Standing atop the final hill of the Van Cortlandt Park course yesterday, women's cross country coach Jan Ogilvie's heart skipped a beat as the first group of runners ran past her.
As she had expected, Duke found itself in a dogfight with Cornell and Virginia for the top team finish at the ECACs. But as Ogilvie counted the runners' places with 1000 meters left in the race, one thing became painfully obvious-her team was lagging behind in third place.
Although Duke had the race leader in freshman Sheela Agrawal, the other Blue Devils were simply not running fast enough for Duke to take the team title.
That was before junior Megan Sullivan decided to turn on the jets.
Relying on her typical kick, Sullivan passed 12 runners over the race's final stretch and propelled Duke to the ECAC title. The Blue Devils' total of 54 points edged Cornell and Virginia by 10 and 11 points, respectively.
"Megan still has ankle problems, but the way she's running is a testament to her strength," Ogilvie said. "She is a very strong individual and she wants to go as far as we can go as a team."
Although Sullivan had sat out the triangular meet at home two weeks ago with an illness, she showed no signs of the long layoff, finishing in sixth place overall with an 18:13.
As usual, the Blue Devils were led by the freshman Agrawal, who took her third individual title of the season with a time of 17:43. Agrawal edged Virginia's Jennifer Owens, who had not lost previously this season, by eight seconds.
Agrawal took the early lead but fell back in the middle of the race before taking the lead for good in the final mile. Agrawal held off Owens in the final 1000 meters despite suffering from a thigh cramp.
The biggest surprise for the Blue Devils on the day came from sophomore Annie Wickman, who finished third in 18:37.
"Annie has been running better and better every week," Ogilvie said. "Her big surprise was that she went out right with Megan and ran with Megan for the duration of the race until the last straightaway, where Megan has the kick. In order to run well as a team in [future] meets, we're going to need Annie."
Ellie Culp and Heather Ryan rounded out Duke's scoring by finishing 14th and 20th in 18:37 and 18:54, respectively.
With the ACC championship and the NCAA district qualifying meets next on the horizon, the Blue Devils will intensify their focus on the team's ultimate goal this season, qualifying for the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history.
"What we need to do is simply attack the ACCs and the district like they are our last two meets," Ogilvie said. "What we're going to have to do is place high enough in our district so we can go without having to worry about [at-large selections]. We don't want to worry about how other teams are doing."
Notes: Agrawal, Sullivan, Culp and Wickman earned All-East honors by finishing in the top 15. Sullivan earned the honor for the third time in a row, Culp earned the honor for the second time, while Agrawal and Wickman are first-time honorees.... Sophomores Melissa Malakoff and Amanda Turner were Duke's top two runners at the North Carolina Intercollegiates.
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