The cross country season will reach its end this weekend for the Blue Devils who are not competing in the NCAA Regional Championships.
Half the runners will compete for the last time before track season at the Three Stripe Invitational at WakeMed Soccer Park Saturday as their teammates prepare for the NCAA Regional Championships next weekend.
These athletes will try to end the season on a positive note, running for individual best times.
“Generally each kid is just trying to go out there and run a great race,” women’s head coach Kevin Jermyn said. “We want to chart their progress from the beginning of the year.... We are trying to see individual improvements.”
Although a first-place team finish isn’t the primary goal of this weekend’s race, the Blue Devils could extend their streak of wins in Cary, N.C. Duke finished first on this course on the women’s side at the Adidas Challenge in September. Both sides finished first at the Three Stripe Invitational last year.
On the women’s side, a fast 5,000-meter run could earn a position on the regional team roster.
“It’s possible one of them could be an alternate for us at regionals,” Jermyn said. “I hope to see some good things. If somebody ran a really good race and showed a lot of improvement, they could get back in the lineup.”
For most of the runners, the Three Stripe Invitational is an opportunity to run one last time before taking a two-month break heading into track season.
“We are starting to do things like end-of-the-year meetings,” Jermyn said. “We will try to start refocusing on the next steps ahead.”
The Blue Devils not competing this weekend are preparing physically and mentally for the regional championships and a last chance to earn spots in the NCAA Championship meet.
The men’s and women’s teams have different strategies about resting and backing off from training in the two weeks after the ACC Championships.
“Between now and regionals, we want to focus on getting rested,” men’s head coach Norm Ogilvie said. “We have to have it all together as a team for us to keep our string of going to nationals. We are going to get ready to be our absolute best.”
Jermyn has his team taking full advantage of this week for training before coming down in mileage in the days before the big race.
“We did one of our hardest workouts of the year so far today,” he said. “From this point forward, it should start to get a little lighter. I don’t love the concept of tapering and peaking because that means you have to be bigger and better than you’ve ever been before. We just try to not over-train or overdo it, and we just let them be themselves and do what they are capable of doing.”
Duke’s mental preparation for the Regional Championships will involve staying relaxed, despite the importance of this meet for the National Championships.
“We can’t let them get too caught up in trying to feel perfectly,” Jermyn said. “We hope to cut back their training a little bit and also keep them more relaxed so they don’t hype up their expectations.”
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