With the postseason quickly approaching, the Blue Devils will head north for two of the fastest meets the nation has to offer this weekend in hopes of building momentum for the ACC Championships at the end of the month.
The women’s team will compete in the Wisconsin adidas Invitational Friday, and the men will race in the NCAA Pre-Nationals event in Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday. Both squads will send their top seven runners based on performances earlier in the regular season.
The women have shown individual talent and potential throughout the regular season, but in order to be successful in the postseason, the Blue Devil squad will have to compete as a team. The race in Madison, Wis., will be Duke’s last opportunity to hone its racing strategy.
“Our top five needs to do a better job of racing as a unit and closing the gap,” women’s head coach Christine Engel said. “In our first two meets, we had a gap of around 49 seconds [from our first to fifth runner] for each race. That isn’t going to work if we want to be successful at the ACC and regional meet.”
The adidas Invitational is also an opportunity for the women’s team to score points against teams outside the Southeast region—points which will be vital to keeping the Blue Devils’ hopes of a national championship berth alive if they do not advance automatically by a top-two finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships Nov. 14. Nearly every region will be represented in the 40 teams racing Friday, with 17 of the top 25 teams in the nation competing.
A strong performance in Wisconsin will give Duke the extra momentum it needs to compete at the top of the conference in two weeks.
“I’m a big believer in momentum, so we are looking for something that will fuel our confidence moving forward into the ACC Championships,” Engel said.
The men’s squad is also hoping to use this weekend to shift the team’s momentum after a disappointing showing at the Panorama Farms Invitational in September.
“We have to prove some things to ourselves,” men’s head coach Norm Ogilvie said. “We had a really bad day at Virginia. If we correct that, we can be right back in the thick of it again. If we don’t, we stand very little chance of having a strong ACC meet. This Saturday is very important, and we are taking it very seriously.”
Seven Blue Devils will represent the squad in the championship race—Blake Udland, Henry Farley, Brian Schoepfer, William Rooney, Matt Luppino, Nate McClafferty and Daniel Moore.
The first six Duke harriers have been the squad’s top scorers throughout the season. Moore claimed the final spot on the NCAA Pre-Nationals roster with his impressive performance at the Royals Challenge last weekend, leading the B-squad across the line in 25:29.8 and finishing fourth overall in the 8,000-meter race.
The sophomore has rebounded from a series of knee ailments that prevented him from competing last season and has stepped up as the Blue Devils’ seventh scoring runner. His race last weekend earned him his first ACC Performer of the Week honor.
“That was a good solid race, certainly the first time he has led the Duke team and it earned him the final berth to Indiana,” Ogilvie said. “We are excited for him, and we hope he continues in a positive direction.”
The Blue Devils will need Moore's positive momentum this weekend to quickly turn the season around. The Duke squad is aiming to finish sixth or higher at the tough conference meet at the end of October. This weekend’s performance could set the tone for the postseason.
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