This year, as Duke's men's cross country team prepares for a new season, it does so from an unfamiliar spot--the top of the ACC.
In unseating perennial ACC powerhouse N.C. State last year to win the Blue Devils' first conference crown since 1977, the team enjoyed a breakout season, ending among some of the nation's top teams at the NCAA Championship meet. However, there is still more building to be done. After being invited to the championship meet, the Blue Devil runners fell flat, finishing in last place out of 31 teams.
"As good as we were last year, we still obviously have a lot to prove to our competition and ourselves," said senior runner Jay Champi. "We know we're a good team, but we just need to let our feet do the talking, to show that we're the real deal."
The women's team also enjoyed a successful 2000-01 season, finishing fourth in the ACC and being invited to the women's NCAA Championship meet for the third straight year. They fared slightly better than the men there, coming in 24th out of 31 teams.
Both teams will open their seasons Sept. 8 at the Fordham Invitational in the Bronx, New York. They have good reason to plan for continued success, as each returns its top runner from the end of last season. Senior Sean Kelly, the 2001 ACC individual champion, was the lone male runner from Duke to finish in the top 100 at the NCAAs.
"We know we have a lot of competition," Champi said. "I think it's going to be very challenging. We have to stay with it."
The Blue Devils' top female runner, Sheela Agrawal, returns after a third-place showing at the NCAA Southeast Regionals and a second consecutive selection to the All-America team as one of the nation's top 30 runners.
"Teamwise, we want to be top-15," Agrawal said. "We're really excited, because we have a really good group of freshmen, and our returning runners are in really good shape."
The women's team may be slightly more youthful than the men's, with only six upperclassmen out of 19 runners. However, the leadership quotient will still be good, as all of those upperclassmen runners have been a part of multiple teams that have competed in NCAA Championship meets.
The men's team will be a good mixture of experience and youth, with eight seniors and 6 freshmen among its 26 runners. Coach Norm Ogilvie underlined the idea that this can be both a blessing and a curse.
"We're very, very excited about the season. We return the ACC individual champion, Sean Kelly, and I think he's primed for an All-American year,"Ogilvie said. "But as far as our goal, it would be a great accomplishment for a team of largely unproven collegians to get a top-15 finish."
Champi feels that the elder statesmen of the team are up to the challenge of grooming their proteges while also turning in solid seasons on the trail.
"Sean and I have been to NCAA Championships, but we also know what it's like not to make the championships," Champi said. "We want to make the most of our senior season and motivate the guys, but we're friends above all else, so it's not just about yourself."
All agreed that last year's disappointing finish can be attributed to the fact that the team simply ran out of gas. Ogilvie felt last year's team had to stretch a little to reach short-term goals, and could not quite finish the long haul of the season.
"You have to be very, very good to get an automatic bid. We're not good enough that we can ignore the regional, but hopefully this year, we can time our peak a little better," Ogilvie said.
"Our focus this year is more on the national meet. Last year, our definite goal was to win the conference. We faced N.C. State 5 times last year, and the only time we beat them was at the conference."
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