HARRISONBURG, Va. - Both the Duke men's and women's cross country teams turned in solid performances to take home the team first-place finish on Saturday at the James Madison Invitational. The men scored 23 points for the top spot, followed by Georgetown with 42 points and Northeastern at 102. The women collected 18 points, compared to 55 from second-place James Madison and 94 from third-place Northeastern.
The Blue Devil men are now 8-0 on the year, while the women improved their record to 10-0 in 2009.
The men's squad had an outstanding day, with seven runners finishing in the top-10 and three Blue Devils posting times under the previous course record of 24:43. Georgetown sophomore Mark Dennin finished first out of 85 competitors in the 7,900-meter race, with a time of 24:16.80. Junior Bo Waggoner paced Duke with a second-place finish in 24:20.60, followed closely by teammates Josh Brewer (24:20.10) and James Osbourne (24:42.90) in third and fourth place, respectively.
Sophomore James Kostelnik crossed the finish line in sixth place with a time of 24:47.90, while three more Blue Devils rounded out the top-10 with junior Cory Nanni (24:55.60) in eighth place, sophomore Andrew Brodeur (25:59.10) in ninth and freshman Jonathan Sanchez (24:59.90) in 10th. Overall, the Duke men's five-man average of 24:41 was two seconds faster than the previous course record set last year.
Not to be outdone, the Blue Devil women's squad also had a strong showing, placing eight runners in the top-10. Junior Emily Schwitzer took first place out of 119 finishers for the 5,100-meter race. Her time of 18:09.50 eclipsed the previous course record of 18:20:00 set in 2006. Sophomore Carly Seymour grabbed the second spot with a 18:12.50 finish, also under the previous course record.
Sophomore Suejin Ahn (18:41.90), freshman Sophia Ziemian (18:48.00) and sophomore Mary Carleton Johnston (18:51.20) swept the fourth, fifth and sixth spots, respectively. Freshman Madeline Morgan (19:00.20) in eighth, sophomore Esther Vermeer (19:08.60) in ninth and junior Katelyn Bastert (19:19.20) in 10th completed the top 10.
The Blue Devil women's top five average of 18:32.60 was nearly a minute faster than second-place James Madison's 19:29.80 average.
The Duke men's team will run again on Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Roy Griak Inviational in Minneapolis, Minn. Both teams return to action at the Great American Cross Country Festival on Friday, Oct. 2 in Cary, N.C., while the women's squad travels to Madison, Wisc., for the Wisconsin Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 3.
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