Blue Devils Shine at NCAA Southeast Regional Championships

Friday, November 13

Spartanburg, S.C.

W6k: 10 a.m. | M10k: 11 a.m.

Duke University

NCAA Southeast Regional

Women's Results Men's Results

Finlay Ross-Davie in blue racing singlet runs in ACC Cross Country Championship

Photo by: Duke Athletics

11/13/2026 12:16:00 PM | Cross Country

Men's Results Women's Results

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – It was another strong morning of racing for the Duke cross country teams as the men took fifth and the women sixth at the 2026 NCAA Southeast Regional Championships Friday morning on the Milliken Research Park course.

Graduate student Finlay Ross-Davie led the way for the men with a 10th-place finish, crossing the line a half second behind his North Carolina competitor in 29:21.1. Sophomore Victoria Garces paced the women's squad with an 11th-place showing in 19:27.5.

Both teams will wait to see if they receive at-large bids for the NCAA Championships. Garces and Ross-Davie also could earn individual bids if the teams do not garner an at-large berth. The final field will be announced, Nov. 14 at 5 p.m., on NCAA.com.

Duke's fifth place showing in the 10k men's competition is the best since taking fifth in 2022. The Blue Devil women match their finish from last year's regional competition.

Both squads had two runners in the top 25, marking the first time for the Blue Devil women since 2019 and the first time since 2022 for the men.

Ross-Davie Outraces the Competition in Final 5k

Ross-Davie and Alden Keller paced each other over the first 7,000 meters of the 10k course. They both crossed the midway point of the course in 30th and 31st place, respectively. Keller jumped up to 19th over the next 2,000 meters, while Ross-Davie sat in 21st with 3k left to run.
Both remained strong as Ross-Davie hit the 8.5k checkpoint two seconds ahead of Keller. Ross-Davie, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, shined in the final 1,500 meters as he covered the last part of the course in 4:08 to take 10th overall. Keller crossed the line in 22nd with a time of 29:33. His final 1,500 was 4:18.
Junior Aden Bandukwala hit the tape in 26th place with a time of 29:41.3 thanks to a 4:17 final 1,500 meters. Rendon Kuykendall and Will Purnell completed the top five Duke finishers in 41st and 53rd place, respectively. Kuykendall had a time of 29:53.3 and Purnell timed in at 30:04.0. Zachary Parker (30:49.5/80th) and Braden Lofquest (31:04.6/99th) completed the Duke lineup.

Garces Shines in the Women's Race

Garces turned in another strong race for the Blue Devils as she helped Duke match its sixth-place showing last year in a highly competitive region that features seven teams ranked in the top 25 nationally and four in the top 15.
The sophomore crossed the 2k split in 17th place at 6:17. Just like she has done all season, Garces stayed steady and moved up to 13th just over the halfway point of the race. She hit the 5k mark in 11th place alongside an NC State runner and covered the final 1,000 meters in 3:15 for her final time of 19:27.5. She edged her Wolfpack competitor by three seconds down the stretch.
Freshman Cassidy Armstrong was next across the line for Duke with a time of 19:52.5 for 25th place. Armstrong was strong and steady throughout the 6,000 meters, running in 27th just past the halfway point. She battled her way to the top 25 by the 5k marker and ran the final 2.5k overall in 8:28 for her 25th-place showing.
The quartet of Hattie Reynolds, Anna Callahan, Sundara Weber and Thais Rolly paced each other to finish all within 16 places of each other. Reynolds ran a personal best 20:19.6 for 41st place, while Weber (20:31.5/50th), Callahan (20:32.8/52nd) and Rolly (20:36.4/56th) rounded out the top six Duke finishers. Nimrit Ahuja completed the Duke lineup in 68th place with a time of 20:55.6.

Up Next

The Blue Devils will await their fate for the 2026 NCAA Championships. The final field of runners and teams will be announced on NCAA.com Nov. 14 at 5 p.m. The NCAA Championship race is set for Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Indiana.

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