Cross country runs at highly competitive Griak Invite

Despite the long trek to Minnesota for the Roy Griak Invitational Saturday, hopes were high for Duke's men's and women's cross-country teams as they entered the race. With 15 nationally ranked teams and over 300 hundred runners in each race, the Griak Invitational was one of the most competitive races this season besides the NCAA Championships. In the end, the men's team exceeded all expectations, while the women's squad struggled with injuries to its top runners.

Sean Kelly again led the men's team against this talented field, which included Michigan, a team that beat Duke only a week ago in Charlotte. Finishing fifth overall in a field that included 36 teams, 14 of which were in the top 25, Duke showed the running world that it maybe better than its current ranking of 29th nationally. The performance should easily catapult the team into at least the top 15 in the country, given that 10th-ranked Georgetown finished 13th on Saturday.

In the individual highlights, Kelly finished 13th overall, with a time of 24:30.0. He was followed by a tight pack made up of freshman, including Robert Smitson (34th, 24:52.6), freshman Nick Schneider (35th, 24:52.9), junior Jared Moore (63rd, 25:06.0) and sophomore Chris Williams (67th, 26:07.5).

"What was the key for us was that we had our fifth man in before all teams except for one. Our spread, [the time between the first and fifth finishers], was 35.6, the best of the top 18 teams," coach Norm Olgilvie said. "What that means is that our guys ran together as a pack behind Sean."

Although expectations were also high for the women's team, the Griak Invitational proved to be a disappointment. In addition to the prolonged loss of two-time All American Sheela Agrawal, who is out with a foot injury, the Blue Devils were without freshman Paige Miller, arguably their best runner this season, because of a back injury. So with only six runners instead of the normal eight, the 15th-place finish was disappointing, although it was not without its bright spots.

The clear highlight was the performance of freshman Meaghan Leon, who finished in 51st place with a time of 22:03.8 as the top Duke runner. Freshman Paris Edwards (75th, 22:20.4), senior captain Katie Atlas (90th, 22:29.2), senior Maddy Woodmansee (95th, 22:30.9), and freshman Phebe Ko (129th, 22:45.3) followed for Duke.

Despite this disappointing performance, the future looks bright for both teams. With the upcoming Pre-NCAA Meet and the ACC Championships in October, the men will have the chance to improve on their strong showing at the Griak Invitational, while the women will the opportunity to show what they can do when they are healthy.