Duke Completes Pre-Nationals, VertCross

Friday, October 15

Tallahassee, Fla.

8 A.M.

Duke University

Pre-Nationals Invitational

Photo by: Ben Sheehan

Duke Completes Pre-Nationals, VertCross

10/15/2021 10:27:00 PM | Cross Country

PRE-NATIONALS RESULTS (MEN)PRE-NATIONALS RESULTS (WOMEN)VERTCROSS RESULTS

DURHAM – Duke men's and women's cross country completed action at two events, completing runs at the Pre-Nationals Invitational, in Tallahassee, Fla., and VertCross in Kernersville, N.C., on Friday.

PRE-NATIONALS
The day would begin with the men's 8K race, as the Blue Devils placed 13th in the highly competitive field. The Blue Devils delivered a strong finish, defeating all other southeast region teams competing and recording the best finish at the event since 2012. The Blue Devils beat several ranked teams, including No. 17 Wake Forest, No. 25 Weber State and No. 30 Charlotte.

Leading the way for the Blue Devils was graduate student CJ Ambrosio, who clocked in with a time of 23:53.1, recording his best 8K time since the 2020 ACC Championship and beating his best on the Florida State course by just under 18 seconds.

The Blue Devil men displayed strong pack running from the start, gradually moving up the boards. Duke sat in 19th place after the first 1170m, but kept chipping away, until the top-five scorers had all joined the top-90. Senior Chris Theodore made one of the biggest moves of the day, standing 111th 3000m into the race, before working his way all the way to 66th at the end of the race with a time of 23:58.6.

Rounding out the top-five for the men were graduate students Josh Romine, Michael Ungvarsky and Nick Dahl. Romine took 76th with time of 24:04.7, Ungvarsky finished 85th with a mark of 24:09.1 and Dahl checked in at 87th with a time of 24:10.5.

Next up would be the women's race, where the Blue Devils would take 15th amongst the crowded and highly-ranked field for its best finish at the meet since 2017. The Blue Devils were one of only eight teams with two runners in the top-35, as sophomore Charlotte Tomkinson and graduate student Michaela Reinhart led the way.

Tomkinson turned in the top time of the day, finishing 25th with a mark of 20:17.9. The San Carlos, Calif., recorded the best finish by any Blue Devil, man or woman, at the Pre-Nationals since Shaun Thompson finished seventh at the 2015 Pre-Nationals and finished third among all ACC racers. Tomkinson crushed her previous 6K best by 58.5 seconds and has now been the team's top finisher in all three events she's raced in this season.

Reinhart was not far behind, checking in at 31st with a time of 20:24.2 as the fourth-fastest ACC runner. It was the second-fastest 6K time of her collegiate career, bested only by her fourth-place finish at last season's ACC Championships.

Duke's final three scorers were senior Elizabeth Reneau, in 89th with a time of 21:06.5, senior Clara Savchik in 99th at 21:14.1 and junior Emily Cole in 135th with a mark of 21:39.6.

VERTCROSS
The Blue Devil men recorded its second win of the season, taking first with 32 points. In a field of eight opponents from local universities, the Blue Devils took five of the top-15 positions, with sophomore Jared Kreis leading the way with a second-place finish and time of 25:20.9.

Junior Connor Wells was the next of four in the top-10, checking in at sixth place with a time 25:43.7. Right behind him were sophomore Jack Kovach (seventh, 25:50.1), junior Rory Cavan (ninth, 25:53.5) and senior Will Dixon (21st, 26:24.5).

While the women's side fielded only four runners, making it impossible to receive a team score, the Blue Devils got strong showings from all four. Sophomore Kelli Wilson led the way with a time of 18:29.9, taking 12th overall. Freshman Katie Hamilton was not far behind, placing 25th with a time of 19:01.7.

Freshman Hope Frost was next across the finish line, placing 49th in her first collegiate 5K with a time of 19:46.7. Junior Naima Turbes rounded out the Blue Devil lineup with a time of 20:21.7.

The Blue Devils will be back in action on October 29, when the men and women will compete in the ACC Championships, hosted by Notre Dame, in South Bend, Ind.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils cross country and track & field, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeTFXC."

#GoDuke