In its final meet of the season, the men's cross country team won its first IC4A Championship in program history Saturday.
The Blue Devils edged out runner-up Cornell University by 14 points along with the other 19 teams in the field to win the 97th annual ECAC/IC4A Championships held at Fordham University in New York.
"It's a great exclamation point on the end of a great season," head coach Norm Ogilvie said. "Our goal was to improve on every meet this year, and we did that. We won a championship. We're very happy with our progression."
Three Duke harriers earned All-East honors Saturday, including junior Keith Krieger who led the Blue Devils in the five-mile race with a fifth-place time of 25:14. Sophomore Chris Spooner crossed the finish line ten seconds later to earn 10th place, followed by junior Dan Daly with a 23rd place time of 25:44.
The victory was a significant improvement from Duke's showing last season at the meet when it placed 14th overall. This weekend's competition was the toughest the Blue Devils have faced all season, Ogilvie said.
"This is the biggest cross country meet next to the NCAA Championships," Ogilvie said. "We're a young team this year, and every meet we've just gotten faster and faster."
Senior co-captain Chas Salmen finished 29th with a 25:50 time followed three seconds later by freshman Geary Gubbins who placed 31st. Ogilvie said Salmen's performance was a significant improvement on his past showings.
"He finished higher than he had in the past," Ogilvie said. "He really came through big for us."
Of Duke's top seven harriers, Salmen is the only one that will not be returning next season. Ogilvie said his team will continue to improve as it gains more experience.
"We have everyone returning next year, so it's a great starting off point for next season," Ogilvie said. "We've really laid the groundwork for next year."
The women's cross country team's B squad also traveled to Fordham this weekend. Seven freshmen ran for Duke to earn ninth place in the ECAC Championships.
Maddie McKeever placed fourth and Anna Farias-Eisner finished 11th with times of 18:05.5 and 18:24.6, respectively, in the 5K race to earn All-East honors.
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