Blue Devils Sweep Elon Opener to Open 2023 Season

Friday, September 1

Elon, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Elon Opener

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Sweep Elon Opener to Open 2023 Season

9/1/2023 11:45:00 PM | Cross Country

Team Results - Women (PDF)Individual Results - Women (PDF)Team Results - Men (PDF)Individual Results - Men (PDF)

ELON, N.C. – The Duke cross country program opened the 2023 racing season with a bang as the Blue Devils swept both the men's and women's fields Friday evening at the Elon Cross Country Course.

Both squads commanded their respective races, beginning with the Duke women who registered the top six finishers on the 4K course en route to totaling 15 points. Duke's men, who also finished with 15 points, posted seven of the top eight placements on the 6K course.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Graduate student Emily Cole spearheaded the charge for the Blue Devil women via a first-place finish of 13:11.3.
Freshman Thais Rolly shined in her collegiate debut as she was the next Duke runner to cross the finish line, running her race in 13:16.9 to finish as runner-up.
Rounding out the top-five placements for Duke were graduate student Julia Fenerty, senior Kelli Wilson and sophomore Anna Corcoran – all three turning in personal-best performances.
Fenerty locked down a third-place finish with a time of 13:24.9, Wilson clocked 13:27.9 to take fourth while Corcoran ran 13:28.7 – good for fifth overall.
Rookie Ella Johns also had a strong showing in her first collegiate race, registering a sixth-place finish behind a time of 13:31.9.
It was a photo finish on the men's side for Duke as the trio of graduate student Rory Cavan and seniors Austin Gabay and Jared Kreis finished within tenths of a second of each other.
Gabay claimed the top spot in the men's race on a personal-best of 17:38.5, with Cavan (17:38.6) and Kreis (17:38.7) placing second and third via career bests of their own.
Graduate student Michael Keehan and junior Carter Dillon also finished neck-and-neck following PR's, clocking 17:44.2 and 17:44.3, respectively, to garner fourth and fifth place.
Zubeir Dagane turned in the best time of his career on a 6K course, with the graduate student placing sixth behind a run of 17:46.6.
To view the full meet results, click here.

QUOTE
"This was a good start to the season for both teams. We ran well as a pack and closed it down the last portion of the race nicely." – head coach Angela Reckart

UP NEXT
The Blue Devils are back in action on Sept. 15 as the team travels up the road to Cary to take part in the Adidas XC Challenge.

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