the Matt Taylors. Once we have four spearheads, we won't have to rely as much on the stoppers."
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