Duke Set for ACC Championships Friday

Friday, November 1

Blacksburg, Va.

10 AM

Duke University

ACC Championships (M)

Juniors CJ Ambrosio and Leigha Torino

Duke Set for ACC Championships Friday

10/31/2019 11:25:00 AM | Cross Country

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke men's and women's cross country teams are set to compete at the ACC Championships in Blacksburg, Va., on the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course Friday morning.

The men will run eight kilometers and begin competition at 10 a.m., while the women start at 11 a.m. in a six kilometer race.

The Blue Devil men have captured first place four times this season as they have seen numerous runners finish in the top-10. Junior CJ Ambrosio has led Duke on two separate occasions, placing second at the Cavalier Classic with an 8k time of 24:27.2, and finishing third at the Roy Griak Invite with an 8k time of 24:48.1. Ambrosio's finish at Roy Griak tabbed him ACC Co-Men's Runner of the Week.

"We had two great practices last week and a couple of tune-ups this week to really give it a go," said men's head coach Norm Ogilvie. "I would say the top eight spots are pretty much up for grabs. We certainly hope to get one of them."

Freshman Zach Kinne has also tallied top-10 finishes, including fifth place in his first collegiate meet at the Elon Opener and 10th at the Roy Griak Invite. Kinne's time of 25:04.4 at the Roy Griak in Minneapolis, Minn., earned him ACC Men's Freshman of the Week. Kinne posted a first place team finish at Pre-Nationals on Oct. 19, earning 81st with a personal best 8k time of 24:40.4. His efforts in Terre Haute, Ind., awarded him his second ACC Men's Freshman of the Week honor.

Racing for the men are seniors Cole Hoff and Tom Sullivan, Ambrosio and juniors Paul Dellinger, Alex Miley, Josh Romine and Michael Ungvarsky, and freshmen Rory Cavan, Kinne and Sam Rivera.

The women have seen much success throughout the 2019 campaign, including finishing eight girls in the top-10 throughout the season. Senior Lindsay Billings has registered two top-five placements this year, including a fourth place showing a the 4k Elon Opener and a fifth place finish at the 6k Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational. Billings also placed first for the Blue Devils at Pre-Nationals, earning 47th with an 6k personal record time of 20:55.7. Junior Michaela Reinhart is looking to extend her streak of All-ACC honors, as she placed 20th in 2018 (20:58.5) and 16th in 2017 (20:32.4).

"ACC's is always a great week and we are very excited to put our self in the mix with very, very good competition and see where we stack up," said women's head coach Rhonda Riley. "We have a few things that we're going to fix moving forward and if we can fix those I think we're going to place our self in a really position at ACC's."

The women runners include redshirt senior Gabrielle Richichi, seniors Sarah Armstrong and Billings, juniors Amanda Beach, Sara Platek, Reinhart, Leigha Torino and Helen Williams, sophomore Elizabeth Reneau and freshman Emily Cole.

Live results of the meet can be found here.

To watch live, click here.
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