Blue Devils Finish First Day Of Duke Invitational With Five Postseason Qualifiers

Friday, April 6

Durham, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Blue Devils Set To Compete In The 113th Penn Relays

Blue Devils Finish First Day Of Duke Invitational With Five Postseason Qualifiers

4/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke's outdoor track and field team concluded the first day of competition at its annual Duke Invitational on Friday at Wallace Wade Stadium. Three women and two men qualified for postseason meets with their performances on the day.

Women's: Senior Debra Vento came in first place in the high jump and qualified for the ECAC's and NCAA East Regional, all for the third week in a row. She extended her string of consecutive Duke Invitational high jump titles to four. Vento's best jump for the day measured 5'-08.75.”

In the pole vault, junior Lara Jones recorded a personal best 12'-11.50” vault which won her the event at the meet. That mark qualified her for both the ECAC's and NCAA East Regional and was good for the second-best Duke pole vault in history.

Senior Kelly Reynolds competed in the hammer throw and hit 175'-08.” That mark was good for third place and qualified her for the ECAC Championships for the second straight week.

Men's: Continuing his early career success at Duke was freshman John Austin in the javelin on Friday. Austin reached a distance of 194'-09” and placed third at the meet. Although not his best toss this season, he still qualified for the IC4A Championships.

In the 5,000 meters, senior Keith Krieger was the last postseason qualifier of the day for the Blue Devils. Krieger placed 11th by running the event in a time of 14:17.77 and qualified for the IC4A's.

Competition will resume Saturday from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., and there will be much more action at the meet with 33 events scheduled for the day.

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