Seven members of the top-ranked and undefeated women's cross country team placed in the top 10 Saturday to defend Duke's 2004 Race of Champions title at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, N.C.
The pack of Shannon Rowbury, fellow senior Clara Horowitz and freshman Whitney Anderson-who finished second in the race's high school classification in 2004-controlled the pace from the outset.
Horowitz led the trio until the final 100 meters of the 5K course, where Rowbury sped uphill and passed her to win the race in 16:40.7
"She was leading for most of the race and the whole time I was trying to get up with her," Rowbury said. "It was just the last hill that I was able to do it."
Rowbury's win was her second consecutive victory at the Race of Champions.
"It was a big win for her," head coach Kevin Jermyn said. "She ran a very smart race. She was very controlled and was able to maintain her intensity for a real strong finishing kick."
Horowitz crossed the tape less than 10 seconds behind Rowbury with a time of 16:50.0 to secure second place and Anderson finished in third with a time of 17:06.2.
The Blue Devils also earned sixth, eighth, ninth and tenth place with the performances of seniors Laura Stanley, Sally Meyerhoff, Natasha Roetter and Liz Wort, respectively.
"Our depth really showed today," Jermyn said. "We got off to a pretty strong start. We were in the top 20 from the start of the race and really kept our pace."
Duke tallied 20 points to dominate the competition. Sixth-ranked Brigham Young placed second with a total of 48 points.
The meet was Duke's first taste of competition against ranked teams. No. 21 University of Georgia joined the Cougars and the Blue Devils in the mix this weekend.
"It was another challenging course, but against ranked teams this time," Jermyn said. "It's the first time we raced any ranked teams, so we had a little more competition."
Jermyn said that this weekend's Race of Champions served as another step in training to face the level of competition the team will encounter at the NCAA Championships Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind.
"We wanted to run a little harder today," Jermyn said. "For this group that competed, most of them won't compete for another three weeks. We're learning how to compete against ranked opponents."
Duke's top distance runners will compete at the Penn State Invitational Oct. 15 as the next phase of preparation towards their national championship goal. The team's second-tier runners will compete in the Greensboro Cross Country Classic Oct. 1.
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