Duke Cross Country Sweeps Wolfpack Invitational

Saturday, November 8

Cary, N.C.

11:00 AM

Duke University

N.C. State

Duke Cross Country Sweeps Wolfpack Invitational

11/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country

By: Duke Sports Information

CARY, N.C. ? The Duke men's and women's cross country ?B' teams swept the Wolfpack Invitational Saturday morning, both taking first out of five teams to sweep the event for the second straight year at the WakeMed Soccer Park at N.C. State.

The men's team, ranked sixth in the region this week, picked up four wins and zero losses to improve to 57-14 on the fall season, competing just five athletes in the meet leading up to the NCAA Southeast Regional event next weekend.

Sophomore Joshua Lund placed second overall ? first among collegiate competitors ? to pace the Blue Devils with his 5K time of 15:04. Lund's finish was the fastest ever by a Duke harrier on the course.

Behind Lund, sophomore Ryan McDermott was fourth overall, finishing in 15:18 and second for the team. Freshman James Kostelnik was third for Duke and seventh overall in 15:29, followed by junior Ken Sullivan in 12th (15:55) and freshman Guillermo Echarte in 15th (16:07), as all five Blue Devils finished in the top 15 in the field of 42 runners.

Duke's team score of 25 was the day's best, ahead of High Point (30), Elon (83), East Carolina (99), and North Carolina A&T (110).

“This was a good win for us, and a good tune-up heading into regionals,” said Director of Track & Field Norm Ogilvie. “It was also a great race for Josh Lund.”

The women, ranked second in the region, were also first of five teams and placed seven runners in the top 15 overall. The Blue Devils took the top seven scoring places as several runners competed unattached.

Senior Anna Farias-Eisner led the Blue Devils and took fifth overall in the field of 51 with her 5K time of 18:11. She was followed by freshman Allison Damon in sixth overall (18:27), senior Patricia Loughlin in eighth overall (18:30), freshman Mary Carleton Johnston in ninth overall (18:30), and freshman Esther Vermeer in 10th overall (18:35).

Freshman Virginia Hine and junior Priya Khatri completed the Blue Devils' top seven, coming in at 13th (18:50) and 14th (18:54), respectively, as Duke finished with 15 total team points and went 4-0 on the day to move to 60-6-1 on the season.

The women defeated High Point (58), East Carolina (82), NC State (99), and North Carolina A&T (118).

“A lot of girls went out and ran some of their best performances, so we came away from this competition quite pleased,” said women's cross country head coach Kevin Jermyn. “We were excited to see Anna have the best cross country race of her season chasing an elite pack of All-America level runners.”

Farias-Eisner will likely become Duke's alternate for next weekend's regionals, as the Blue Devils did not race their ?A' squad from last weekend's ACC Championships.

The ?B' team will compete again in two weeks at the ECAC Championships in Bronx, N.Y. on Nov. 22.

The NCAA Southeast Regional meet will be held at Wake Forest next Sat., Nov. 15.

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