PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne University Cross Country teams will enter the third year of the Jeff Gibson era as they get set to begin their 2023 campaign on Friday at the SFU Father Bede Invitational.

The Dukes were picked to finish 8th on the women's side and 13th on the men's side in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll. However, Duquesne will return a few standouts from last year.  

One of which is Zack Toth, who led the team at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Championships and A-10 Championships, setting personal records in both competitions. Alongside him is Casey Padgett. Padgett achieved personal bests in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional (32:39.1 – 10k) and A-10 Championships (26:00.9 – 5m).

Coach Gibson noted he was impressed with some returning faces on the women's side. Senior Liv Wilson, junior Gina Bolla, and Sophomore Ryley Schwalm all received praise from him for their hard work this summer and are expected to be near the top of the Duquesne pack this fall. Haley Hamilton will be the leading returner for the Dukes, as she is back for her senior year after finishing last year's NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships in a team best 22:05.8.

After this weekend's meet Duquesne will compete in the National Catholic Invitational, hosted at the University of Notre Dame, on September 15. The next day, they will come back to Pennsylvania for the RMU Invitational. Two weeks later on September 29th, they go to the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, PA. Once the calendar flips to October, they will make the short trip over to Carnegie Mellon for the Carnegie Mellon Invitational on the 7th, then head to the Falcon Invitational in Ohio on the 13th. They will have a two week respite before they compete at the Atlantic-10 Cross Country Championship on the 28th. November 5th marks the second-to-last meet at SFU for the Red Flash Rally. Then on November 10th, Duquesne will attempt to make their mark at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship in Bethlehem.