Although the Duke academic year ended in early May, a majority of the spring sports teams' seasons extended into the summer. The women's golf team equaled its best finish ever and Kim Voyticky reached the USA Track & Fields while both lacrosse teams bowed out in the early rounds of the NCAAs.
Women's Golf: Before the uproar over Jenny Chuasiriporn's performance at the U.S. Open began, the women's golf team turned in a strong performance at the NCAA Championship in May. Duke finished in fourth place, 24 strokes back of Arizona State, to tie its best finish ever.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of this team," coach Dan Brooks said. "Of course we are disappointed that we didn't win, but we are excited to have matched the program's best finish."
The Blue Devils came out strong on the opening day by shooting a 285 (par-288), the lowest NCAA round ever for the team. But Duke was already eight strokes behind Arizona State and in a tie for second with Florida. The Blue Devils were the only team to shoot collectively under 300 in every round and eventually finished five shots in back of third-place Arizona.
Individually, Chuasiriporn led Duke's first-round charge by shooting a 65, which tied the course record at the University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wisc. and placed her in a tie for first with Arizona State's Grace Park. Chuasiriporn followed the 65 with a pair of even-par 72s and a 74 and ended up in a tie for fifth.
Alicia Allison never shot higher than a 75 and closed out her collegiate career tied for 15th place, while Kalen Anderson, Filippa Hansson and Amie Lehman all finished in the top 62.
"We had an outstanding year, winning a school-record five tournaments, and this is a nice way to finish," Brooks said.
Track: Kim Voyticky put together an incredible two months that culminated in appearances at both the NCAAs and USA Track & Field Championships. The recent graduate broke her own school record in the 800 meters with a time of 2:06.43 at the UNC Invite in early May. She topped that mark with a 2:06.03 at the ECACs. That time qualified her for both the NCAAs and USA Track & Fields.
At the NCAAs in Buffalo in extremely cold weather, Voyticky ran a great time of 59 seconds in the first half of the race but "shut down" in the last 50 meters and failed to move into the finals after running a 2:10.48.
"Kim ran one of the best races she's run all season," coach Jan Ogilvie said. "She basically just shut down with 50 meters to go. Three of the other runners from the ECAC Championships also
But redemption was sweet in New Orleans at the USA Track & Fields, the non-Olympic-year equivalent of the Olympic Trials. Voyticky used a 2:05.57 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals, where a 2:08 left her just two seconds short of the finals. Regardless, she finished as the 13th-fastest runner in the country in the 800 and now has her sights set on the 2000 Olympics. Voyticky began training in Durham this summer in preparation.
"It's a big honor," Voyticky said. "I finally wrapped up the season on a good note. It's a good feeling to close out running well. It was great exposure."
Men's Lacrosse: For the second-straight season, the Blue Devils were denied by Princeton in the NCAAs. This time, the Tigers stopped Duke, 11-9, in the quarterfinals in New York.
The Blue Devils controlled much of the first half, as T.J. Durnan scored two of his game-high four goals to pace Duke to an 8-4 lead midway through the second quarter. But the Tigers didn't panic and erupted for seven straight goals. Princeton goalkeeper Trevor Tierney replaced starter Corey Popham seven minutes into the second quarter and allowed just one goal the rest of the game.
The Tigers took advantage of several key Blue Devil penalties to trim Duke's lead to two at the half, and then dominated the last 30 minutes of the contest.
"This was a game of two halves," coach Mike Pressler said. "The first half was our game, our tempo. Then Princeton showed us why they've won three national championships. They didn't panic, they survived a goalie change and they played at their tempo and won the faceoffs in the second half."
Duke advanced to the quarterfinals by knocking off North Carolina, 16-14, in the first round. The Blue Devils, who were ranked seventh entering the tournament, finished the season 11-4.
Women's Lacrosse: A berth in the NCAA Tournament wrapped up another season of enormous progress for the Blue Devils. In just its third year of existence, Duke qualified for its first-ever NCAA tourney, where the Blue Devils fell to Temple, 17-11, in the first round.
"I'm real proud of my team," coach Kerstin Kimel said. "Our goal this year was to make the NCAAs. For us, overall it was a great year. We accomplished every goal we set. It was a great building block for the future."
The experience-laden Owls controlled the first-round match from the outset. Nicole Ross scored a career-high seven goals as Temple sprinted to an 11-2 halftime lead. Behind hat tricks from Kendra Basner, Courtney Rodgers and Kate Soulier, Duke rallied in the second half but still fell short.
Nonetheless, after a 10-7 season and with an incoming class that Kimel calls "second to none," the Blue Devils are looking ahead to the spring of 1999 with even higher expectations.
"We should set our sights on the Final Four," Kimel said. "We may not get there, but it should be a goal and I think it's attainable."
Men's Tennis: Duke saw its 12-match winning streak end at exactly the wrong time-in the NCAA Region-IV finals. The 11th-ranked Blue Devils (22-6) were stunned, 4-3, by Minnesota, who entered the match just 13-12.
"Minnesota played a great match," coach Jay Lapidus said. "It seemed like destiny was on their side the whole weekend. They came out like they had nothing to lose, and it's hard to believe they came in with the record they did."
Alberto Brause, Dmitry Muzyka and Ramsey Smith all won their singles matches in straight sets, but Duke lost the doubles point and three others in singles.
Doug Root was dropped in straights, while Jordan Wile and Marko Cerenko both fell in three sets. The match was clinched when the Gophers' Tyson Parry stopped Cerenko and Duke's NCAA hopes, 6-2 in the third.
In individual play, Root lost in the second round of singles and doubles, teaming up with Wile in the latter.
"Over the last several years, we've had so much success that anything less than a quarterfinal finish in the NCAAs is a bit of a letdown," Lapidus said of his team. "We have to be realistic; you can't win every year."
Baseball: The Blue Devils concluded their season at the ACC Tournament, where they opened with an upset and then lost their last two games.
Seventh-seeded Duke stunned the second seed, Georgia Tech, 4-0 in the opener behind a four-hit shutout from Stephen Cowie. In the first inning, J.D. Alleva knocked in a run on an RBI double and Ed Conrey followed with a two-run home run.
"I think we are a scary team, and by scary I mean that I think we are a solid baseball team," coach Steve Traylor said after the win.
But the Blue Devils were unable to keep the momentum going, losing 3-0 to UNC and 10-4 to N.C. State. The Tar Heels' Kyle Snyder and Derrick DePriest combined on a six-hitter in their shutout win, while Duke's pitching collapsed against the Wolfpack.
"It's a disappointing end to a year that's been very frustrating in a lot of ways," Traylor said.
Compiled by Joel Israel. Dave Schepard and Nick Tylwalk contributed to these reports.
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