Ashley Brasovan announced to friends today that she will be going to Duke University next year
Wellington (FL) senior Ashley Brasovan made a verbal commitment to Duke University early Thursday. The defending Foot Locker National Champion, Brasovan notified Duke Head Coach Kevin Jermyn of her intention to run for the Blue Devils next year.
Ultimately, it came down to Duke and Stanford, with the Blue Devils winning the sweepstakes for one of the nation's most prized runners.
"I knew on the visit it was the right place for me," said Brasovan, of the Durham, NC school. "It felt like me on the campus."
Brasovan (PennTrackXC.com photo by Don Rich) made official visits to Duke, Stanford and Arizona State, ruling out the larger state school after her visit to Arizona. Her most recent trip was to Stanford this past weekend.
Said Brasovan, who visited Duke in mid-September: "I wanted a small school with good weather, a good running program, that also offered a good education; Duke fit all of these."
In reality so did Stanford, leaving proximity to her home in Florida, and the ability for her family, which admittedly favored Duke, to visit and see her run more frequently, as one of the major deciding factors.
Brasovan, who owns the fastest 5K time in the nation this year after winning the flrunners.com Invitational 9 in 16:46 earlier this season, should fit right in with a program that has been among the nation's elite under Jermyn.
The women’s cross country team at Duke finished second and third in 2004 and 2005 at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and claimed both the ACC and NCAA Southeast Region Championships each of those years. The Blue Devils have qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships five consecutive years under Jermyn’s guidance, including three consecutive top-10 team finishes. And recent 2008 Olympic 1500 meter finalist Shannon Rowbury was a 2007 graduate of Duke.
