Armwood’s Duncan commits to UT

Posted Jan 15, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Jan 15, 2012 at 08:20 PM

Armwood senior Amber Duncan, a Tampa Tribune all-county selection in cross country and Hillsborough County’s lone state qualifier out of Class 3A-Region 3, has made a verbal commitment to the University of Tampa.

Duncan is the second runner from the county this week to commit to the Spartans and coaches Jarrett Slaven and Dror Vaknin. Earlier, Plant’s No. 1 runner, Danielle Kissel, committed to UT.

Duncan said she picked the Spartans because of what they offer her.

“It’s close to home and they have a really good nursing program, which is want I want to major in,” Duncan said. “I really like the coaches, too, and I got along real well with the girls on the team I met during my visit.”

The UT women’s cross country team enjoyed one of its best seasons last wall, winning its fifth straight Division II region and advancing to the national championships, where UT finished 16th.

Duncan owns a 5-kilometer cross country best of 19 minutes, 26 seconds and last season earned an individual berth to the state finals by placing 14th at one of the most competitive regional meets in the state. At the 3A state finals, she was 58th in 20:18.