You can excuse the men's cross country team if it isn't singing "boola-boola" anytime soon.
Despite a stellar 20-second spread between its top five runners, Duke lost a close battle for the team title at the IC4As to No. 16 Princeton for the third straight year.
Although Duke's fifth runner, Jay Champi, crossed the finish line before Princeton's fourth runner finished, Princeton edged the Blue Devils 70-73 on the strength of its top two runners, who finished second and third overall.
"We feel we ran pretty well, it was a good effort," men's associate head coach Norm Ogilvie said. "It certainly hurts to lose by three points.
"As soon as the race ended, we knew it was real close either way. The old problem for us is not having the top guys."
With the IC4As serving as Duke's final tune-up before the ACC Championships Nov. 1, the Blue Devils picked up a potentially crucial out-of-district win against Pennsylvania, which finished fourth with 93 points.
Two weeks earlier, Pennsylvania had beaten Villanova, which this week finished ninth at the Pre-National Meet, defeating No. 13 Weber State, No. 16 Portland, No. 18 Dartmouth, No. 20 Utah and No. 23 William & Mary.
Another sure sign that the Blue Devils are gradually returning to the form that brought them their first-ever NCAA appearance last year is the resurgence of their expected top runners, Terry Brennan and Brendan Fitzgibbon, who finished eighth and ninth overall, respectively.
Brennan's top finish among Blue Devils (25:03) signaled his full recovery from a slew of injuries and illnesses that sidelined him for the season's first two meets. More significantly, however, was Fitzgibbon's second place finish (25:08) after a season-long struggle to get back into shape.
"I came into the season in not as good shape as I have the last couple of years because I spent the whole summer in Europe," Fitzgibbon said. "It was a little too difficult to do the training that all the other guys were doing, so I was behind all the other guys."
After finishing out of his team's top five in the team's first three races this season, Fitzgibbon finally returned to the form that made him one of Duke's strongest and most consistent runners all last year.
"I think I'm really revving up and getting better with every meet," Fitzgibbon said. "I'm definitely on the way up, peaking and stuff. I'm not in the shape that I want to be in, but I'm happy with the shape I'm in right now."
Charlie Kelly continued his strong senior campaign by finishing 13th overall in 25:13. After sitting out most of his sophomore season with an injury and fighting through a nondescript junior year, Kelly has been one of Duke's top three runners in every race this season.
"[Kelly] is so strong mentally," Fitzgibbon said. "He just wants to do everything for the team, just put all that he's got on the line. He's showing what a true captain should show-he has really stepped up."
Sophomores Sean Kelly and Champi rounded out Duke's scoring by finishing 21st and 22nd overall in 25:21 and 25:23, respectively.
Notes: Brennan, Fitzgibbon and Charlie Kelly earned All-East honors by finishing in the top-15. Brennan and Fitzgibbon earned the honor for the second time, while Kelly is a first-time honoree.... Junior Mike McKeever finished third overall at the North Carolina Intercollegiates for the Duke B team.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.