Women run on to NCAA Championships

The women's cross country team earned its sixth straight trip to the NCAA Championships with a second-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional meet Saturday in Louisville, Ky.

The Blue Devils entered the meet ranked fifth in the region and needed to finish in the top two in order to qualify for nationals.

Maddie McKeever, the top runner for Duke all season, was once again the first Blue Devil across the finish line. She finished the 6K race fourth overall in a time of 20:17.05.

McKeever was followed by Kate Van Buskirk, who finished 16th with a time of 21:06.45. McKeever and Van Buskirk were both named to the All-Southeast Region team for their top-25 finishes.

The Blue Devils will race two weeks in a row for the first time this year when they compete at the NCAA Championships next Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.

"We've got a good team and a history of doing well at the national championships so I feel confident we'll have our kids go out and run their best race of the year there," head coach Kevin Jermyn said.

The men's team also competed in the Southeast Regional meet, putting forth a solid team effort in an 11th-place finish.

Freshman Josh Lund led the way, finishing the 10K race 49th overall with a time of 31:31.50. He was followed five seconds later by fellow freshman Bo Waggoner and junior Kevin McDermott.

Although the men's team didn't qualify for the NCAA Championships, its freshman class continued to impress.

"This is the youngest Duke team I've put out in my coaching career here," Ogilvie said. "It's just a matter of those freshmen getting older, getting stronger, getting more experience, and getting faster."

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