"It's always good to beat UNC," head coach Norm Ogilvie said after his team's strong finish Friday at the Blue Ridge Open in Boone, N.C.
Duke finished second in a field of 20 teams, which included its Tobacco Road rivals, clocking in behind only 11th-ranked Texas.
The team was led by ninth-place finisher Bo Waggoner with a time of 24:45, followed by junior Kevin McDermott in 16th (25:06), senior Chris Spooner in 21st (25:14) and freshman Ryan McDermott in 27th (25:19).
Fellow Freshmen Cory Nanni and Isaac Dunkelberger and sophomore Tradelle Ward rounded out the Blue Devils top-seven finishers by placing in 31st, 44th and 48th, respectively.
Ogilvie said the men successfully adopted a conservative strategy during the race, starting slow and passing many runners in the later miles of the course.
"We were happy with the race," Ogilvie said. "Our guys did a good job."
He highlighted the performances of Duke's freshmen, five of whom finished in Duke's top seven. In particular, Ogilvie pointed to Waggoner, who was the first freshman finisher, saying that he ran "an outstanding race."
The 17th-ranked women's team also competed Friday, finishing sixth out of 25 teams at the Penn State Invitational in University Park, Pa.
"It was our first disappointing competition," head coach Kevin Jermyn said. "We were hoping to place better than sixth."
Junior Maddie McKeever paced the women, placing third in the 6-kilometer race with a time of 20:51. She was followed by sophomore Emily Sherrard in 34th (21:55), freshman Christy Adamyk in 43rd (22:03), junior Patricia Loughlin in 50th (22:17), junior Molly Lehman in 55th (22:19).
Jermyn praised McKeever's performance, while emphasizing the need for some of the other runners to improve their preparation for meets and practices.
"The big thing is some of our kids need to get more focused," he said.
Both the men and women will race next Oct. 27 at the ACC championships in Charlottesville, Va.
"We have the talent to go out there and do good things," Jermyn said of the women's team, which finished second behind N.C. State at the 2006 conference championships.
Ogilvie has similarly high hopes for the men at their race, where they finished fourth in 2006. "It will be a battle for third between us, Florida State and Virginia Tech," he said.
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