Both the men's and women's cross country teams posted strong finishes at their races this weekend, with the women's squad truly living up to the name "cross country" by splitting their runners between races in California and Charlotte.
The men's team, ranked 18th nationally going into the race, finished sixth at the Great American Cross Country Classic in Charlotte Friday. The eighth ranked women's team finished 12th in the same meet and second at the Stanford Invitational Saturday.
Sophomore Michael Hatch led the men's squad, logging a 26:56 time on the 8,000 meter course. Hatch's time earned him a 13th place finish overall.
"Our primary goal was to compete in this race, because on a muddy course like that, you're really looking at places more than you are at times," he said.
Men's head coach Norm Ogilvie agreed, saying that "on average, times were about two minutes slower for everyone [at Charlotte] than is usual for an 8,000 meter course."
Junior Chris Williams, who at the season's beginning had accompanied Hatch as the Blue Devils' top two runners, was second with a 27:16 time and a 28th place finish out of the field of 168 runners. Ogilvie said Williams had been hurting throughout the week, and that he had urged him to "run at 90 percent," noting that "a runner like Chris at 90 percent is still faster than a lot of guys."
Jared Moore, Ian Cronin and Morgan Clark rounded out the Duke scoring five, placing 36th, 47th and 71st, respectively. Ogilvie was particularly impressed with Clark, who had "the race of his career."
It was Clark's first time running in the Duke top seven, and his finish as the squad's fifth man was a pleasant surprise for the Blue Devils.
The members of the women's team who ran in Charlotte had a disappointing team finish, but had one impressive individual performance. The Blue Devils finished 12th in the meet, but freshman star Caroline Bierbaum finished fourth overall, amidst talented competition.
The meet's winner, North Carolina's Shalane Flanagan, had been NCAA Performer of the Year last season, while the second and third place finishes went to members of the top-ranked Brigham Young team.
"My main goal to stay with the lead pack, and I was able to accomplish that," Bierbaum said.
The rest of the Duke scorers were Paige Miller, Laura Stanley, Heidi Hullinger and Elizabeth Wort, whose times earned Duke a total of 337 points for the race and a 12th place finish.
Head coach Jan Ogilvie said that the large number of runners and the poor conditions at Charlotte did not complement their strategy, which was to go out slowly on the first mile and pick up the pace thereafter.
"A lot of girls were having trouble passing towards the beginning," she said.
The Stanford contingent fared better, taking second place out of a field of 33. The Blue Devils finished all their runners in the top 50 and were beaten only by the third-ranked Stanford team, their hosts.
The top Duke finisher was freshman Clara Horowitz, who finished the 6,000 meter course in 20:55.
Jan Ogilvie said that she had split her team so that the West Coast natives could run at a race closer to home and have their families there to cheer them on.
"I think it worked in this case because we got some outstanding performances," Ogilvie said. "Clara in particular was just outstanding."
The next big race for both squads will be pre-nationals at Indiana State, where, Hatch said, the Blue Devils "hope to show a lot of teams that we're serious, and we belong in the top ten or 15."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.