The women's cross country team regained what was once lost as it reclaimed the Duke-Yale cup, 28-31, in its fifth annual dual meet against the Bulldogs on Duke's East Campus Saturday morning.
"This meet is an indicator of how good we can be as a team," women's head coach Jan Samuelson Ogilvie said. "To beat [Yale] gives us an idea of where we can be. Our season is still very young."
Yale's Ariena Kelly dominated the field, crossing the finish line in 18:09.9, well ahead of the competition. Duke freshman Megan Sullivan broke up Yale's top three, placing second with a time of 18:46.6. Bulldog harriers Shannon Duff and Nancy Wolcott followed Sullivan, completing the 3-kilometer course in 18:57.6 and 18:58.1, respectively.
The next seven finishers were all Blue Devils, demonstrating their depth. Senior Colette Gurtler, whose performance Saturday was only her second collegiate cross country meet ever, finished fifth, running the race in 19:07.1. Junior co-captain Kim Folk, who had been sick all week, crossed the finish line at Gurtler's heels, with a time of 19:09.6. Freshman Beth O'Donnell (19:14.7), senior Kristin Faraguna (19:19.3), senior co-captain Erin Fleming (19:22.0), junior and former women's soccer player Kim Reynolds (19:25.0) and sophomore Kourtney Gallo (19:36.8) placed sixth through 11th-all before Yale's fourth runner, Cory Petro, could cross the finish line.
For the first time, the meet took place on East Campus instead of on the cross country trail around the Washington Duke Golf Course. A good number of spectators surrounded the finish, which was located right on the main quad. In addition, an alumni race was held before the actual meet began, and an open race took place afterwards. The Blue Devils hope that making the meet more open to spectators will draw more attention to the sport of cross country.
"We liked the fact that this was a spectator meet, and we liked the fact that it gave the school a little bit of exposure to the cross country team," Samuelson Ogilvie said. "I've never seen a cross country finish lined with spectators like we had."
Saturday's victory notwithstanding, Duke's squad is a very inexperienced one: three of its top eight finishers are in their first year with Duke's cross country program. Nevertheless, the Blue Devils believe that they have come a long way since that first practice, and that they are on pace for a successful season.
"We're 2-0; that's not too shabby as far as our record goes," Sullivan said. "We're on the right track; we just have to keep it up."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.