The women's and men's cross country teams finished in fifth and 10th places, respectively, against strong fields Friday at the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Eugene, Ore.
The fifth-ranked women's team was once again paced by senior Emily McCabe and sophomore Maddie McKeever. The two have combined to take first and second place for the Blue Devils in each of their first three meets this year.
"It's still early on in the season," head coach Kevin Jermyn said. "The first few girls are right where they need to be."
McCabe finished the six kilometer run third overall with a time of 20:31.68, while McKeever placed 19th with a time of 21:09.61. Freshman Kate Van Buskirk and senior Elle Pishny competed for the first time this fall, placing third and fourth for the Blue Devils and 27th and 35th overall.
Jermyn said he viewed the meet as a "stepping stone" to help prepare the team for the level of competition they will face at nationals in seven weeks.
The men's team finished 10th place out of 13 teams in an eight-kilometer race that featured 7 nationally-ranked squads. The Blue Devils accomplished one of their major goals by beating a nationally-ranked opponent in No. 30 American.
Junior Chris Spooner finished first for Duke, placing 38th overall with a time of 24:13.92 in the 8K race. Spooner was followed one second later by senior Keith Krieger, who placed 39th overall.
In addition to the strong performances from Spooner and Krieger, sophomore Geary Gubbins placed third for Duke and 51st overall in his first meet back from injury.
"We performed pretty much about where people expected us to," men's head coach Norm Ogilvie said. "We feel like we've got the right personnel out there now. We feel we've got a team that is capable of qualifying for the NCAA meet in November."
The men will be back in action Oct. 7 at the Hagan Stone Park Cross County Classic in Greensboro, N.C., and the women will next compete at the Chile Pepper Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., Oct. 14.
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