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2023-24 YEAR IN SPORTS graphic by Dom Fenoglio/The Chronicle

2 | MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024

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The Chronicle

The Chronicle

Letter from the editor It’s been quite the year.

WithCollege GameDay coming and two deep March Madness runs, this year truly showed what makes college athletics special.

This is our first Year in Review edition, a chance to recap the special season and highlight some of the excellent work from our writers. I hope you enjoy taking a trip down memory lane through the biggest moments of the year. The sports department has truly done a tremendous job in V119, and I want to thank former sports editor and sports managing editor, Andrew Long and Rachael Kaplan, for leading this coverage.

Thank you to Sophie Levenson and Dom Fenoglio, our two incoming sports managing editors, for your consistent support and assistance. Sophie spearheaded an incredible features section that produced some of these pieces, and Dom’s design prowess is what made this edition look fantastic.

I love covering all of the teams here at Duke, because this is a unique athletic department. The student body was tremendous this year as the Cameron Crazies — and Wade Wackos, I might add — came out in full force, and I urge everyone to continue supporting all the teams here because the spirit of the students is infectious.

Ranjan Jindal

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MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024 | 3

YEAR IN REVIEW

Interested in joining The Chronicle’s sports section?

FALL

Field Hockey 5 Football 6-7 vs. Notre Dame vs. Troy | Birmingham Bowl

Email: rsj15@duke.edu

I am so honored to lead an incredible paper in such an important time for collegiate athletics, and I can’t wait to see what this year brings. I definitely want the input of the student body to help make this the best section it can possibly be, so please reach out — my inbox is always open.

Thank you.

rsj15@duke.edu

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FALL

The Blue Devils wasted no time jumping into the fall season, as Duke athletics got off to a hot start to the school year. Things got rolling when football opened the season 4-0 and climbed into the top 25 of the AP Poll, even securing the first-ever appearance of ESPN’s College GameDay. However, just after senior day against Pittsburgh, former head coach Mike Elko left the program for Texas A&M. As resilient as ever, the roster came together under interim head coach Trooper Taylor to win the Birmingham Bowl, and Athletic

Director Nina King hired former Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz as its next head coach in December.

However, the Blue Devils’ success extended off the gridiron. Field hockey reached the Final Four, led by All-Americans Alaina McVeigh, Hannah Miller and Piper Hampsch.

While Duke’s quest for a national title ultimately fell short, the program’s turnaround after three-consecutive losing season was impressive.

Men’s soccer continued its impressive streak of making the NCAA tournament. While the team did not make a deep postseason run, the Blue Devils became well represented in the professional ranks, as Nick Pariano signed with the Philadelphia Union and Forster Ajago with Nashville SC. In a rebuilding season for the women’s squad, Kat Rader emerged as a star with seven goals on the year.

In Cameron, volleyball compiled an amazing 12-2 home record and won 19 games, its most since 2017. Finally, junior Amina Maatoug etched her name multiple times in the cross country record books, and she finished ninth at the NCAA Championships, the highest ever by a Blue Devil runner.

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MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024 | 5

FIELD HOCKEY

Inside Duke’s unexpected rise to stardom

By Anna Newberry Oct. 13, 2023 Associate Editor

Rain or shine, Duke huddles up.

After every game, practice or scrimmage the players gather in a circle to stretch. The cool-down routine isn’t a new sight to anyone who has played a sport. It’s seen across many fields, in many sports and in many stadiums.

What isn’t seen everywhere is the combination of brutal honesty and praise that is exchanged in this particular circle.

Win or loss, the players go around and share their thoughts on what just transpired on the field. While they usually shout out something good another teammate did, they are also not afraid to mention what they think the team needs to work on.

“We did it here and there last year … but it’s become a tradition after every game this year, win or loss,” former captain Hannah Miller told The Chronicle. “It’s just a way to settle ourselves.”

This simple tradition might be the root of Duke’s complete 180 from last season.

In the 2022 season, the Blue Devils capped their season with a 7-11 record. They went 0-6 in the conference and lost in the first game of the ACC tournament.

Duke last had a winning record in 2019, 13-8, and even then didn’t capture more than one ACC win. Now, sitting at No. 2 in the nation, undefeated in the ACC and with only one loss on the

Tiffany Chen | Staff Photographer

Duke field hockey before its Final Four matchup with Northwestern. season, the Blue Devils seemingly came out of nowhere.

But the pieces have been there all along .

From the coaches

From the 2022 to 2023 seasons, Duke only added five new players to the roster, including four freshmen and one graduate transfer.

According to head coach Pam Bustin, corner penalties are the only facet of play that has improved due to roster changes.

“We have some good weapons now,” Bustin said. “It’s really fun for me because they allow me to be more creative in what we need to do against our opponents.”

Sophomore Alaina McVeigh, who was out with an injury last year, has been a key part of

the Blue Devil’s offense this season, especially on corner play. The Landsdale, Pa., native has 12 goals so far, scoring in every game but three.

Still, the current roster is majority an older team, with steady leaders like graduate forward Miller, graduate back Mary Harkins and senior goalie Piper Hampsch spending their entire collegiate careers at Duke. The answer, then, to the Blue Devils’ newfound success can’t really be found in roster additions.

“It’s an answer that people don’t really like to hear anymore … everyone likes it quick and fixed,” Bustin said. “A year ago, we were playing really good hockey. We were playing really good hockey with essentially the same core of kids, the same team.”

The transition to winning ways has been, for Bustin, a two-year process and anything but quick.

After going 6-11 and 0-6 in the ACC during the 2021 season, the spring of 2022 was focused on building individual player confidence.

“Off the field, we had to work on what we were doing while away from the team, what we were doing to improve our individual confidence … and then finally connection,” Bustin said.

“That takes a lot of time, and it does translate to the field. But we weren’t there yet.”

With the struggles continuing last season, the Blue Devils spent the spring of 2023 transforming their new individual confidences into team confidence.

“We focused more on hockey stuff … What kind of style are we going to play? What kind of identity are we going to have on the field? We had already worked on our identity off the field. And everybody could sense it,” Bustin said.

The transition to team confidence and cohesion on the field rested on the development of one thing: Being uncomfortable.

After identifying technical areas of improvement, the coaching staff would confront the players with potential difficult scenarios on the field.

“It wasn’t us spoon-feeding it to them,” Bustin said. The coaches would give guiding principles, but leave the communication and problem-solving to the players. “We [had] to get on the field and challenge the cultural work that we did.”

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END OF THE RAINBOW Duke football falls to Notre Dame on final-minute touchdown

By Micah Hurewitz Sept. 30, 2023 Associate Editor

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ameday in Durham brought it all and then some.

A ton was on the line for the Blue Devils Saturday night: a first 5-0 start in 29 seasons, a pair of top-15 wins and a stamp on the college football world marking “We. Are. Here.” Both Duke and visiting Notre Dame played a physical game and dug deep in their respective bags of tricks to find ways to punch holes in the staunch opposing defenses, which combined to concede just 12 touchdowns in nine games entering Saturday.

But it was No. 11 Notre Dame who came out on top, 21-14, at a raucous Wallace Wade Stadium.

For the Fighting Irish, the first punch was a fake punt-turned dash into the red zone while No. 17 Duke took all of 27 minutes before unleashing the legs of quarterback Riley Leonard, who went 12-for-27 with 134 passing yards. A trio of missed field goals between the two teams, punts back and forth and no scores in two first-half red zone trips by the home offense defined the game’s early going. But the Blue Devils found their flow in the second half, clawing back while relying on a potent rushing attack and chunk yardage.

The Irish then assembled a magnificent final drive to take down the Blue Devils in the final minute.

“It hurts for these kids, they put a lot into this,” head coach Mike Elko said.

“We’ve got a really good football team.

We just got some things that we got to clean up.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Leonard connected with a spinning Jordan Moore for 26 yards before taking it himself down the right sideline for 33. A targeting call on Notre Dame’s Jordan Botelho added 15 more ahead of Moore’s wide open 3-yard touchdown snag to put the Blue Devils (4-1, 1-0 in the ACC) ahead 14-13. Duke ran some clock by punching the ball up the middle, with Leonard, Jordan Waters and Jaquez Moore sharing the duties of running the time under three minutes.

A Leonard pooch punt pinned the Fighting Irish (5-1) against their goal line with Notre Dame needing just a field goal to win.

Hartman and Notre Dame’s offense drove to the Duke 40-yard line with catches from Mitchell Evans and Rico Flores Jr. before getting bumped back on an offensive pass interference penalty.

First, second and third downs gone, it came to a final effort on a fourth-and-16 at the Duke 47-yard line — and Hartman’s

timely scramble gave the Fighting Irish one last gasp for air.

“You have a hard time believing that a kid can scramble for 16 yards,” Elko said.

“You drop eight in that long-yardage situation because you think the scramble is out of play and you just try to flood the coverage. And I’d say in hindsight we should have just kept pressure, I don’t know.”

Fighting Irish star running back Audric Estime bolted 30 yards to silence the Blue Devil crowd and go ahead 21-14 with 31 seconds to go. Leonard fumbled on the Duke last-chance drive before being helped off the field and Notre Dame ran out the rest of the clock.

After trying to stuff Estime early in the evening, Notre Dame fought through with a fake punt rush by Jeremiyah Love to extend the game’s opening drive and brought Notre Dame into the red zone.

Estimé subsequently punched it in for a short touchdown four minutes into the game to hand Duke its first deficit in more than 200 minutes of football.

While the Blue Devil run defense held tight, the pass defense was more porous than head coach Mike Elko would have liked to see.

To add to the early score, quarterback Sam Hartman looked downfield all night, exploiting a Blue Devil secondary which had not seen much of a downfield passing attack in its previous three games. He and his tight end Evans connected six times for 134 yards. The junior Evans was doing it all, corralling everything close and collecting huge gains after the catch, but was kept quiet by the Duke defense for over 20 minutes.

The Blue Devils, short First Team AllACC left tackle Graham Barton (injury), went to the air early and often. The first Duke drive featured six pass plays and just three on the ground, with the runs going for a net zero yards. On the edge of the red zone, sophomore kicker Todd Pelino missed a 38-yard field goal try to get the Blue Devils on the board. Luckily for Duke, Notre Dame’s kicker missed a try on the same end of the field from 37 yards away to keep the score 10-0 later in the first half.

Struggles on the ground led Leonard and the Blue Devils into a rushed first-quarter throw backed up in their own territory that resulted in his first interception of the season.

The Fighting Irish punished Duke by building a two-score lead with a chip-shot field goal.

Missed throws and slips did not help the Blue Devils when it came to driving down the field, mak-

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The Chronicle

Morgan Chu | Photography Editor

Duke players swarm Notre Dame running back Audric Estime.

ing the job easy for the talented Notre Dame defense into the final minutes of the second quarter.

“We were just out of sync a little bit in the first half... we had to get out there [after halftime], we had to find ways to establish the run. I thought we were able to do that a lot better in the second half,” Elko said.

On Duke’s final drive before the halftime break, Leonard ran for 37 yards and made a couple of smart reads to collect first downs with his arm. A 63-yard drive stalled within the Notre Dame 10-yard line as Leonard nearly lost Duke possession with a fumble.

The Fighting Irish got to take another deep breath as Pelino’s second kick attempt of the night just missed the right upright from 24 yards out as time expired. The miss sent Pelino to 1-for-3 on field goal attempts within 30 yards on the season, well within his kicking range. With a crushing end to the half, the Blue Devils looked to keep their offense hot coming out of the break, but it was stopped and turned into three more points for Notre Dame, handing the visitors a 13-0 lead.

Duke’s ground game caught fire further into the third, when bullish runs up the middle from Jordan Waters and a 34-yard run by Jaquez Moore led the Blue Devils toward the red zone, where a leaping fourth-down-converting snag by Sahmir Hagans set up Duke for a Waters touchdown push at the goal line. His eighth touchdown marked his fifth-straight game with a score, electrified the Blue Devil crowd and put pressure on a suddenly wobbly Notre Dame offense.

A near-interception and a thirddown sack of Hartman by Tre Freeman and Aeneas Peebles led to a quick change of possession and gave Duke its first chance to take the lead. While the Blue Devils failed to advance past midfield on that drive, the ensuing Duke drive brought all the fireworks and put Duke on top until the final seconds of a thriller in Durham.

The Chronicle

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MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024 | 7

Morgan Chu | Photography Editor

Left:The team celebrates its victory in the Birmingham Bowl.

Below: Cornerback Chandler Rivers was named MVP of the game.

Amid a rollercoaster season, Duke football’s Birmingham Bowl victory showed togetherness, heart and effort

By Ranjan Jindal Dec. 23, 2023 Sports Editor

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IRMINGHAM, Ala.—This season truly had it all. From the emotional rollercoaster of the primetime victory against Clemson and College GameDay’s first appearance in Durham, to the difficulties of an injuryriddled season and a less-than-smooth coaching departure, one thing has stayed constant: the love and unbreakable bond between this group of players.

And in Duke’s 17-10 win Saturday against Troy in the Birmingham Bowl, the team put together an admirable on-field product one last time that highlights the DNA of the Blue Devils — this team plays hard, works together and does the little things it takes to win.

“We did have a rollercoaster season,” said interim head coach Trooper Taylor.

“But it’s just like life.

Things come at you, but how you react to those things is what matters.”

Taylor was visibly emotional during his postgame interviews, and it was fitting that he got the opportunity to be the interim coach.

With his genuine care for every player and his famous mantras for both football and life, Taylor has been the embodiment of Duke football for the past five

seasons, and the players clearly admired his presence in the program.

“He’s meant absolutely the world to us,” said graduate running back Jaylen Coleman.

“When we learned he was taking the interim head coaching job, everybody was on board.”

“A lot of people talk about family when it comes to football all the time, and I think [Taylor] means that more than anybody I’ve met in my time playing football,” said sophomore kicker Todd Pelino.

Duke is certainly right in the middle of a seismic shift in college football, where the transfer portal and NIL dominate the discourse around the upcoming offseason.

Players leave for a variety of reasons to improve their circumstances or for a change of scenery, and a few key Blue Devils — including quarterback Riley Leonard — are moving on.

But the fact that some players who entered the portal — Jordan Waters, Jaylen Stinson and Aeneas Peebles among them — wanted to wear the blue and white for one more game shows the desire to represent the team on the front of their jerseys and spend more time with this group.

“Blood just makes you kin ... love, trust, respect, commitment, hard work, that makes you family,” Taylor said.

The game itself was akin to much of Blue Devil football for

the past two seasons — big plays on the “It’s been fun, man, every step of the defensive end of the ball forcing costly way, it’s been such a joy to be around my mistakes. Troy failed to convert on three boy Chandler [Rivers] and my boy Todd fourth-down conversion opportuni[Pelino], and knowing that Duke football ties, and graduate safety Jeremiah Lewis is in good hands,” Coleman said. recorded a game-sealing interception on Coleman put his arms around Rivers Trojan quarterback Gunnar Watson. and Pelino during that last statement, a fit“We played Duke symbol for passBlood just makes you kin ... ting football,” said Biring down the reins of love, trust, respect, commitment, Duke football from mingham Bowl MVP hard work, that makes you family. this historic senior Chandler Rivers. “We just played how we class, who helped crehave been playing all ate a culture defined TROOPER TAYLOR year. We just found by both teamwork INTERIM HEAD COACH another energy, we and dedication. found that edge.”

This team has a bright future, and some That edge was rooted in the adversity of the players that stepped up in the bigthat this team has faced, but the response gest moments, like Rivers and Pelino, will has been what is remarkable. It manifests be returning. itself on the field to create a high-energy “You don’t build a house from the bunch that has a chip on its shoulder, roof down, you build it from the founwho clearly had something to prove after dation up,” Taylor said. “And I can tell a chaotic few weeks. you about this senior class, most people “[The energy] was contagious,” Taylook at a brick wall, they see the pretty lor said. “We tried to focus and concen- bricks, I see the mortar in between. trate on what we could control. But we These guys are the mortar and all they weren’t going to get silly penalties … did was build a foundation for the because how we do anything is how we young guys to continue that.” do everything.”

Taylor mentioned an important trip There’s a lot of understandable exciteearlier in the week to Selma, Ala., which ment for the next chapter, but amidst all really brought the team together, as they the outside noise, the bowl victory was a visited various Civil Rights monuments special one for this team, illustrating the and took a picture atop the historic Edpower of its work ethic. mund Pettus Bridge. This was important “A bowl game is about a reward for in putting a pin on a season that meant the season that you play, it’s not about the more than football — it meant brotherseason that’s coming up,” Taylor said. “And hood and family. this was a reward for the guys on the team, “[The bridge] stood for something the coaches and their families.” different for everybody on the team, but Case in point: a player like Coleman. After at the end of the day, we were all there struggling with injury and not getting many together, and that is what matters,” touches through the first month of the season, Taylor said. “That picture will last us all he was rewarded for his continued dedication a lifetime. Nobody can take that from with Duke’s only touchdown of the game. us. Nobody.”

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10 20 30 40 50 8 247 The Blue Devils spent eight weeks ranked in the AP Poll, their most since 1994. They also posted eight wins in back-to back seasons for the first time since 2015.

Seven Blue Devils from the 2023 roster were signed to NFL teams, including three players drafted.

Duke’s opponents scored a total of just 247 points, the lowest allowed since 1987.

The numbers behind Duke football’s season

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MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024 | 9

FIELD HOCKEY FROM PAGE 5

Doing everything to try and frustrate their players, the coaching staff even intentionally made bad calls during scrimmages simply “to make them uncomfortable and compete with one another and show how we react to adversity.”

The potential for confrontation during practice clearly paid off, as Duke has been firing on all cylinders both offensively and defensively. In 2022, the Blue Devils recorded 2.28 offensive goals per game, while holding their opponents to 2.11. Duke has improved on both of these aspects in 2023 — keeping in mind that field hockey is a low-scoring game — as they currently score an average of 2.92 goals per game while now allowing an average of just one. Compounded with a sharp increase in shots per game, from 13.0 to 14.5, and a decrease in opponents’ shots per game, 9.9 to 7.5, Duke has improved across the board.

By the players

Even the work that happened on the turf really happened in the locker room and off the field. As Duke focused on building up individual confidence, the ability to translate it to actual field hockey rested in the players’ ability to open up to one another.

Captains Hampsch, Charlie van Oirschot and Barb Civitella understand the pulse of the locker room over at Jack Katz Stadium, but they don’t control it, rather opting to lead the team through example.

“I knew, even last year as captain, that I wanted to be someone who was leading, but also encouraged others to lead as well,”

Hampsch said. “It wasn’t an end-all be-all, one person or three people that were going to lead this team to victory. It was those two or three people empowering others to want to lead and want to take responsibility for what happens on this field.”

By empowering their teammates to take responsibility for what happens on the field, the Blue Devils built up their confidence that their teammates would support them even if they didn’t succeed.

The key to this? Reminding themselves that they are not perfect. As they gather in a circle after every practice and game, the players remind themselves that not only do they all support each other, but that they sometimes have to confront each other in order to take responsibility for what occurs on the field.

While the team occasionally gathered after disappointing losses last season to discuss positives, the tradition was solidified during the 2023 preseason.

“After every practice, we’d circle to do our cooldown and ask a random question,” Hampsch said. By ensuring that everyone shared their favorite food, ideal vacation or childhood dreams, the team cultivated an environment where everyone felt comfortable speaking up.

“That regimen of everyone sharing and everyone coming up with ideas, making sure you’re listening to everyone, carried over to when it really matters in more serious things such as what’s going on on the field and what we want to bring to it,” Hampsch said.

Putting it to the test

It’s undeniable that Duke plays in one of the best conferences in collegiate field hockey,

featuring powerhouses like Louisville and dynasty North Carolina.

“I hope that nobody likes to play us. We were still a very dangerous team last year,” Bustin said. “We were dangerous, but we didn’t have the edge that we do now, the confidence that we have now.”

The Blue Devils, unbeaten in the ACC, have already exceeded their conference successes from past seasons. However, with No. 5 Louisville and No. 3 North Carolina upcoming, Duke has its two strongest opponents down the road.

It’s not as if the Blue Devils haven’t already toppled ranked teams this season, with wins against then-No. 3 Maryland, No. 9 Liberty and No. 6 Syracuse. Their only loss this season is to Northwestern, ranked No. 2 during their match and now ranked at the very top of the nation.

After losing in the first round of the ACC tournament last year to an unranked Wake Forest, Duke now finds itself the highestranked team in the conference. But that is not necessarily enough for this ambitious squad of Blue Devils. “[No. 2] isn’t where we’re settling, we’re going to keep climbing,” Miller said.

Duke field hockey has been working with the same puzzle pieces this season as in past years, except for one thing: The circle. The team gathers after every game or practice, exercising honesty and confrontation — and it’s working. While the team continues to work tirelessly on the field, it’s the off-field honesty and confidence that seemingly has led to the unexpected success.

“We have all decided to get in the same boat, and all decided to row in the same direction.

That takes a lot of time and it takes a lot of convincing,” Bustin said.

Historic season by the numbers: Tied for third-most wins in school history

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Shutouts for Duke, the most since 2003

First-team All-ACC selections (Piper Hampsch, Alaina McVeigh, Hannah Miller)

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Years since Duke’s last Final Four appearance

Mid-season win streak in September and October, the longest in program history

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10 | MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024

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From top of timeline to bottom: Alyssa Ting | Staff Photographer Anabel Howery | Sports Photography Editor Anabel Howery | Sports Photography Editor

March 24 Jared McCain scores 30 in second-round win against James Madison.

Samantha Owusu-Antwi | Staff Photographer

WINTER The winter season had big leadership changes in multiple programs, but the Blue Devils were successful throughout. Both basketball teams started out inconsistently, as the young groups worked to find their footing. The men’s team lost to Arkansas and Georgia Tech on the road, and the women’s team fell to Davidson at home. However, the turn of the calendar year was more fruitful, as both teams excelled in ACC play. Women’s head coach Kara Lawson did a phenomenal job leading a young and inexperienced team, carrying it to the Sweet 16 and far outpacing expectations. Even in a really tough confer-

ence, they demonstrated fight and boasted an incredibly elite defense with impact wins against Virginia Tech, N.C. State and North Carolina.

The men’s team found its groove with a couple big winning streaks in January and February despite injury woes. While the Blue Devils hit some bumps against North Carolina and in the ACC tournament, they excelled in the NCAA tournament with three exciting victories.

Swimming and diving dealt with a coaching change after the unfortunate passing of longtime head coach Dan Colella, and Brian Barnes did a remarkable job with this group. Elite breaststrokers Kaelyn Gridley and Sarah Foley led the way, as the women’s team collected the highest point total in school history at the ACC Championships. They sent 13 participants to the Women’s NCAA Championships.

New fencing head coach Omar Elgeziry stepped into the shoes of retired coach Alex Beguinet and saw a lot of success in his first season. The team was in the top 10 of the 2024 NCAA Fencing Championship, where junior Allen Marakov won a bronze medal and was named a first-team All-American.

The Chronicle SWIM AND DIVE

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MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024 | 11

Stitching a heartbroken team

By Abby DiSalvo April 6, 2024

Assistant Blue Zone Editor

The morning of December 17th, 2022 was cold and partly cloudy — not atypical for a winter Saturday. With finals half-completed and suitcases already half-packed, campus buzzed in anticipation of winter break.

For Duke’s swimmers, the most pressing worry was how many bathing suits they would need to pack over break. The team eagerly awaited its annual training trip to Aruba, where warm temperatures and time on the beach promised to balance out the week’s notoriously grueling, high-intensity practices.

Then a devastating announcement rocked the team: Dan Colella, Duke’s head coach in his 17th season, had died the previous night after a battle with lung cancer.

Kaelyn Gridley, a bubbly sophomore and Duke’s fiercest breaststroker, quieted when she remembered the moment.

“It was hard losing people that we had become very close with,” she told The Chronicle. “I mean, I was only a freshman. But I was pretty close with the staff. And after we’d been through a lot together it was difficult to say goodbye.”

Colella had built an esteemed reputation throughout the swimming community for his excellence as a mentor and leader. In his 17 years as head coach, he tallied 13 appearances at NCAA Championships and produced at least one ACC individual winner at seven conference championships. The program’s

record books were continuously rewritten under his tenure, with swimmers toppling 10 records in the 2021-22 season alone. His loss was a tragic blow to the fabric of the team.

“The way that our season ended last year was definitely hard for everyone,” Gridley said.

The Blue Devils had only a month to deal with the news — and struggle through coaching turnover — before they returned to competition. When they did, Duke fell to both N.C. State and North Carolina in its final two dual meets. After the women’s team rebounded to place fifth at the ACC Championships for the second year in a row, the season concluded on an unresolved note. It was unclear whose shoulders the future of Duke swimming and diving would rest upon.

Sarah Foley, a serious-faced senior, recordholding 200 IM-er and team leader, spoke about the uncertain ripple effects of Colella’s death ahead of her final season.

“Dan was my primary coach for my full time here,” she said. “So coming into this, I kind of knew, obviously, coaching style would be different. My relationship with the coach would be different.”

The road to Duke

Not until May 2023, nearly five months after Colella’s death, was the new director of Duke swimming and diving announced.

Brian Barnes — a thin, spry man with a serious face but friendly smile — would take over as the program’s head coach.

Prior to joining the Blue Devils, Barnes spent three years as the assistant coach at

Chronicle File Photo

Former Duke head coach Dan Colella.

N.C. State. While he worked there in 2021, the Wolfpack finished a program-best No. 2 in the ACC. Barnes also oversaw 10 firstteam All-Americans and eight secondteam All-Americans at the 2023 Women’s NCAA Championships, where Wolfpack swimmers broke the school record in the 200-medley relay. His experience and passion for coaching made him a promising fit for Duke.

“Not only did it check so many boxes for me,” Barnes said. “I always wanted to feel that … I’m attracting student athletes to come get a world class degree. I believe swimming and diving here is not incidental. I think it’s an integral part of their education.”

But coming to Duke posed additional challenges, especially given the turbulent end to the previous season. For one, Barnes knew none of the swimmers. Everyone from the veterans to the newly recruited freshman were total strangers.

“I spent the majority of the summer on the phone getting to know them,” he said. “My vision this year was to get to know them over an outcome.

I only have one year with the senior class. And so it was important for me to … spend time with them, because I didn’t recruit one of them.”

As both he and the swimmers will tell you, that meant lots of team bonding: Not just phone

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MEN’S BASKETBALL

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STILL ALIVE

Duke men’s basketball out-muscles Houston, advances to Elite 8

By Ranjan Jindal March 30, 2024 Sports Editor

D

ALLAS—Duke needed a stop.

Emanuel Sharp scored an and-one to foul out graduate Ryan Young, and converted on the free throw to cut the Blue Devil lead in half. Kyle Filipowski could not connect on a jumper, and Houston had the ball with 15 seconds remaining, down three.

Sharp had a chance to tie it from deep, but a strong closeout from sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor forced a miss, and that sealed it.

Two minutes earlier, Proctor clapped his hands twice as Houston inbounded the ball after the under-4 media timeout, emphasizing the importance of that possession. L.J. Cryer lost the ball, and Proctor fell on the floor to grab the steal.

On Duke’s next possession, senior guard Jeremy Roach hit a pull-up jumper to increase his team’s lead to 54-48 with 1:15 remaining. Despite the opposition’s advances, his veteran leadership proved vital in the final moments.

The fourth-seeded Blue Devils and topseeded Cougars competed in an absolute classic in the Lone Star State, and Duke emerged with a 54-51 victory to advance to the Elite Eight.

“That was a big time college basketball game,” said head coach Jon Scheyer. “I’m really proud of these guys and proud of the game tonight.”

With 6:53 left in the first half, Houston’s All-American guard Jamal Shead rolled his right ankle on a layup attempt and limped heavily off the floor. He did not return for the remainder of the contest which hurt the Cougar defense and took a key floor general off the court.

Roach lost the ball on the first possession of the game, and on the subsequent Duke opportunity, he threw the ball over Proctor’s head. The Blue Devils looked rattled. A monster alley-oop from Shead to Ja’Vier Francis led Scheyer to call his first timeout just two minutes into the game as Houston led 6-0.

“I just told them to settle in,” Scheyer said. “We were doing things we haven’t done before, we’re turning the ball over like crazy. I thought it was just us not coming out the way that we needed to.”

But after Duke got bullied in the start, it responded with elite physicality and competitiveness. Scheyer brought in Young along with Filipowski to help on the boards, and this did turn the tide of the game. Duke did a much better job

64 47

boxing out after the first media timeout the offense and his passing ability was on and limited Houston to tough shots. Young full display. recorded a +12 plus/minus in the first half, The Cougars would not go away, with by far the best for the Blue Devils.

Francis and J’Wan Roberts continuing to “We wouldn’t have won that game with- pound the paint. However, they strugout Ryan,” Filipowski gled when they got to That was a big time college the line, shooting a said. “He was ready, he knows what to do. basketball game. I’m really pro- mere 52.9% from the He knows his job so oud of these guys and proud of charity stripe. well, and it’s so good Houston’s first-half the game tonight for us.” offense mainly conAfter a back and sisted of trying to back forth second half, the down Duke’s guards JON SCHEYER Blue Devils needed — typically McCain HEAD COACH a spark offensively, and Roach. While that and with 6:39 left, worked initially, the Filipowski provided the answer. He sized Blue Devils did a better job holding their Roberts up, took a couple jab steps, and ground in the latter minutes of the first sprayed a triple to increase Duke’s lead half, cutting the Cougar lead to 18-17 with to 48-44. The sophomore center pointed four minutes left. and smiled at his head coach, who nodded “I take a lot of pride in my defense,” with approval. On the subsequent posProctor said. “This game is going to be session, Filipowski took the other Cougar won by defense and I know that parforward to the basket, getting an and-one ticularly the 50/50 balls we came up opportunity and flexing toward his bench. with towards the end of the game really Duke took a 52-48 lead into the under-4 helped us.” media timeout as both sides embraced for Filipowski hit a remarkable off-balance a wild finish.

3-pointer as the shot clock wound down to “Just seeing the togetherness, how we give Duke a much-needed jolt. In addition, didn’t quit out there tonight, that really with no 3-pointers and an airball at the does show the growth from last year,” free-throw line, Houston’s poor shooting Filipowski said. “We remember how upset caught up to it. As a result, the Cougars we were from last year, and we didn’t want were not able to capitalize on their defense to repeat that again.” and the Blue Devils took a 23-22 lead into There was an important stretch in the the locker room. middle of the first half where the Cougars did not score for more than five minutes.

Instead of taking advantage of that opportunity, the Blue Devils continued to turn the ball over and struggled to find any sort of offensive rhythm.

To open the second half, both offenses looked markedly better. Filipowski faked a handoff to Jared McCain and took it to the basket, and Roach hit his signature pull-up jumpshot. Houston continued to hit tough shots and its forwards attacked the basket.

After a slow, sometimes ugly first half, the game’s intensity skyrocketed.

Once again, Young’s insertion into the game changed the tide for the Blue Devils.

He emphatically dunked home a nice look from Filipowski and got an important steal on the other end. Roach and Cryer exchanged 3-pointers as Duke led 39-37 in the under-12 timeout.

As Duke led by four with 10 minutes left, Houston employed a full-court press and zone to try and throw off the Blue Devils. Filipowski played it perfectly, finding the gap in the middle and finishing, demonstrating his increased aggressiveness in driving to the basket. This opened up

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Alyssa Ting | Samantha Owusu-Antwi

64 76

Duke held Vermont to just 38.5% shooting.

Jared McCain went off for 30 points, making eight 3-pointers.

Duke upset a higher seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1994.

DJ Burns Jr. and DJ Horne combined for 49 points to take down Duke.

Mark Mitchell and Jared McCain led the way, both scoring 15 points.

The defense was stingy again, holding James Madison to 38% shooting.

Ryan Young led the team in plus-minus off the bench at +18.

McCain had his second 30-point performance of the tournament, notching 32.

Despite scoring just three points, Kyle Filipowski had 12 rebounds and three blocks.

The Blue Devils took the lead and did not look back, as they never trailed.

Tyrese Proctor came up with three key steals to hold off the Cougars at the buzzer.

The Blue Devils shot 5-for-20 from 3-point range, with only McCain scoring from deep.

Tracking Duke’s path through March Madness

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OH-NO!

MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024 | 13

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Duke women’s basketball shocks Ohio State in Columbus, books spot in Sweet 16 they’re ready to go now,” Lawson said.

“That’s a testament to our veteran players, but it’s also a testament to those freshmen Associate Editor that they’re confident that they can make plays, we’ve seen Delaney do this all year.”

OLUMBUS, Ohio— The Blue The remainder of Duke’s game was Devils are not done dancing just likely to be determined on how well it yet. could defend McMahon, and it found its In front of a first glimpse of success packed house at I just continue to be proud of right at the end of the the Schottenstein our team, and they keep matur- third quarter, as the Center, No. 7-seed center’s ing even at this late stage in the sophomore Duke delivered an attempt was swatted by season. instant classic in the Camilla Emsbo who Round of 32, knockbanked in a layup on ing off No. 2-seed the other end and sent KARA LAWSON HEAD COACH Ohio State and Duke into the final former Duke star period up one.

Celeste Taylor by a score of 75-63 to McMahon went right back to work to send the Blue Devils to the Sweet 16. It start the final quarter, drawing a foul on took a major comeback for head coach Jadyn Donovan and putting the Buckeyes Kara Lawson’s squad, as they trailed back up one, prompting a full house at the by as many as 16 at one point, but the Schottenstein Center to rise to their feet. visitors surged back behind a careerBrown shut those cheers up immediately best 28 points from junior guard Reigan though, converting an and-one that put Richardson to clinch the victory.

Duke back up two before another seem“I just continue to be proud of our team ingly inevitable bucket from McMahon. and they keep maturing even at this late “I thought McMahon was terrific but stage in the season. We continue to grow, we were okay with that in the sense that we continue to just trust in each other, they were contested twos down there,” trust in the scheme,” Lawson said.

Lawson said. “I didn’t like that we fouled Duke began the second half stringing her so much but they weren’t threes.” together stops, but it could not get out of After Richardson stole the ball after a its own way, as Richardson and Kennedy miss, Duke made arguably its most imporBrown had back-to-back turnovers in the tant play of the game up to that point, as post. Brown knocked down a layup to cut Thomas drove to the hole and drew Taythe lead to two, but Cotie McMahon conlor’s fifth foul, relegating the former Blue tinued her fantastic afternoon, making two Devil and the Buckeyes’ best defender to straight layups and then draining two shots the bench for the remainder of the contest. from the charity stripe to put her tally up Brown committed fouls on both ends to 20 and the Ohio State lead to six. to give her four on the day and put the Both teams continued to trade buckets Buckeyes up one. Richardson extinguished that allowed Duke to hang within one basket those flames rapidly, as Okananwa found of the lead. After Taylor fouled Richardson her in the corner for a great look from deep hard on a fast-break layup, the Blue Devils that the Charlotte native drained to put were as close as they had been to the lead head coach Kara Lawson’s group up two at since the opening tip, as they only trailed the final media stoppage.

44-43. But once again, McMahon delivered Out of the timeout, Duke kept the presfor the home team, getting a tough finish on sure on, as Richardson knocked down two Oluchi Okananwa that sent Duke into the jumpers to put the lead up to six, the largest media timeout down three. of the day. The junior just simply could not After another sequence of stops that be stopped, knocking a free throw to put was highlighted by two steals from sopho- her up to 26 points with two and a half minmore guard Emma Koabel, Duke found utes to go. That total jumped to a careeritself behind just one point once again. high 28 just moments later, as she knocked This time, the Blue Devils struck gold, as down a runner that put Duke up 66-59.

Richardson rose up for a layup that tied “Once I hit my first shot, I was kind the ballgame, and Delaney Thomas got of feeling it already and then my teamone on a fast break to put the visitors up mates did a great job of setting screens two, forcing Ohio State head coach Kevin or doing whatever it took to get me McGuff to take a timeout. open,” Richardson said.

“You look at Delaney today, you look An Ashlon Jackson free throw pumped at Oluchi and Jadyn against Richmond, the lead up to 10, sealing the hosts’ fate.

By Caleb Dudley March 24, 2024

C

Courtesy of Duke Athletics | Olivia Schramkowski

Duke came back from a nine-point halftime deficit to win by 11.

Richardson topped her firstround showing, this time scoring 28.

The Blue Devils mustered just 13 points in the first half, shooting 5-for-24.

Reigan Richardson kicked off a strong tournament with a team-high 25 points.

Former Blue Devil star Celeste Taylor fouled out for Ohio State.

Oluchi Okananwa led Duke in scoring with 15 points, including two 3-pointers.

The Blue Devils forced 16 turnovers, scoring 17 points off of them.

Duke held the Buckeyes to just 1-for-11 from 3-point range.

Paige Bueckers shined for the Huskies, scoring 24 points.

Duke shot a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line.

Delaney Thomas chipped in eight points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Richardson had 10, her third straight tournament game, with double-digits.

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While the Blue Devils finally knocked down some shots courtesy of Jackson and Richardson jumpers, Ohio State refused to let up, drawing five fouls by the secondquarter media timeout and finding buckets at the rim to lead 30-17 at the stoppage.

Duke finally found its offensive rhythm midway through the quarter, as it made four straight shots including a Richardson three to cut the lead to 10.

The hot shooting continued on both sides down the final stretch of the first half, with Duke making seven of eight shots capped off by a Brown layup after a stolen inbound pass that cut the Buckeye advantage to eight and forced the home team to take a timeout. Thomas knocked down two free throws after an offensive rebound, and a Richardson stepback jumper over Taylor had Duke right back in the game at the half — trailing 36-32.

The Buckeyes are known for employing a full-court press, and this strategy paid dividends early. Although Okananwa was able to break it for a bucket on Duke’s first offensive possession, its fortunes were not so great the next time around, as Taylor intercepted an errant pass at midcourt and converted an easy bucket to make it 7-2.

Taina Mair served as the engine of the offense during the first quarter, as the sophomore point guard tried to bounce back from a scoreless performance against Richmond, repeatedly driving to the basket and drawing fouls, shooting five free throws in the first period and keeping the Blue Devils afloat despite having a 8:05 stretch to finish the first — extending three-and-a-half minutes into the second — where they did not score a basket.

“There’s a shock factor because of their athleticism and their pressure and our players,” Lawson said. “We haven’t played them yet, so maybe teams that played them regularly get a chance to understand and feel that, we didn’t. So it rattled us to start, there’s no doubt you have to credit them for that.”

The Buckeyes stayed in control to begin the second, as point guard Jacy Sheldon drove right at Okananwa and drew a foul.

The freshman guard then committed an offensive foul on the other end, knocking her out of the game for the rest of the half. As Duke continued its horrid stretch where it did not make a field goal, the home team kept tacking on, as Rebeka Mikulasikova and Taylor made tough layups to push the lead to 25-10.

14 | MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024

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NEVER OUT OF IT

Duke’s rally fell short against UConn, but the future is bright

By Garrett Spooner March 31, 2024 Associate Editor

PORTLAND, Ore.—With 1:21 to play in the third quarter, the game looked over.

Nika Muhl hit her lone triple of 40 minutes of game play, and the Huskies pushed their lead to 42-22.

Even the crowd thought it was over. Fans painted in Southern California red and gold, staying around to scout their next opponent, headed to the exits alongside the atmosphere of a once-intense Sweet 16 matchup in the Moda Center. UConn’s nervousness, heightened after being held to just 23 first-half points, shifted to celebration along the sideline and the traveling Huskies fans.

But the Blue Devils did what they’ve done all season long facing a setback: They responded.

Out of nowhere, Oluchi Okananwa executed an and-one layup, Reigan Richardson hit a jumper and Okananwa nailed a three, successfully cutting the once-20-point deficit to a mere five with 1:59 to play. Duke fans rose to their feet, head coach Kara Lawson tightened her fists and the Blue Devils jumped into their full-court press. After forcing a jump ball with the possession arrow pointing its way, Duke had an opportunity to cut the game to one possession.

“Our mindset was to just keep fighting,” Richardson said.

Courtesy of Nat LeDonne and Duke Athletics

Reigan Richardson drives againt UConn in the Sweet 16.

“It’s been our mindset all season to compete,” senior Kennedy Brown added. “We still had time to make a run.”

Ultimately, Richardson and Jadyn Donovan’s jumpers in the dying embers of the matchup did not fall, and UConn sent the Blue Devils packing with a final score of 53-45. All night long, Paige Bueckers lived up to her vast expectations, pouring in 24 points along with just a pair of turnovers against a staunch Duke defense.

“Defensively, I thought we played well enough to win,” Lawson said. “[UConn] is a high-powered offense.”

Early challenges cost Duke an opportunity to move forward and play against Southern California in the Elite Eight. These struggles at the start of games are something that the Blue Devils are all too familiar with.

After losing to a scorching-hot Colorado team in last season’s NCAA tournament, much of Duke’s future was uncertain. Starting guard Shayeann Day-Wilson transferred to Miami and superstar guard Celeste Taylor shifted her initial intent to remain with the program to take her talents to Ohio State.

Adding further setbacks, Duke lost Vanessa De Jesus to a season-ending injury

in August. The point guard was set to be a key contributor to Duke’s program. By October’s Countdown to Craziness, the team was down to 10 players, just enough to field a five-on-five scrimmage for the event.

“We were the youngest team in the ACC,” Lawson said.

Much like Saturday night against a starstudded UConn team, Duke pushed through injuries, roster construction uncertainty and a tough early season schedule to finish 11-7 in the ACC and earn a No. 7 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament.

Nothing was handed to the Blue Devils all year. Truly, Lawson’s squad deserved all that came its way, including the first Sweet 16 appearance under her leadership.

“As I told our team after the game, I’m just really proud of them, proud of the season we’ve had and all the growth that we’ve had,” Lawson said. “It’s been a joy.”

On Saturday, Duke failed. It scored 13 firsthalf points, turned the ball over 23 times and was unable to stop the Huskies’ offense in the third quarter. Those disappointments ended up being insurmountable, and it was Duke that would be leaving Portland before Monday’s Elite Eight matchup.

But it’s important to acknowledge the Blue Devils’ character, their ability to face

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adversity head-on and take the fight to the 11-time NCAA champions with the game winding to a close.

Aside from Brown and Camilla Emsbo, Duke has all of its players eligible to return, and it is set to bring in a recruiting class that includes two top-20 players and the potential for a third. If all goes to plan, the Blue Devils won’t be the team facing much adversity next season, but the one delivering it to others.

“Our future is really bright with our young players, they will learn from this,” Lawson said.

“I think this experience will help motivate them in a good way to try to get back to this stage again.”

SWIM AND DIVE FROM PAGE 11

“And it was very clear to me that that’s the type of people I need to surround myself with for the rest of my career.”

That’s exactly what he did when he came to Duke. Barnes added three new assistant coaches to the Blue Devil family, including Coleman Stewart, a previous backstroke world-record holder from N.C. State. The Blue Devils quickly noticed a new energy on deck.

“I would say the team is definitely a lot more lively now,” Gridley said.

Relationships are everything for Barnes.

He has turned community into the crux of his coaching philosophy.

“My goal is for [the swimmers] to be 100% comfortable in being themselves, and if we can get there I get a chance to see their full potential,” he said.

But swimmers on the team, still reckoning with the loss of their coach, said that Barnes has been cognizant of Duke’s program’s history and turnover. Foley explained that his excitement for the future of the program has not interfered with respect for its past.

“Brian definitely brought a lot of excitement when he came to the job,” she said. “He was the right fit in terms of what the program was becoming in the future … [But] he was very in tune with how the team was feeling … and wanted to make a point that Dan still has a legacy here.”

“He saw so much potential in us and was super excited to work with us, but also understood that we’d been through a lot,” Gridley said.

calls, but also team breakfasts and even a sock party during the holidays.

“Everyone brought a pair of socks and it was kind of like a white elephant,” Gridley said, laughing. “You could either open up a new one, or steal some socks, and while it was definitely a little weird, it was actually really fun. And everyone had a really good time, which is just an example of how he’s really brought us together as a team.”

Beyond getting to know the athletes, Barnes brought a new energy to Duke’s program. He cited early work experience at Auburn and Notre Dame New intensity as a major influence on his coaching attitude and Now that he knows his athletes, Barnes can the zeal he likes to see on the pool deck. hold them to a high bar in the water — one that “[At Auburn] I was just just surrounded by includes challenging and individually tailored hardworking, ambitious people,” he explained. practices. This rigor — and, at the same time,

MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024 | 15

flexibility — was a major contributor to this season’s success.

“It’s just very specific, intense training,” Gridley said. “After last year, it was definitely a jump. But he has been very supportive and motivational pretty much the whole time. And, like, he would never try and throw something at us that he doesn’t think we’re capable of.”

“He’s very individualistic in training,” Foley said. “He’s very go-with-the-flow and willing to change your workout. It’s very much a two-way street in terms of your training.”

Together, these factors have led Duke’s program to new heights. Over the course of the 2023-24 season, the Blue Devils broke nine school and two pool records. The women also achieved the highest point total at a single ACC Championship meet in program history, tallying 779.5 points at the 2024 competition to land their third-consecutive top-five finish. The program sent 13 female athletes to the 2023-24 NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., where they toppled school records in three relays and the 100-yard backstroke. There, the team’s final point total of 80 resulted in a 16th-place finish — the highest ever in program history. Each impressive statistic highlights Barnes’ commitment to the team’s success.​​ “I committed to Duke and in my time here at Duke, we’ve kind of been a team on the rise in the ACC and nationally,” Foley said. “That was something that Dan was really proud of, but also he was super motivated to get to that next level.

And I think that Brian recognized that … and I think he has the right foundation that he’s laying down now, to then do that for the team.”

Barnes has already built upon Colella’s vision of a next-level team by emphasizing and revitalizing its principles and philosophies.

He is the core of a new Duke swim and dive program, representing the very characteristics

he says define the team: “heart, perseverance [and] determination.”

“It’s a bit of a pinch-me career,” Barnes said.

His vision of Blue Devil potential has managed to put the program in an exciting position for the first time in a long time — one at, in his words, the “crossroads of hard work and opportunity.”

When the training trip rolled around this December, emotions were much lighter. The swimmers and divers again made it to Aruba to enjoy the surf and sunshine, far more certain about what awaited them when they returned home.

Alyssa Ting | Staff Photographer

The Blue Devils at a February meet.

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16 | MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024

Feb. 23 Men’s lacrosse scores 23, second-most

ever under Danowski, against Jacksonville

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Seth Kessler | Staff Photographer Ryan Kilgallen | Staff Photographer Courtesy of Duke Athletics

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May 15 Ethan Evans qualifies for men’s golf

From top of timeline to bottom: Anabel Howery | Sports Photography Editor

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May 19

NCAA Individual Championship

Softball advances to Super Regional

SPRING At the time of this publication, multiple spring seasons are unfinished, but there are many optimistic signs. For example, baseball and softball are both primed to make deep postseason runs. ACC Coach of the Year Marissa Young’s squad won the conference tournament and breezed through its NCAA Regional, recording a 50-win season for the first time in program history. This team clicks on all cylinders, and outstanding pitching by Jala Wright and Cassidy Curd coupled with a deep lineup spells trouble for opponents.

While baseball faltered late in the regular season, the team had been in the top 10 for multiple weeks and can certainly make noise in June. Head coach Chris Pollard effectively used the transfer portal to bolster his team’s lineup and defense, and they were very competitive in a tough ACC. The women’s track and field team won the ACC Championship for the second year in a row, and the future is bright for both squads with exciting young athletes including Lauren Tolbert and Christian Toro.

Men’s tennis advanced to its second straight NCAA Super Regional, unfortunately falling to the eventual national champions for the second year in a row as well. In the process, Garrett Johns and Pedro Rodenas rose to the No. 1 doubles tandem in the country.

The men’s lacrosse team had a disappointing exit in the postseason, but Brennan O’Neill and Dyson Williams made their mark on Duke as two of the highest goal scorers in Blue Devil history. Phoebe Brinker and Ethan Evans were standouts on the golf teams, recording impressive results in the NCAA Championship. Rowing head coach Megan Cooke Carcagno announced her departure at the end of this season, and the team finished the ACC Championship with a third-place finish.

The Chronicle

MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024 | 17

Duke rallies from 5 runs down to win series against Virginia Tech

By Martin Heintzelman April 22, 2024 Blue Zone (Blog) Editor

With the stakes high, the Blue Devils came into game three of a weekend series against Virginia Tech feeling the pressure to triumph against a strong team. The Hokies, looking for a big-time home upset, certainly looked confident in the middle of the game. In the end however, No. 6 Duke rode two late home runs to come out on top 13-10, winning a nailbiting series that saw its first two games each come down to extra innings and the third tied heading into the ninth.

While the Blue Devils (29-11, 13-8 in the ACC) found themselves down by five runs at the end of the sixth, things began to swing the other direction. A fielder’s choice scored a run for the visitors and a base hit put Ben Miller on third. Miller then scored on a ground ball, closing the lead to three runs. Then with two runners on, it was first baseman Logan Bravo who catapulted one over the wall in center-left field to tie the contest at nine apiece. Bravo, who dropped the ball Saturday on the final play, redeemed himself in a big way Sunday.

That said, the wheels began to come off in the bottom of the inning. Pitcher Fran Oschell walked his first batter and beaned the second, putting a man on first and second to start. He followed that up with yet another walk to load

the bases with just one out, as James Tallon came in to relieve Oschell. Tallon threw a wild pitch, allowing the Hokies (25-12, 12-9) to score on the passed ball and giving them the lead.

The Blue Devils did not hesitate to respond in the top of the eighth, as Wallace Clark mashed one over the center-field wall to tie the game. Duke faced a scare with a deep shot in the bottom of the inning, but outfielder Devin Obee snagged it over the wall to rob the home run. A combined effort from Aidan Weaver and Owen Proksch ended the inning 10-10.

Ultimately, it was AJ Gracia who gave Duke the go-ahead run. He hammered a ball deep into right field, continuing a strong game for the freshman phenom. Following that up with a man on base was Obee, who crushed one into the batter’s eye to extend the lead to three.

Ultimately, that final margin proved to be too wide. Charlie Beilenson came in to close things out in the ninth, handling business and sending the Blue Devils back to Durham with the series win.

It was the freshman Gracia who got the Blue Devils going early. He hit one off the end of his bat into right field, but the ball had just enough strength behind it to clear the fence and send graduate second baseman Zac Morris home. Duke had given itself an early tworun cushion. Despite a solid opening inning, graduate pitcher Tim Noone quickly found

himself replaced. Righty David Boisvert came in to pitch the second, likely due to the heavy concentration of right-handed hitters in the second half of the Hokie order.

After an inning from Boisvert, he was yanked for sophomore right-handed pitcher Gabriel Nard. Despite third baseman Ben Miller smashing one over the fence to tack on another run and widen the margin to three, Virginia Tech began to push back. The third inning quickly turned into a barrage, as the Hokies took advantage of a series of errors to score more runs. After an overthrow that could have ended the inning, two final runs came around to give the hosts a 5-3 lead.

Despite a promising fifth inning that put runners on first and second, two consecutive strikeouts from Miller and Gracia stranded the potential points to end the frame. The Hokies took advantage and began to bring the pressure in the bottom. A solo home run from Eddie Micheletti opened the frame, and a pair of walks followed by some wild pitches helped the home team extend the lead to four runs.

Once again, fielding woes haunted Duke in the bottom of the sixth. Miller threw a routine ground ball several feet over the head of the first baseman Bravo, giving the top of the inning’s run right back to the Hokies. A drive into the corner of right field scored yet another, and the margin widened to five runs by the end of the frame.

It has been a long week for this Blue Devil squad, which narrowly escaped with a win 2-1 against a weaker Gardner-Webb squad Tuesday.

Anabel Howery | Sports Photography Editor

AJ Gracia hit two home runs in the final game of the series.

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18 | MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024

SOFTBALL

Seth Kessler | Staff Photographer

Left: The team poses for a picture after its Regional victory.

Above: Pitcher Jala Wright closed out the win for the Blue Devils.

‘We came to play’: Duke softball blasts South Carolina, advances to Super Regional

By Caleb Dudley May 19, 2024

After starting ace Jala Wright in the first two games, Duke went with her dynamic counterpart in Cassidy Curd for this one, Associate Editor who was making her first outing since slamming the door on Florida State in the or the third straight year, Duke ACC Championship. As she has so many will be taking part in the Super times in her young Duke career, Curd’s Regionals. star shone brightest under major pressure, On Sunday afternoon, the Blue as the sophomore was Devils finished off I’m super proud of the way spectacular through 4.1 a smooth regional this team came out, competed innings, only allowing event in Durham, opening the flood- and continued to get better as the three hits and striking out six. gates late on South game went on and really Duke put the game Carolina en route separated themselves. away in the top of the to a 10-1 victory seventh, as South Carto win three games MARISSA YOUNG olina (36-24) loaded on the weekend HEAD COACH the bases with no and become one outs and of the final 16 teams standing. The team won its 50th simply ran out of stopping power. Ace Alana Vawter game this season for the first time in seemed to be running on program history. empty, and the sputter“We’re super excited to win another ing came in the final regional at home against a quality opinning, as a wild pitch ponent and I’m super proud of the way and a single made it this team just came out, competed and continued to get better as the game went 4-1. Gisele Tapia added another on a single and on and really separated themselves and this one was all but showed some dominance,” head coach sealed. If there was any Marissa Young said.

Due to the double-elimination format doubt, Amiah Burgess had a bases-clearing of the NCAA tournament, Duke (50-6, triple to extend the 20-4 in the ACC) found itself in the Regional Championship Sunday with a loss lead to seven to rub salt in the wound. to give after handily defeating Morgan Outside of the initial State and South Carolina in its first two threat to begin the game, contests of the regional.

F

Claire Davidson ACC Player of the Year .445 AVG, 67 RBI, 18 HR

Jala Wright ACC Pitcher of the Year 1.09 ERA, 148.1 IP, 183 SO

Headshots courtesy of GoDuke.com, stats as of May 21

neither team could find any juice early, as Curd and Vawter both worked their way through the opposing lineup with relative ease. With the wind blowing at high speeds back towards the crowd in the stands, no ball seemed to have quite enough pop to break this game open.

But sometimes when the ball isn’t flying, you find other ways to get the job done. Duke did just that in the top of the fourth, as the Gamecocks opened the door for the visitors to get the first score of the day. A blooper from Tapia started the party, and an errant throw on a ground ball from Jada Baker gave the Blue Devils two runners in scoring position with no outs.

“They’re tough and they’re resilient. I think this time of year, you have to expect it, you’re facing great pitching, you’re facing great teams, it’s not going to come easy,” Young said.

From there, Young’s team capitalized, as Francesca Frelick roped a single to center that brought in two runs after a tight play at the plate, breaking the

previous scoreless tie. However, any further progress was quickly halted, as a double play and a strikeout brought a much needed end to the inning for South Carolina.

However, the Blue Devils repaid the favor in the bottom half of the inning. After a leadoff double to start the inning, Curd made a throwing error to first on a bunt attempt, allowing the first run to cross and the Gamecocks to simply replace the runner at second. From there though, Curd was able to settle in and pick up three straight outs to keep it 2-1 after four.

After issuing a walk in the bottom of the fifth, Curd exited the ballgame, and it was Wright’s turn to go once again. The Charlotte native promptly came in and handled business, getting two straight outs and putting Duke six outs away from another trophy.

The Blue Devils, who were playing as the visitors in this one, had a chance to strike early. A single from Claire Davidson backed up by two walks set up Duke with the bases loaded and two outs for Tapia in the top of the first, but the graduate student went down swinging to stifle the early opportunity.

Up next, Duke will face Missouri in a best-of-three series for a chance to advance to the Women’s College World Series.

“We came to play. Duke is here whether the NCAA likes it or not, whether the other teams like it or not, we’re here and we’re ready to win,” Burgess said.

Marissa Young ACC Coach of the Year 44-6, 20-4 in the ACC (regular season)

Aminah Vega ACC Defensive Player of the Year .984 Fielding %, 100 A, 80 PO

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MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024 | 19

TRACK AND FIELD

Duke women’s track and field takes gold in ACC Championships, men place 7th

By Sophie Levenson May 12, 2024

her chase. After 200m, Tolbert had the lead, “Her anchor leg in the 4x400m was one but as the group of girls rounded the curve of the best performances I’ve seen all year,” before their last 100m, Gadson looked to be Wilbourn said of Tolbert.

Sports Managing Editor taking it back. In the final stretch, Tolbert Duke finally took gold in the 4x400m found her last spurt of energy — she’s a great relay, and seeing as that was their last closer, thanks to her 800m resume — and event, it meant they took gold for the n the ACC Championship track and rocketed past Gadson to take a solid firstconference, too — even with McGinnis field meet, everything can change in place finish and a personal best to boot. sick and many of their best athletes out the last few hours.

Boom. Gold. with injuries.

The meet spans three days: Thursday “I was just thinking about my team …

“It’s a tribute to our depth,” Wilbourn said. and Friday, field events are final, but most and just beating everyone,” Tolbert said on The truth is that the Blue Devils would races stay in the prelim round. Saturday, have won the meet without the 4x400m starting at 5 p.m., athletes who have quali- ACC Network.

Her thought pro— they really are a deep group, amassfied for the finals have about ing 133 points in 21 scored events to beat four hours to give Atlanta’s I was just thinking about cess didn’t change. A George C. Griffin Track my team... and just beating few hours later, Tolbert out second place by 14.5 points and third was back on the track place by 59. They knew that, and they still every ounce of speed they everyone to run another 400m, ran their hearts out, determined to leave have left. this time as part of the Atlanta knowing they had left nothing LAUREN TOLBERT Duke did just that.

SOPHOMORE relay team. but dust behind.

Behind wicked speed from The Blue Devil womThat depth featured Bieber’s silver their sprints team, the Blue en have a history with the 4x400m. In 2023, at medal in the 200m, Skyla Wilson’s firstDevil women took home their second the ACC Indoor Championships, McGinnis place finish in the 400m hurdles, her third ACC outdoor title in a row. dropped the baton in the last few meters of the place finish in the 100m hurdles and Bri“The thing about this team victory is race — or had it knocked out of her hand, it’s anna Smith’s runner-up performance in we had to overcome a lot of adversity,” controversial — and Duke was disqualified the heptathlon. There was some power on head coach Shawn Wilbourn said Sunday. from the event. The women’s team lost the title the field, too: Julia Magliaro, a freshman, Duke was missing Amina Maatoug and it would have won if it had placed anywhere took second in the javelin and Gemma Tina Martin, two of its fastest assets. within the top five of that race.

Tutton, another freshman, jumped her Still, when the finals began, Duke was So at the 2023 outdoor champiway to gold in the pole vault. ready to go. The women’s team was already onships, the Blue Devils looked for Heading into Saturday, the Blue Devils leading in points, so it was a matter of preredemption. They won the conference were winning both the women’s and men’s venting Clemson and Miami from catching sides of things. What the Duke men lack up. Duke’s 4x100m team — Mia Edim, Abby title, but lost the 4x400m relay, once again, to Miami. in speed, they make up for on the field, as Geiser, Halle Bieber and Maddy Doane — This time around, the lineup was difthey’ve shown all year: Simen Guttormsen kicked around the track in just 43.59 seconds ferent. McGinnis and Tolbert are veterans won the pole vault, Aimar Palma Simo and to snag a first-place finish in the event, edgChristian Johnson took first and second ing by Florida State with just a hair’s breadth in the race, but junior Meredith Sims and Doane were new to it. Wilbourn and in the hammer and Marten Gasparini got to decide the victory. The quartet notched a season best along the way, a testament to the Mueller have spent all season trying to fine second in the javelin. tune this lineup, and had to reconsider it Without running events — field and lineup designed by Wilbourn and assistant when their team was only — Duke coach Mark Mueller.

The thing about this team heptathlon would have tied Virginia “We lost [Martin] but we still broke the hit with a slew of victory is we had to overcome a Tech for second in the recent injuries. school record without her on that relay lot of adversity.

Two laps into the men’s competition. But team, and won ACCs for the first time ever race, Duke held third track is evidently pretty in a 4x100m,” Wilbourn said. place, two seconds important. The ACC hosts With less than three hours to go, the SHAWN WILBOURN some of the most competiHEAD COACH women lined up for the 400m finals. In lane behind neck-andneck Clemson and tive men’s track programs eight, Megan McGinnis hunched over her Miami runners. Then Sims took off, and in the nation: When Hokie sophomore starting blocks. In lane six, Lauren Tolbert ran her heart out — her 53.52-second lap Judson Lincoln IV crossed the finish line in did the same. McGinnis won this event last was nearly two seconds faster than any 400 the men’s 400m dash, he became the fastest year, but because the Duke junior missed runner for that event in the country. So out on her indoor season due to injury, and she has ever run in college. Tolbert took off on her anchor lap, with two seconds to when all was said and done, the Blue Devil then woke up Thursday with strep throat, make up for and a race to win. men placed seventh out of 15 competing all eyes settled upon a new favorite: ClemShe did it, crossing the finish line less teams, tallying 70.3 points — all but 16 of son senior Ken’naria Gadson. than half a second before Clemson, appar- which came from the field.

The start gun exploded, and so did the ently unaffected by the laps she had been There’s hope for their future, though: runners. McGinnis held the lead for a few running all day. Miami was another split “I feel like we’ll have our best men’s team seconds, Gadson gaining steadily on her second behind the Tigers. we’ve ever had next year,” Wilbourn said. heels. On her heels was Tolbert, relentless in

I

Karen Xu | Photography Editor

Above: Lauren Tolbert won gold in both the 400-meter sprint and relay.

Top right: Skyla Wilson was the top hurdler for Duke, winning gold in the 400-meter.

Bottom right: Duke’s 4x100 relay team, who won gold in the ACC tournament.

Blue Devils on the podium: Tracking Duke’s top finishers LaurenTolbert(Soph.)

400-meter sprint 52.00s

Halle Bieber (Gr.) 200-meter sprint 22.97s (PB)

Skyla Wilson (Gr.) 400-meter hurdles 56.05s (PB)

Skyla Wilson (Gr.) 100-meter hurdles 13.26s

GemmaTutton(Fresh.)

Pole Vault 4.37m (PB)

JuliaMagliaro(Fresh.)

Javelin 50.81m (PB)

Tolbert,McGinnis,Sims, Doane 400-meter relay 3:31.76s Edim, Geiser, Bieber, Doane 100-meter relay 43.59s (SB)

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MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024 | 21

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Even in death, Morgan’s Message lives on Note: This is an abridged version of the full story, which can be found on The Chronicle’s website.

Content warning: This piece contains mentions of suicide and death.

By Rachael Kaplan April 23, 2024 Associate Editor

Many find solace in butterflies after a loved one passes. Dona Rodgers was not one of them.

She shied away from the symbolism — that they are the ones fluttering around us — for as long as she could.

“It’s very typical, and to me, Morgan was not typical…” Dona said. “She would hate that.”

Dona couldn’t escape the butterflies.

Hundreds swarmed the woods right off her driveway a few days after her daughter’s passing. They filled a giant tent at her public memorial. At her private funeral, one fluttered between Dona, her husband Kurt and their two kids Aberle and Austin.

“It almost took away from the service because I was more focused on this butterfly that wouldn’t leave us alone,” Dona said.

“It’s hilarious,” said Sarah Houlston, her club coach at Cardinal Lacrosse.

“Butterflies? Ew … We joke that it’s a joke, that [Morgan’s] like ‘I’m gonna make you all have butterflies everywhere.’”

Morgan’s Message, a nonprofit geared toward equalizing treatment of mental and physical health by reducing the surrounding stigma, uses a butterfly as its logo. The wings are filled with Morgan’s artwork. Its body is a semicolon, a sign of continuity despite the option to stop — a symbol of hope for those struggling with mental illness.

Laura Cai | Staff Photographer

Duke sporting the butterfly logo at this season’s Morgan’s Message game.

Morgan arrived at Duke in 2015 as an enthusiastic rookie on the women’s lacrosse team. Her club teammate of six years, Clare Kehoe, came from Fauquier County, Va., to Durham with her. Although Clare would be cheering Morgan on from the sidelines, the two were going to school together for the first time.

Morgan is intense. Clare and the other Cardinal Lacrosse 2015 team members, even though they had more experience, were intimidated when she showed up at tryouts.

It didn’t take long for the group to jell. Sarah describes them as a family; they still do Christmas together.

Duke was Morgan’s dream. Like all her dreams, according to Dona, she made it happen. She has another set of teammates (that 2015 Cardinal team could never be replaced) who are everything to her. Once, she had leftover homemade apple pie. She called Lindsey Reynolds without warning,

asked if she wanted some and Ubered to Lindsey’s to drop the pie off. Morgan’s car was in the shop, but she made sure that her teammate got her slice, even if she hadn’t asked for one.

When Clare was studying for the MCAT, Morgan left snacks and notes outside her apartment door when she knew Clare was stressed. Morgan delivered groceries to a freshman on the club team having a hard week. When Anna Callahan had surgery on Halloween, missing varsity freshman trick-ortreating, Morgan showed up with a pillowcase full of Anna’s favorite candies. Morgan thought Anna might feel left out.

Morgan’s Duke career wasn’t linear. She injured her knee before her sophomore season, needing surgery and taking a semester of medical leave her junior spring. She coached for Cardinal back home. Sarah was moving, and asked Morgan to take over some of the younger teams. They met at a Bartaco; Morgan

brought a book of notes and took even more.

When the check came, Morgan snatched it before Sarah could. That was not an argument Sarah would win.

Morgan is stubborn, as anyone who has spent any time with her knows. Her expert grasp of sarcasm — “since birth,” Dona says — and attention to those around her made her the most beloved coach at Cardinal. When Morgan returned to Duke as a senior in 2018 and stepped away from the varsity team after the fall, she linked back up with Clare on the club team.

In July 2019, Morgan died by suicide.

We can’t truly know Morgan’s story without her here to tell it. We can try to know her as a daughter, sister, teammate, coach and friend.

We can learn about her through the eyes of those who she will forever be with — and will forever stay with.

No matter how well anyone knew her, they didn’t see it coming.

“She had a therapist, she had a psychiatrist, but even they were completely shocked,” Clare said.

After Morgan’s passing, her friends and family read her journals. Loneliness, isolation, hopelessness — all on the page. She didn’t let anyone see it. Her loved ones were left to piece together the puzzle, to make sense of her absence, then grow used to it.

“I never did,” said Dona. “[That family] talked about everything, except this,” said Sarah. “Everything seemed fine.”

Ten months after Morgan’s passing, with her friends from Virginia all back home due to COVID-19, everyone — together — went to see the Rodgers.

“We can’t just let [Morgan] end here,” Clare said then.

A research group at the University of Washington published the results of an analysis

See WOMEN’S LACROSSE on Page 23

MEN’S LACROSSE

Maryland knocks Duke out of NCAA tournament

By Andrew Long May 18, 2024 Associate Editor

For Duke’s senior and super-senior class of Brennan O’Neill, Dyson Williams, Kenny Brower and Jake Naso, Saturday’s NCAA quarterfinal offered the opportunity to avenge last year’s postseason heartbreak and take another shot at the Final Four. Except this time, it had the condition that the college careers of 25 players — two of whom sit in the NCAA alltime top five in goals — would end with a loss.

For three quarters, the path to Philadelphia seemed clear and rosy. A crazy turnover advantage made a Maryland comeback feel near impossible after an 8-5 first-half lead. A six-goal day from Williams and an O’Neill hat trick usually indicate a win. But lacrosse is a game of runs, and as the second-seeded Blue Devils got heavy legs down the lane, No. 7-seed Maryland sped ahead, shocking Duke 14-11 on Long Island.

“The kids are Duke 11 crushed,” head coach Maryland 14 John Danowski said postgame. “We have

19 kids who have been in the program for four or five years, pandemic with the extra year, and they came back to earn a masters degree ... but they came back to play lacrosse. They came back to play next weekend, and to be together for another week.”

The primary culprit was a dismal performance at the spot. Naso — the senior FOGO still tender from a leg injury that sidelined him for bits of the conference season — was completely overwhelmed by Luke Wierman, forcing Duke to find a way to score without a faceoff advantage (in fact, a 20-9 disadvantage). Wierman, not coincidentally, was Maryland’s most potent offensive threat, punching a couple past Jameison in the first half alongside his ability to catalyze his team’s attack by handing it possession more than twothirds of the time.

“In terms of momentum and how it feels, the intangibles ... they outplayed us there,” Danowski said of the faceoffs. “They outplayed us in the goal, they outplayed us on the ground, they were the better team today.”

This cataclysmic deficit at faceoff overrode Duke’s overwhelming 16-9 advantage in turnovers. Maryland grabbed crucial goals late in the third quarter and one quick in the

fourth to cut the game to one for the first time since sophomore midfielder Charles Balsamo’s curtain-raiser, before an out-of-bounds call behind the Terrapins’ cage allowed Maryland to level it up and then take a shock 10-9 lead.

“We failed to clear several times, gave them extra possessions, played a lot of defense,” Danowski said.

Williams was the hero for the Blue Devils when they needed one, too, beating the shot clock to wipe Maryland’s surprise advantage with his sixth goal. The Terrapins responded again, and O’Neill answered by dropping his defender with a lethal left-handed shot fake, before powering it with his off hand past the goaltender for 11-11. A couple clutch goals

by Maryland — including a brutal one given after video review — sealed the deal, though, denying the Blue Devils another shot at Championship Weekend.

That didn’t seem likely given how the opening half went.

With under a minute to go in the first quarter, Maryland carried the ball up the field looking to close the gap, but instead scuffed a pass straight into the eager cradle of Jake Caputo. The Blue Devil midfielder trotted upfield and stalled to burn some time before

Tiffany Chen | Staff Photographer Dyson Williams scored six goals in the game.

finding Aidan Danenza wide open on the alley.

The senior eyed the defense and spun it to a closely guarded Williams on the circle, who caught it with his left hand and dunked the ball into the net behind his back and around the world.

See MEN’S LACROSSE on Page 23

22 | MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024

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MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024 | 23

SPRING PRACTICE

Manny Diaz’s commitment to excellence

By Dom Fenoglio April 21, 2024

Sports Managing Editor

If Manny Diaz’s coaching philosophy could be summed up in one word, it would be “excellence.”

The new Duke head coach has spoken time and again about the pursuit of excellence in all areas since taking the helm in December.

On defense, that means attacking at all three levels and forcing opponents into mistakes.

Offensively, it means razor-sharp execution for all four quarters.

“To excel that one thing is to excel at all things. And if we can be elite at anything, we should be elite at everything,” Diaz said at his introductory press conference Dec. 9.

While the Blue Devils’ spring game was by no means perfect, flashes of Diaz’s plan for the future shone through. Established talents like junior cornerback Chandler Rivers and senior wideout Jordan Moore clearly stood out among their peers, and newcomers such as redshirt sophomore quarterback Maalik Murphy and freshman corner Vontae Floyd provided an insight into possible future starpower.

But most importantly, players seemed to buy into Diaz’s vision.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do,” Murphy, who transferred to Duke from Texas, said of his outing. “I feel like my teammates will honestly vouch for that. They know how bad I want to win. At the end of the day, we’re all competitors, and we want the best for the team. So I know I gotta get better, because I’m not perfect.”

While Murphy’s performance was not ideal — he missed two open targets in the end zone — he did not turn the ball over and made

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

a number of high-level throws. A highlight of Saturday’s game was a near-perfect toss from Murphy to Moore, who hauled in the touchdown with Rivers draped on his back.

The new signal caller showed all of the traits one may expect from a transfer quarterback learning a new system, as well as the arm strength of a former four-star recruit.

So, his focus on improvement is a welcome sign for one of the top-ranked players to ever play in Durham.

The continuous-growth mindset extends far past Murphy, though, as every member of the Blue Devils’ roster learns from their first workout. Strength coach David Feeley, a key reason Diaz came to Duke, implements a grueling workout plan that forces his players to improve each and every day.

This is especially crucial during the offseason, as weight room goals can serve as motivators in place of in-game rewards.

Moreover, the work helps build the mental skills necessary to learn when players finally step on the football field — especially under Diaz’s mandate of excellence.

“It’s weird, in a way, sometimes you’re hunting failure,” Diaz said after one of the team’s spring practices. “You want to know where you’re not complete, you want to know what you don’t know, you want to know why you’re not succeeding in these situations so that you can learn how to correct it the next time.”

While it may seem like hunting failure would lead to an intensity that takes away from the enjoyment of practices, the opposite appears to be true. The team’s chemistry was particularly evident in the one-on-one portion of the spring game, where offensive and defensive players competed against each other with the rest of the roster there to celebrate the winner.

her parents. They have released 125 episodes in the last three years and added a blog, so more FROM PAGE 21 people can share their experiences. of NCAA student-athlete deaths from 2002After Morgan’s passing, Anna started a 2022. Suicide rates have steadily increased group at Duke for student-athletes to talk about over the whole period for male athletes and mental health. She went to see the Rodgers over the last 10 years for female athletes, and before the 2020-21 school year, and proposed rates are highest in Division I. After five high- doing something on campus in Morgan’s name. profile deaths in 2022, including Stanford “I think that her story can be really powerful,” soccer goalie Katie Anna told them. “I think Meyer, athletes have Her story can be really powerful... people struggle with this increasingly begun to stuff more than we realize.”

I think people struggle with this speak out.

Anna became stuff more than we realize.

In December 2022, Morgan’s Message’s first campus ambassador. She Duke softball catcher Kelly Torres published spearheaded the inaugural a guest column in the dedication game in 2021.

Anna Callahan Tampa Bay Times With stickers on their sticks FORMER DUKE LACROSSE PLAYER about her struggle and ribbons in their hair, with depression. The Washington Post spoke Duke and visiting Syracuse joined forces. to four current or former collegiate athletes The ambassador program spread like wildfire. pushing for NCAA reforms, which released its “These kids came to us,” Dona said. updated “Mental Health Best Practices” earlier As of April 5, Morgan’s Message had this year, just the second revision since 2016.

4,988 registered ambassadors in 45 states, “Schools are legislatively required to make Canada, England and Germany. Chapters host mental health services and resources available dedication games and educate about mental to their student-athletes consistent with this health advocacy and resources. document,” it reads.

The last cohort that played with Morgan, But what good are resources if student- Anna and her classmates, exhausted their athletes don’t feel empowered to use them? eligibility in 2023, but Duke women’s lacrosse “We thought if Morgan had known that still puts on its Morgan’s Message game every there were other people like her who were year. Staff hand out bracelets and stickers. going through something, that maybe she Everyone wears a butterfly. wouldn’t have felt so isolated,” Clare said.

And when the Cardinal 2015 team texts Morgan’s Message started with a podcast. about Christmas plans, Morgan’s number is The first episode was Morgan’s story, told by still there.

Despite some less-than-ideal conditions — the offensive line had just five players dress for the spring game — the team has gushed about the new coaching staff and the spring season. Diaz even brought in an ice cream truck for the players after one spring practice as a reward for meeting a goal for the first time.

“Honestly, this spring has been fun. I feel like I’m just going out [and] playing football like a little kid again, like playing in the backyard just having fun with your teammates, your brothers,” Rivers said after a spring practice. “We’ve been learning a lot, paying attention to details day in and day out.” “[Diaz] said this to me when we first met: Sometimes players have a hard time letting themselves go and just [having] fun — get vertical, make those edges and set hard edges to go and make plays,” redshirt sophomore defensive end Wesley Williams said after the spring game. “It’s been difficult, but it’s been really fun. And once I adapted, like the rest

of the defense has, it’s been a lot of players making plays.”

A trademark of last year’s success was the Blue Devils’ ability to wear down their opponents. The offense relied foremost on its run game to establish time of possession and field position, and a bend-don’t-break defense often forced opponent’s drives to stall out just before the end zone.

This year, Diaz wants Duke to be the aggressor. Disruptive plays on both sides of the ball can put opponents on their heels and allow the Blue Devils to take control. That kind of dominance takes complete excellence — Diaz says that even doing something 75% right is “really, really bad” — and it requires players to feel fully comfortable in their role.

That does not happen overnight, especially under a new head coach. Through the spring, Duke has started on Diaz’s path to excellence, and it will continue over the summer. Only time will tell where the Blue Devils stand when the season begins in August.

Anabel Howery | Sports Photography Editor Head coach Manny Diaz at Duke’s annual Blue and White game.

MEN’S LACROSSE FROM PAGE 21 Postseason games are often defined by how well each team’s headliners match up against the other’s. Last year, that was Notre Dame’s Liam Entenmann against O’Neill and Penn State’s TJ Malone against Brower, respectively.

On Saturday, that should have been O’Neill against All-American defender Ajax Zappitello, but the Terrapins opted to hitch their long pole to Josh Zawada instead.

The results in the first half were … mixed.

Zawada — save a first-half assist on Williams’ wondergoal — was limited in his impact from the X, but that extra attention from Zappitello left O’Neill, Williams and the Blue Devil offensive midfield with a small country’s worth of room to work.

Duke took advantage of this mismatch almost immediately. Following a forced turnover from graduate LSM Will Frisoli, freshman goalie Patrick Jameison hurled the ball upfield to find the stick of Balsamo.

The Chaminade product worked some space about 15 yards out and with an eye to goal unleashed a low bouncer for the game’s opening score. A few minutes later, O’Neill dusted his man and ripped one on the run across his body and into the ground to give Duke an early 2-0 lead.

Blink, and a near-identical O’Neill line drive thundered through the Terrapin defense to give Duke its fourth goal of the first quarter, shortly removed from a Williams quick-stick on the doorstep. The Blue Devils were in complete

control 5-1, despite having 45 more minutes of lacrosse to play.

The Terrapins responded with a couple quick scores after the second quarter began to inject some jeopardy, but Williams and Sloat answered right away with a goal each while Jameison made a catalog of impressive saves in net, including one to deny a Maryland manup. The Terrapins made some ground back as the period wore on, but a similar sequence to that brutal Williams two-goal swing in the first quarter reared its head once more.

This time, it was a second Tyler Carpenter yard sale that did the trick, followed by another composed Williams finish. Duke took an 8-5 lead into the halftime break — a lead the Terrapins steadily chipped away.

As the offseason looms, the Blue Devils have plenty of rebuilding to do. All three of its starting attack line including the reigning Tewaaraton Award winner, its starting FOGO, first-team All-American defender and linchpin long-stick midfielder — alongside a deep pocket of role-players — are all gone.

“This is one of the most high-character groups I’ve ever been around,” Danowski said. “[The loss] doesn’t define them.

They’re disappointed and they’re hurting today, as we all are, and we’re hurting not because we lost the game, but because the relationship kinda ends right now, or transitions to something else.”

More than that, Duke’s quest for a fourth national title and first since 2014 eludes it for another agonizing season, with its most talented team in years stopped short yet again.

24 | MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024

The Chronicle

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