10/16/2009 - Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va./BOONE, N.C. - Both the Duke men's and women's cross country teams competed on Friday afternoon, travelling to two separate locations. The men finished fourth overall at the Panorama Farms Invitational, hosted by Virginia, while the women remained undefeated with a first-place effort at Appalachian State's Blue Ridge Open.

The host-team, No. 15 UVA, took first place out of 10 teams on its home course, totaling 30 points. No. 11 Syracuse totaled 41 points for the second-place finish, while No. 24 Villanova finished in third with 70 points. Fourth place belong to the Blue Devils with 109 points, followed by Texas A&M (155 points) in fifth and Tennessee (158 points) in sixth.

The Cavaliers' top finisher, Emil Heineking, also captured the individual title, completing the 8K course in 23:16.39, 40 seconds under the previous course record.

Junior Bo Waggoner led Duke with a 12^th-place effort out of 109 finishers. Waggoner ran an 8K personal-best 24:06.10, 26 seconds faster than his All-ACC finish a year ago on the same course.

Junior Cory Nanni also set a new personal record with a 24:09.30 finish for 16^th place. Josh Lund, Duke's top finisher two weeks ago at the Great American Cross Country Festival, ran 24:23.10 for 22^nd place. Senior James Osborne (24:28.67) and sophomore Stephen Clark (24:49.40) rounded out Duke's top five in 26^th and 28^th place, respectively.

Overall, we were pleased with our team today," head coach Norm Ogilvie said. "We did an especially good job coming back on the fourth and fifth mile, which bodes well for us when the courses stretch to 10K later in the season."

The women's team brought home another team title on Friday, taking five of the top six individual spots to total 18 points. ACC foe Virginia Tech finished in second out of 15 squads with 104 points.

Sophomore Carly Seymour ran 17:18.07 for 5K to take first place at the event. Freshman Juliet Bottorff, competing unattached, claimed second in 17:33.77, followed closely by classmate Mary Carleton Johnston (17:35.57) in third.

Duke swept the five, six and seven spots with junior Emily Schwitzer in 17:50.01, freshman Madeline Morgan in 17:55.40 and sophomore Esther Vermeer in 17:56.74.

"This was the first time this season we've been able to have the full group compete together and we're very happy with the results," said assistant coach Liz Wort. "We tried to come out really aggressive at the start and we executed very well. Today was a positive step forward. Although we still have a couple people out, we feel prepared for a strong showing at the ACC Championships."

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