Three years ago, an NCAA Championship appearance was nothing more than a lofty, almost laughable, goal hung on the words of a brand new cross country coach taking over a non-scholarship program.
Three months ago, it was nothing more than a wild dream that chased the runners to sleep.
Saturday morning, the goal and the dream rode the feet of the women's cross country team into reality.
With their third-place finish in the NCAA Southeast region qualifying meet in Greenville, S.C., the Blue Devils all but locked up the program's first ever appearance in the NCAA Championships next Monday in Bloomington, Ind.
North Carolina and N.C. State finished one-two in the race to earn automatic bids into the NCAAs. But a third-place finish in a strong region virtually guarantees Duke of earning one of the 13 automatic bids handed out by the selection committee.
"We were all cooling down after the race, and [associate women's coach] Norm [Ogilvie] thought we got fifth or sixth," sophomore Heather Ryan said. "Then we saw Norm and [coach] Jan [Samuelson-Ogilvie] running towards us with big smiles on their faces. Then Jan held up three fingers, and we all flipped out. People were crying; we were all shaking and crying."
After a disappointing fifth place finish at the ACC Championships less than two weeks ago, the Blue Devils defeated two teams it had lost to at the ACCs, No. 12 James Madison and No. 13 William & Mary, to claim third place.
The Blue Devils' top tandem of Sheela Agrawal and Megan Sullivan ran their usual top-notch race and finished 10th and 12th, respectively. But it was Duke's three through five runners who made the difference Saturday.
Ellie Culp, Ryan and Wickman finished 34th, 36th and 37th, respectively, tightening Duke's overall spread and help to record Duke's 123-point outing, its best ever showing at the Regionals.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was Ryan's fourth place finish. Two weeks ago, Ryan couldn't even finish the ACC Championships; Saturday, her phenomenal finish in the final 800 meters propelled the Blue Devils into third place.
"I always find something deep down to go faster, because I'm a middle distance runner," Ryan said. "I kept on thinking this could be our last race. I didn't want any person to pass me and I was trying to pass as many people as I could. And I just kept looking at the finish line, and hopefully, it was getting closer."
And as the finish line got closer to Ryan, a goal once thought unattainable finally became reality.
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