The middle-distance runners on the women's cross country team dominated, taking five of the top six spots and scoring 18 points to win the Hagan Stone Cross Country Classic Saturday in Greensboro, NC.
Freshmen Anna Farias-Eisner and Molly Lehman secured first and second place finishes in the 5K race with times of 18:45.5 and 18:55.7, respectively.
Duke also turned in third, fourth and sixth place times when freshman Jessica Davlin, junior Lindsay Owen and freshman Patricia Loughlin all crossed the finish line less than a minute behind Farias-Eisner.
Duke's performance put the Blue Devils ahead of second place Queens University of Charlotte, by a significant 53 points.
The meet marked the second invitational for the Blue Devils' B team, which had run itself to a third-place finish at the Raleigh Invitational Sept. 17.
"We looked very good," head coach Kevin Jermyn said. "Compared to the first meet, this was a much stronger outing for them. They're really progressing."
On what Jermyn described as a tougher course than that of the Raleigh Invitational, Owen and Loughlin each dropped more than 30 seconds from their 5K times.
Although only the middle distance runners officially competed in the race, Duke distance runners Tiare Ferguson and Amanda Patterson participated unattached and were the only two competitors to finish ahead of their scoring teammates.
Unofficially, Ferguson placed first with a 18:10.04 time and Patterson placed second at18:15.5.
The race was the first of the season for both Ferguson and Patterson, who have suffered from minor injuries this year.
"It was a good confidence booster for the middle distance runners," Jermyn said. "For the distance, it was a lower level meet to gain experience."
Jermyn said he will decide if Ferguson and Patterson will compete for the Blue Devils in the Oct. 31 ACC Championship as the meet draws nearer and they continue to train with the top-ranked A team.
The pair will travel with the rest of Duke's distance runners to Pennsylvania State College to run in the Penn State Invitational Oct. 15.
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