Duke Women Sweep Panorama Farms Invitational

Friday, October 16

Earlysville, Va.

4:15 P.M.

Duke University

Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational

Duke Women Sweep Panorama Farms Invitational

10/16/2020 7:09:00 PM | Cross Country

WOMEN'S RESULTS (PDF)MEN'S RESULTS (PDF)

EARLYSVILLE, Va. – The Duke women's cross country team posted the top three individual times to give the Blue Devils a first-place team result at the Panorama Farms Invitational on Friday evening.

Senior Amanda Beach led the way for Duke, recording a personal-best 5K time of 16:53.0 to pace the field of 33 runners. Fellow senior Michaela Reinhart (16:53.9) and sophomore Samantha Schadler (17:01.5) also clocked PR's to finish second and third, respectively. The sweep guided the Blue Devils to 23 team points, which bested Virginia (second, 47 points) and Virginia Tech (third, 58).

"I am incredibly impressed with the confidence and execution of the women's team today," Interim Head Coach Rhonda Riley said.

In the men's race that followed, senior CJ Ambrosio broke the 24-minute mark in an 8K for the first time in his career, recording a PR time of 23:56.5 to finish second overall. Ambrosio beat his previous personal record, which came last season on the Panorama Farms course, by over 30 seconds. Senior Josh Romine earned a top-five placement off of a personal-best time of his own, coming in fifth at 24:16.3. Senior Paul Dellinger (sixth, 24:18.1) and sophomore Zach Kinne (ninth, 24:20.1) additionally posted PR's to help the Duke men take second in the team standings with 33 points.

"CJ was out to make a statement and try to win the race, and he put himself in a position to do so," Riley said. "He just didn't have it quite at the end, but it was really impressive to see him from the gun just take it and continue to hold that lead."

In total, each of the six members of the women's squad that had competed in a collegiate 5K prior to Friday's race would set a new personal-record time. Senior Sara Platek, whose previous PR came in her first-ever race at Duke, clocked a time of 17:20.4 to place seventh overall. Junior Leigha Torino rounded out the top 10 with a time of 17:31.1, and was trailed by freshman Charlotte Tomkinson, who placed 11th at 17:34.6. Junior Clara Savchik cleared her old PR (18:09.7) by 18 seconds, coming in 15th overall with a 17:51.6 finishing time.

On the men's side, freshman Austin Gabay improved his time in his collegiate debut three weeks ago by well over a minute. After placing 21st at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Sept. 25 with an 8K time of 25:41.2, the Gabay placed crossed the finish line at 24:26.4 on Friday, good for 11th in the field. Junior Chris Theodore followed shortly after, clocking 24:30.3 to finish 13th.

Senior Michael Ungvarsky (24:49.5), sophomore Sam Rivera (24:54.2) and sophomore Will Dixon (25:32.5) also set PR's during the meet.

Friday's races conclude the regular season for the Blue Devils. Duke now gears up for the ACC Championships, which are scheduled to be run on Friday, Oct. 30, at the WakeMed cross country course in Cary, N.C. Further information on the meet, including start times and distances, will be announced at a later date.

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