After maintaining its top ranking and undefeated streak all season, the women's cross country team suffered a disappointing third-place finish at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., Monday.
Duke took the bronze behind 2005 champion Stanford University and runner-up University of Colorado. The Blue Devils scored 185 points to miss a second-place finish by four points and the national title by 39.
Although the Blue Devils dominated their previous meets this season, they were unable to maintain the 56-point lead they held at the halfway mark of the six-kilometer race. Head coach Kevin Jermyn said Duke dropped several runners back at the 4K point because the race was taken out at a faster pace than the Blue Devils were accustomed to.
"In our other races, we had the majority of our runners at the front and they dictated the pace," Jermyn said. "Today that definitely didn't happen. We got completely caught up in the pace."
Senior Clara Horowitz led Duke with a fifth-place time of 19:51 in the race that also earned her NCAA All-America honors. Following a 50-second gap, senior Natasha Roetter crossed the finish line in 38th place as the next harrier to score for Duke.
"Everyone thought they would have placed higher," Horowitz said of her teammates. "That last mile was brutal because of the pace. Everyone was crying at the end."
The Blue Devils, who placed second at the 2004 NCAA Championships, went into the race with higher expectations than they achieved.
"We were the favorite coming in and that does add some pressure," Jermyn said. "When you want it so bad, you kind of fight it too much. They completely put everything out there. We gave it a shot."
Fellow senior Shannon Rowbury, who had won her last four races leading up to Monday's meet, ran with Horowitz for most of the race, but could not sustain Horowitz's pace and dropped off with one mile left on the course. At the midway point, Rowbury trailed Horowitz by only one second, but she ended the race with a 39th-place time of 20:44.
"She just had an off day," Jermyn said of Rowbury. "When you haven't been passed all year and people are passing you, you tense up more. You work against yourself. She hit her threshold earlier today than in other races."
Together, Rowbury and Horowitz had finished first and second in every meet this season, including the NCAA Southeast Regional Nov. 12 and the ACC Championships Oct. 31.
Three other seniors-Laura Stanley, Sally Meyerhoff and Liz Wort-and freshman Whitney Anderson rounded out Duke's scoring. Stanley, Meyerhoff and Anderson took 51st, 52nd and 53rd places, respectively, with one second in between each of their finishes.
Four seconds after Anderson crossed the finish line, Wort claimed the 60th spot with a time of 20:57.
Although Duke was disheartened with its finish, the race marks the end of a successful season and the best four-year run in program history.
"Everyone is really upset," Horowitz said. "The seniors are upset because it's our last race all together. I mean, there's still track season, but with cross country there's so much more camaraderie. We've all just gotten so close. "
The group has helped to build Duke's cross country program, which had never won an NCAA Regional or ACC title prior to 2004. Last year's runner-up performance at the NCAA Championships was also a school-best.
"We haven't been a national powerhouse, and we're still getting better and better," Jermyn said. "Although we're disappointed with not winning, we still recognize that third place is a great honor."
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