Horowitz Sets Second Straight School Record At New Balance Collegiate

Friday, February 3

New York, N.Y.

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Duke University

New Balance Collegiate Invitational

Horowitz Sets Second Straight School Record At New Balance Collegiate

2/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

NEW YORK, N.Y. ? For the second straight week, senior women's track and field performer Clara Horowitz made history by destroying a Duke indoor record and automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships, leading the Blue Devil track and field squad at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational at the Armory in New York, N.Y.

Horowitz ran a 9:13.45 3,000m to down the old school record of 9:16.86 and improve her previous career-best time of 9:27.53 while winning the event and recording the fourth-best time among NCAA Division I runners this year. Last week, Horowitz shaved 11 seconds off the Duke indoor 5,000m record to automatically qualify in that event. She became the first Atlantic Coast Conference competitor to reach NCAA automatic standards in a running event, and is the only Duke performer so far this year to have achieved such a mark.

Even though the New Balance Invitational did not yield anymore automatic qualifications for the Blue Devils, senior Laura Stanley recorded a provisional time in the 5,000m, and 13 other Duke athletes qualified for the ECAC/IC4A Championships.

Stanley took second in the 5K in 16:32.16, beating the provisional mark of 16:45. Senior Natasha Roetter and graduate student Kelly Fillnow followed in 16th and 21st place, respectively, with ECAC-worthy times of 17:11.95 and 17:31.45.

The men's 5,000m also saw a pair of Blue Devils qualify for the IC4A Championships -- the men's equivalent of the ECAC. Junior Alex Romero registered the Duke men's first 5K time this season with a 16th place personal best of 14:39.11. Classmate Keith Krieger finished in 22nd place with a time of 14:45.05, two seconds better than the IC4A standard. Sophomore Mark Buha also finished in the top 30, running a 14:55.75.

Duke also had impressive performances in the women's 800m and the men's and women's mile run. Freshman Libby Jenke was seventh in the 800m, crossing the line in 2:12.63, while junior Lindsay Owen finished 13th in 2:13.8, as both qualified for the ECAC Championships. Freshman Anna Farias-Eisner and sophomore Chris Spooner each notched top-20 finishes in their respective miles. Farias-Eisner ran to 16th place in 4:57.28, and Spooner earned Duke's best time this season in 18th place with a personal-best 4:10.87.

In the field events, sophomore Lara Jones, who had already qualified for the ECAC Championships in the pole vault, set a personal best with her second-place vault of 12-07.5 (3.85m). Junior Jonathan Fay cleared 16 feet for the first time, reaching 16-1 (4.9m) and qualifying for the IC4A Championships. Sophomore Kelly Reynolds also beat the ECAC qualifying standards in the weight throw with a throw of 53-03.75.

Duke returns to action next weekend at the Tyson Invitational. The Feb. 10-11 tournament will be held in the same facility as the 2006 NCAA Indoor Championships at the University of Arkansas.

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