44... 22... 11... 6.
No, it's not someone's locker combination. It's the District III finishes for the men's cross country team over the last four years. And if the Blue Devils can hold the pattern in 1997, they may very well be headed to their first NCAA finals competition in history.
After finishing sixth at last year's NCAA district meet and returning the majority of its scoring runners, Duke feels it is poised to take the next step and qualify for the national competition.
"In years past the idea of going to nationals was thrown out there, but this year it seems so much more attainable," senior Mike Park said.
In order for the Blue Devils to guarantee themselves a spot at nationals, they must finish at least second in the 50-team third district. A third-place finish would still qualify them for one of the wild-card entries given four of the runners up in the nine districts. With Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouses Wake Forest and N.C. State perennially on top of the third district, Duke has its eyes on one of those wild card spots.
Leading the way for the Blue Devils is junior Tom Becker. Becker was Duke's top finisher at last year's district meet, missing individual qualifying for nationals by just one place. He was named to the All-ACC first team last year and has been named the Blue Devils' MVP his first two years.
Already Becker is looking to improve upon his solid base, having won Duke's time trial this past Saturday. Becker managed to improve upon his 1996 time by almost 30 seconds, finishing the 5,000 meter course in 15:08.
Park, the Blue Devils' lone senior, is expected to run second behind Becker. After finishing second to Becker two years ago in district competition, Park was hampered last year by injuries. Despite finishing seventh in the time trial, Park feels he is in prime shape for the season.
"This is the first time that I have been in shape for cross country," Park said. "This being my senior year, it is my last go of it. And being the only senior on the team I feel I should also be a leader."
Saturday's time trial also provided an indication as to the importance of this year's freshman class. Rookie runners Brendan Fitzgibbon and Terry Brennan finished two-three in the time trial. Fitzgibbon was the top miler in the state of California his senior year and was also ranked in the top 12 nationally. He also led his high school team to the state cross country championship.
Fellow freshmen Mike McKeever and Peter Muller, the Illinois state cross country champion, are also both expected to contribute.
"Our incoming class really is one of the better recruiting classes in the ACC," associate coach Norm Ogilvie said. "It's a class we're very, very proud of."
Also returning for Duke is a trio of talented sophomores-Charlie Kelly, Tim Schaefer and Brian McCulley-all of whom are expected to be among the team's top eight runners. Junior Mike Caiazzo may also break through into the Blue Devils' upper eight harriers.
With so many qualified runners, Duke is one of the deeper teams in the ACC.
"Depth is definitely important in cross country, and we have a very good team depth-wise," Ogilvie said. "In fact, we've always had good depth here at Duke; it's just that we've been missing the really good front-line guys. Hopefully now we have that in Becker and Park."
The two top Blue Devil runners will not only be looking to lead Duke to nationals, but also to improve upon last season's fourth-place ACC finish.
"Last year I guess you could say that we beat four teams that we weren't supposed to beat," Ogilvie said. "Our goal for this year is to finish in the top three in the ACC. Wake Forest and N.C. State are perennial national powers, so they would be tough to knock out of there. UNC is the team we probably need to knock off to reach our goal."
Outside the ACC, the Blue Devils will also have to produce strong showings in order to make a positive impression on the NCAA selection committee. In the event that they do place third in districts, the committee looks heavily at inter-district competition in making its decisions. With that in mind, the Notre Dame Invitational and the IC4A meet in New York could be Duke's most important meets outside of districts.
With the table set for a banner season and the equation laid out in front of them: 44... 22... 11... 6... 3?, the Blue Devils are far from complacent about the task ahead.
"In a letter to the team, I reminded everyone that it looks like such a steady progression that it's easy to assume it's just going to happen anyway," Park said. "But the point I wanted to drive home was that jump from six to three or two was going to take that much more work."
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