Stock Watch: Duke field hockey stays hot; swim team starts strong

The bell of the Blue Zone stock exchange has just rung again, meaning it's time to take another look at who is rising and falling with their performances for Blue Devil sports teams. Each week The Blue Zone will look at whose stock is on the rise and whose stock has taken a hit from the week in the world of Duke athletics.

Bull Market-Trending up

Field Hockey — Head coach Pam Bustin’s squad moved into the top five in the country following a lopsided 7-0 win Sunday against Longwood. Duke has won four straight contests, three of which were against formerly top-15 teams—No. 9 Louisville, No. 12 Delaware and No. 15 Old Dominion. The Blue Devil defense recorded back-to-back shutouts this weekend and allowed just three shots throughout the game against the Lancers and seven in the rainy Friday evening match against Louisville. Sophomore back Alyssa Chillano provided the offensive highlight of the weekend and tallied the first hat trick of her career. The Blue Devils will look to keep their strong defensive play going as they head up the coast to face ACC-opponent Boston College this Friday.

Women’s basketball rankings — As official practices begin across the nation, Duke is ranked No. 8 in The Sporting News poll and No. 13 in Athlon Sports. The Blue Devils return three starters from last year’s Sweet 16 squad including Rebecca Greenwell, Amber Henson and Azurá Stevens‚—who represented Duke on the All-ACC Freshman team this past season. Duke also welcomes the top-ranked recruiting class in the country with five stellar freshmen—including Angela Salvadores who has collected two gold, one silver and two bronze medals as part of the U19 Spanish national team.

Duke breaststroke—Dropping the nation's fastest times so far this season in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, junior Peter Kropp raced to decisive victories in his signature events in the Blue Devils' home-opener against Pittsburgh. Challenging his lifetime best of 52.02 seconds, Kropp claimed a new Taishoff Aquatic Pavilion record of 52.13 seconds in the 100-yard event—just five one-hundredths off of automatic qualification for the national championships in March—and broke the two-minute barrier in the longer distance event, clocking 1:59.01. As the swimming season gets underway, Kropp's performances have set the bar high for the nation's other top programs and Olympic Trials qualifiers chasing his times. 

Bear Market—Trending Down 

Rainy Saturdays — The Blue Devils last two home games in the newly renovated Wallace Wade Stadium have been far from comfortable for fans. Both contests featured cold and rainy conditions that caused attendance to suffer substantially. But head coach David Cutcliffe’s squad played well and defeated ACC counterpart Georgia Tech followed by Boston College Saturday. As Duke prepares to head to Westpoint, N.Y. for a matchup against Army, the weather has started to approve as Hurricane Joaquin has left the region. One can only hope that blue skies return when the Blue Devils play their next home contest against Miami Oct. 31.