Phil Duncan knows how difficult it is to help his team when he’s stuck on the sideline. He understands the adversity of not being with the team or participating when it matters most.
After more than a year and a half spent battling injuries, Duncan has finally returned to training day in and day out, doing what he loves to do.
Duncan, a sophomore on Florida’s cross country team, underwent knee surgery last winter. He missed most of his freshman season with a stress fracture in his foot. During his senior year in high school, lower-body injuries forced him to miss most of the track season.
“I lost a lot,” Duncan said. “A lot of time in training. Right now, I feel like I’m better than I have been before, but I’m not where I could have been had I not gotten hurt.”
The road back was a long one for Duncan, but his trust in the coaching staff helped him along the way.
Duncan had to remain committed in order to return, as runners’ long, winding practice routes prevent coaches from keeping an eye on them.
“Your focus has got to be 100 percent,” Duncan said.
His hard work has started to pay dividends.
Duncan finished seventh on the team at the Mountain Dew Invitational 8K on Saturday with a time of 26:01.86 and a No. 21 overall finish.
The men’s and women’s cross country teams will travel to Saint Leo this weekend to compete in the Saint Leo Invitational. The men begin at 7:45 a.m. followed by the women’s 6K at 8:15 a.m.
The top seven Gators at the end of the regular season will become the travel squad for the Southeastern Conference and NCAA Championships.
Duncan looks to close the gap with John-Logan Hines, Eduardo Garcia and Matt Mizereck, who sit in positions 4-6.
“You want to have a group of seven guys all running well in case somebody has a bad race,” Duncan said. “Then you have someone else right there that takes their spot.”
The team atmosphere is important to coach Paul Spangler. It helps athletes realize that competing against opponents is more important than competing with each other.
“As long as they’re getting better, it’s helping the team,” he said.
Sophomore runner Phil Duncan posted a career best en route to his first collegiate victory on Saturday at the Saint Leo Cross Country Fall Invitational. The UF men's team finished with four runners in the top 10.
