Athletics Roundup: Spring Teams Look Strong in Post-Season Play

Softball, women’s track & field win ACC titles

softball and women's track teams celebrate 2024 ACC championships

While most attention was focused this weekend on graduation excitement at Duke, Duke spring athletics teams produced their own thrills, with two teams winning Atlantic Coast Conference championships and other teams advancing in NCAA play.

The ACC titles went to softball and women’s track and field. Men’s lacrosse and women’s golf continue on in NCAA action, while men’s golf will begin NCAA regional tournament play this week. Rowing and baseball still have ACC action on their schedule, although both may receive bids to the NCAA championship.

And although both tennis teams have been defeated in NCAA action, both will have individuals competing in the singles and doubles competition.

In fact, it’s possible that every spring athletics team will compete in NCAA tournament this season.

Below is the roundup of recent results. For more information, visit GoDuke.com

Softball

For the second time in program history, Duke claimed the ACC Softball Championship title after defeating second-seeded Florida State, 6-3, on Saturday afternoon behind a sold-out crowd at Duke Softball Stadium.

Duke won three games in the championship, and all three were nailbiters. The first two victories came in extra innings, while in the championship game, the Blue Devils scored four runs in the sixth inning to overcome a 3-2 deficit.

The four-run rally was sparked by Ana Gold. With runners on first and second with one out, the Ballston Spa, N.Y., native singled to center field to score the game-tying run. Two batters later, freshman Amiah Burgess touched home on a throwing error to give Duke its first lead of the game at 4-3. 

In addition to the win, four Blue Devils brought home individual hardware after being named to the ACC All-Tournament team. Seniors Claire Davidson and Jala Wright, junior Ana Gold and sophomore Aminah Vega were all honored, increasing Duke's all-time All-Tournament team selections to 11. Wright was also selected as the ACC Tournament MVP and joins Peyton St. George as the only Blue Devils to receive the honor.

The No. 5 Blue Devils improved their record to 47-6. Duke will next host a NCAA regional tournament, playing Morgan State Friday.

Track and Field

The Duke women's track and field team made ACC history on Saturday as the Blue Devils became the first women's team to win back-to-back outdoor conference titles outright since the league expanded to 15 teams.

The Blue Devils, who won their third women's ACC Championship in the last four seasons, capped a stellar weekend at the ACC Outdoor Championships by collecting six more medals and garnering 20 All-ACC honors on the final day of competition. Four of Duke's six medals were gold as sophomore Lauren Tolbert, graduate student Skyla Wilson and both the women's 4x100m and 4x400m relays registered ACC titles.

On the men’s side, Simen Guttormsen in the pole vault and Almar Palma Simo in the hammer throw won ACC titles.

Several Blue Devils on both men’s and women’s track await their fates on qualification for the NCAA East Regional, which will take place in Lexington, Ky., from May 22-25.

Men’s Lacrosse

Duke attackmen Dyson Williams and Josh Zawada combined for 13 points from nine goals and four assists to lead the second-seeded Blue Devils to a commanding 19-7 victory over Utah in the opening round of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship at Koskinen Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The offense scored early and the defense shut down Utah’s potent offense for much of the game. Williams finished his day with five goals, while Zawada had four goals and four assists for eight points. Defensively, Duke (13-5) held Utah (12-5) to just seven goals and only two in the second half. The Utes came into the game with the nation's third-ranked offense at 15.31 goals per game.

With the win, Duke advances to the NCAA quarterfinals and will face Maryland on May 18.

Women’s Lacrosse

Duke kept close to eighth-ranked Loyola for three quarters, entering the fourth tied 11-11. But Loyola scored five consecutive goals in the final period to defeat the Blue Devils 16-11 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Katie Desimone was once again stellar for the Blue Devils and notched her 34th-career hat trick with five goals and an assist to lead all scorers. She cements herself as one of the Duke greats with 196 career goals and 273 career points as Duke's second all-time leading goal scorer.

The loss ended the Blue Devils season with a 10-9 record.

Baseball

The ninth-ranked Blue Devils dropped a weekend series against Georgia Tech, losing two out of three in Atlanta, but still remains one of the highly regarded teams in the nation.

Duke will finish the regular season with four home games at Jack Coombs Stadium. On Tuesday the team hosts the College of Charleston before finishing conference play with three games against North Carolina Thursday through Saturday.

The Blue Devils have already clinched a spot in the ACC tournament, which will begin May 21 in Charlotte. With a current record of 33-17, Duke is expected to receive a bid to the NCAA championships and could host one of the 16 NCAA regional tournaments.

Women’s Golf

For the 34th time in program history and the 32nd under head coach Dan Brooks, the Duke women's golf team advanced to the NCAA Championship on Wednesday as the Blue Devils placed second at the NCAA Cle Elum Regional, which concluded May 9 at the 6,306-yard, par-72 Tumble Creek Club in Cle Elum, Wash.

Duke featured two golfers in the top seven – Emma McMyler (6th) and Andie Smith (7th) – along with all five Blue Devils in the top 20 following 54 holes – Katie Li (13th), Anne Chen (T13) and Phoebe Brinker (T19).  McMyler turned in her fourth straight top-10 finish at an NCAA Regional to become one of only two Blue Devils in program history to accomplish that mark (Leona Maguire is the other).

The NCAA Championship will take place May 17-22 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

Men’s Golf

[UPDATED] Duke men's golf sophomore Ethan Evans earned a bid to the NCAA Championship on May 15 as the low individual on a non-advancing team, finishing in a tie for second place at 6-under, 210, at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional. Evans' second-place finish ties for the school’s best finish at an NCAA Regional in program history, matching Jason Buha (1997) and Adam Long (2010). 

As a team, the Blue Devils saw their season come to a close following a 3-over, 291, in the third round and a seventh-place finish overall at 9-over, 873, at the University Club.

The men’s NCAA Championship will take place May 24-29 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

Women’s Tennis

After a victory against East Tennessee State University in the NCAA first round, the Blue Devils concluded their season with a loss to Tennessee May 5 in Knoxville.

Duke freshman Shavit Kimchi will next compete in the NCAA Singles Championship May 20-25 at the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Okla.

Men’s Tennis

The Blue Devils advanced to the Round of 16 where they were defeated by fourth ranked TCU Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.

With the loss, the Blue Devils concluded their team season with an overall record of 20-10. Duke will still send redshirt senior Garrett Johns and sophomore Pedro Rodenas to the 2024 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship, which runs May 20-25 at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Okla.

Rowing

Duke's Third Varsity Eight and Varsity Four earned the No. 1 seeds, while the Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Four earned the No. 2 seeds in the ACC tournament. The championship will be held on May 17-18 on Lake Wheeler in Raleigh.

The Second Varsity Eight rounds out the competition for the Blue Devils as the No. 3 seed.