The cross country teams posted strong performances Saturday at the 2003 NCAA Southeast Region Championship, but both teams failed to receive automatic bids to the national meet. The men's season is likely over, but the women hope to receive an at-large to the national meet in Waterloo, Iowa.
The women's squad placed fourth, lead by the All-Region performance of Laura Stanley. The 25th-ranked lady Blue Devils scored 158 points, placing behind higher-ranked North Carolina, N.C. State, and Wake Forest teams. Although only the first two teams from the region automatically advance to the national meet, the Duke women still can still nab a team at-large bid, which will be announced later today.
"We expected that if we ran within our capabilities we would place fourth," head coach Norm Ogilvie said. "We expect to receive an at-large [women's team] bid."
Sophomore Stanley was the first to cross the finish line for the Blue Devils at 20:56.4 for the 6k race, placing 23rd overall. The other scoring runners were not far behind. Shannon Rowbury came in 28th, Natasha Roetter 32nd, Paige Miller 35th and Sally Meyerhoff 41st.
The men's team placed seventh at the regional meet, also with an all-Region performer, Nick Schneider. Schneider placed 18th with a time of 30:46.5 for the 10k race.
The men's team was plagued by injuries and was not running at full strength, limiting the performances of senior Chris Williams and junior Michael Hatch. Both ran extremely well given their limitations, placing 48th and 60th respectively. Sophomore Chas Salmen and senior Morgan Clark, also ran solid races.
"The whole team ran well, bouncing back after last week's ACC meet." Ogilvie.
While Nick Schneider can still qualify for the national meet by receiving an individual at-large bid for his strong performance, but coach Ogilvie believes his chances are slim.
"There are definitely better individuals in other regions," Ogilvie said.
Duke has been represented by either a male or female at nationals since 1998, and is just as excited this year at the prospect of returning to the premier collegiate meet.
"The women's team has great depth." Coach Oilvie said. "We don't have front runners [on the women's team] like we had last year, but that's not as big of a deal at the nationals meet. I fully believe we'll finish 25th or higher."
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