Duke left Princeton with two strong showings at the Meadows Challenge, and the headliners came from both ends of the roster. Victoria Garces delivered a breakout run for the Blue Devil women, while Finlay Ross-Davie paced the men in his first race for Duke.
Garces was the story of the morning for the women. The sophomore finished second overall in the 6k, crossing in 19:43.1 and slicing 31 seconds off her previous best of 20:14. She handled the heavy rain and wind from the start, stayed near the front throughout the race, and made her biggest move at the 4,200-meter mark before climbing to No. 2 in the final mile.
Duke’s women placed fourth among 17 teams with 105 points, a strong season-opening result that also included a pair of impressive collegiate debuts. Freshman Sundara Weber finished 11th in 20:09, and Cassidy Armstrong came in 22nd in 20:36.3. Hattie Reynolds was 28th in 20:43.0, and senior Nimrit Ahuja completed the scoring five in 43rd at 20:57.4.
The men finished eighth out of 15 teams with 214 points, and the Blue Devils packed their lineup well. All five scoring runners landed inside the top 60, and Duke moved up two spots in the team standings during the second half of the 8k after sitting 10th at 3,500 meters.
Ross-Davie led that charge with a 22nd-place finish in 23:35.0. He was 49th at the first 3,500 meters, then surged to 25th over the next kilometer before closing in 5:07 over the final 1,600 meters to move up three more spots.
Aden Bandukwala and Will Purnell ran side by side for much of the race and finished 40th and 42nd, respectively. Bandukwala posted 23:56.1, while Purnell was right behind at 23:56.5. Both made steady progress after the early stages, and each closed hard in the final 1,600, with Bandukwala covering it in 5:05 and Purnell in 5:04.
Junior Alden Keller and freshman Braden Lofquest were Duke’s next finishers, taking 57th and 61st in 24:08.4 and 24:10.6. Lofquest was the Blue Devils’ top freshman on the men’s side, and he closed the final mile in 5:16.
Rendon Kuykendall, Hunter Robbie, Zachary Parker, Kavi Gibson, Owen Pukys, Jeremy Kain and Meshack Kuyo also ran for Duke, rounding out the lineup.
The meet featured a deep field on both sides. Six of the top seven men’s teams had competed in last year’s NCAA Championships, and Duke edged out NCAA Championship qualifier Iona for the eighth spot.
On the women’s side, Alabama won the team title, with the three teams ahead of Duke all having competed in the 2025 NCAA Championships. The Blue Devils also finished ahead of ACC opponents Syracuse and Wake Forest.
In Other News...
Former Duke Star Suddenly Faces Troubling Start To Year Two
Kon Knueppels second year with the Charlotte Hornets has gotten off to an unwelcome start, with the former Duke standout set to miss the teams preseason after suffering a hamstring injury. Charlotte is also without Grant Williams for the exhibition slate because of a separate hamstring issue, a reminder that even before the games count, the Hornets are already trying to manage their depth and keep key pieces on track.
Knueppel arrived in the league as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and followed that up with a strong rookie season, which is why this early setback draws attention beyond Charlotte. The bigger concern now is simply getting him back to full speed without any lingering issues, and the Hornets are planning a re-evaluation during the first week of the regular season as they wait for a clearer picture. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Fans Have Every Right To Question This Top 25 Snub
Duke has given voters plenty to consider lately, and not much of it should have led to being left out of the Top 25 entirely. The Blue Devils have won eight straight and backed that run by capturing the ACC championship, yet the rankings continue to treat them like a team on the outside looking in. For a program that has stacked wins and handled its business down the stretch, that omission is hard to ignore.
The frustration only grows when teams with shakier recent rsums keep finding a spot in the poll, which has only fueled the broader debate about how much conference reputation matters. Missouri is still sitting at No. 25 even after a loss to Mississippi State, and that kind of contrast is exactly why Duke supporters are wondering what more their team was supposed to do. Add in the roster turnover and transfer movement that have shaped how this season has been viewed, and the snub starts to look less like an oversight and more like a trend. [Read more 🡒]
Dukes Biggest Early Problem May Finally Be Improving
Dukes 62-7 romp over William & Mary did more than keep the Blue Devils unbeaten at 4-0 for the second time under Manny Diaz. It also offered a cleaner look at one of the earliest trouble spots of the season, with the team showing some real progress in an area that had been dragging down its first three weeks.
Diaz pointed to the improvement in his postgame press conference, even while making clear the issue is hardly solved. Penalties still loom as a concern once conference play arrives, and the costly ones in particular remain the kind of mistake that can change a game fast if Duke doesnt keep tightening things up. [Read more 🡒]