Four superlative sophomores and a pair of top-notch seniors have the women's cross country team aiming for the top 10
by Catherine Sullivan
The Chronicle
One year after finishing fourth in the ultra-competitive ACC and a best-ever 17th at the 2002 NCAA Championships, the women's cross country team is looking for an even stronger showing in 2003.
Last year's squad was loaded with young talent--the top-five finishers at nationals were all freshmen--and this core group was expected to return one year older and one year stronger.
However, the Blue Devil's two fastest runners last year--All-American Caroline Bierbaum and USATF Junior Cross Country Individual champion Clara Horowitz--will not be competing for Duke this fall. Bierbaum, a New York native, transferred to Columbia University for her sophomore year, while Horowitz is redshirting this season.
Despite the loss of these two superstars, the Blue Devils will still field one of their strongest squads ever.
"We think any number of these girls could end up with All-America honors," head coach Norm Ogilvie said. "It's going to be quite a year."
Sophomores Sally Meyerhoff, Shannon Rowbury and Laura Stanley finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, at nationals and appear to be healthy and ready to build on their successful freshmen campaigns.
"We had five freshmen score in the ACC last year, and now three of those are back," Ogilvie said. "How do we get better?" Duke's roster will also be bolstered by the addition of sophomore Natasha Roetter. Roetter was the Blue Devil's top recruit in the class of 2007, but the two-time high school first-team All American decided not to run competitively as a freshman.
In addition to its young runners, Duke is led by a pair of experienced senior leaders in Lauren Matic and Heidi Hullinger. Matic had the team's fastest 1,500m time last year, and Hullinger won a bronze medal in the 10,000m event at the ECAC outdoor championships.
"Obviously [the seniors] have been around longer, but we have a great team overall," Matic said. "We have strong runners on every level who are very important for us."
The Blue Devils were also anticipating the return of fifth-year senior Sheela Agrawal to their roster, but a slew of injuries in recent years will keep the two-time All American out of action this fall. Given its plethora of talent, Duke's biggest key this year may be its ability to remain healthy. The team has been plagued by injuries in recent years that have cost it a chance to make an even greater mark on the national scene.
"I think we can do very well this year, as long as everyone stays healthy," Matic said. "[Cross country] is just a very injury-prone sport because of the repetitive nature of it."
The Blue Devils begin their season this weekend at the Covered Bridge Open in Boone, N.C., and hope eventually to make their mark in the elite 32-team field for the 2003 NCAA Championships held Nov. 24th in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
"At the end of the day, we should be at least as good as last year's team and probably better," Ogilvie said. "We could be anywhere in the top five in the ACC and the top 10 at nationals."
The men's cross country team is led by a young troupe of runners and a still-recovering standout senior, Chris Williams
by Jake Poses
The Chronicle
The men's cross country team has a pair of dates circled on its calendars: the ACC Championships and the NCAA Regional.
For the 2003 team that opens its season this afternoon with a series of questions, more than ever, the success of this year's squad will depend on these two critical late-season meets.
Even if these unknowns pan out with a best-case-scenario result and Duke in fact fields its best team in a recent history, stiff competition is likely to await the Blue Devils. "We think we are going to have one of the better teams we have ever had," head coach Norm Ogilvie said. "Leading the way will be Chris Williams."
However, the ability of Williams to lead the team remains one of the paramount questions as the Blue Devils start their season. Williams, the team's top runner in 2002, was stricken with a relatively severe case of mononucleosis in the spring and has yet to fully recover from the lingering effects the virus had on his body.
"He is a little behind right now, but we expect that he will be 100 percent by the end of the season when we really need him," Ogilvie said optimistically.
Still unable to do any running at a high intensity, Williams is just starting to get his miles up in training. The senior, who says he is currently at about 80-percent, is aiming to make his return to competition at the pre-national meet Oct. 8.
After having strong cross country seasons last fall and even better track seasons this past spring, Michael Hatch and Nick Schneider will likely occupy the number two and three spots in the Duke lineup come crunch time and be the top runners before Williams returns.
Among the contenders to fill the rest of the lineup are junior Ian Cronin and a pair of sophomores, Charles Salmen and Eric Amdisen. Despite lacking experience at the collegiate level, two freshmen are also strong candidates to occupy the final two scoring positions for Duke this season. Alex Romero, the New Mexico state high school champion, is one of Duke's best recruits in recent years and is likely to be a staple for the program for seasons to come. Joining Romero at the top of the freshman class is Keith Krieger, who has impressed the coaches in his first days on campus.
"My goal every season is just to train hard and run smart races and there is not really anything else you can do, but I'd like to be in the top five and helping our team," Romero said.
Without even seeing the pair race, Ogilvie said they had excellent opportunities to be among the top five scorers. However, one major concern with relying on freshman is the tendency to wear themselves out.
"A lot of times freshman burn out," Williams said. "These guys have been training smart now. They were a little eager when they came in. I was a little worried about them, but I think everyone has gotten their heads in the right place."
In an effort to both conserve his top runners and give some of the younger athletes an opportunity to race, coach Ogilvie has decided not to race his top-10 runner this afternoon at the Covered Bridge Open in Boone, N.C.. Many of the top runners will make their season debuts next weekend when the team races in Charlottesville, Va..
Minus Williams--who will still be training--Ogilvie will likely unveil his top lineup at the Great American Cross Country festival this year in Cary, N.C.. The race, taking place only miles from Duke's campus, will be the team's first opportunity to earn at-large points that could edge the Blue Devils into the NCAA National Tournament come late November. The Duke team will likely have a chance to run the course before the race which, according to Ogilvie, should put the squad in a position to finish well.
After several additional meets, the team will come to the all-important ACC Championship meet in early November. "The ACC obviously is a focus for any Duke team and we plan on doing well there," Ogilvie said.
At ACC Championships, Duke will face stiff competition from N.C. State which arguably has one of the top teams in the country. Florida State will also bring a competitive team to the meet which this year, which takes place in Winston-Salem.
Two weeks after the ACC meet, the Blue Devils will compete in the NCAA Southeast Regional meet which is likely to make or break their season. There, the Duke squad will once again have to face N.C. State, but the team will also have to contend with perennial power William & Mary.
Unless Duke can outpace one of these two teams plus other competition and finish in the top two, the Blue Devils will have to rely on very tough at-large points to make the 31 team field at Nationals. Racking up these at-large points in the events leading up to the Regional meet could be a difficult task given all the questions. Despite these looming questions and the pressure the team will face at the critical ACC and NCAA Regional meets, coach Ogilvie and his runners remain optimistic about the season.
"It is probably our best mix ever in terms of balance of experience and youth," Ogilvie said.
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