McDermott, Ellis Become ACC Champions In Miami

Friday, April 17

Miami, Fla.

All Day

Duke University

Day Two

McDermott, Ellis Become ACC Champions In Miami

4/17/2009 11:00:00 PM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

CORAL GABLES, Fla. ? Ryan McDermott won the steeplechase and Jade Ellis won the long jump today during day two of the 2009 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships for Duke, giving each the first ACC titles of their careers at the University of Miami's Cobb Stadium.

After two days of competition at the conference meet, the Duke men sit in third place with 40 points behind leader Florida State (63) and Virginia (49). The Blue Devil women are in 10th place with 12 points, where North Carolina leads the way with 52 total points. The men are making great strides over last year's ACCs, where they scored 36 points over three days.

McDermott stopped the clock at 8:56.45 to win the 3000m steeple by over three seconds as just a sophomore. The mark is good for second all-time at Duke as well as an NCAA Regional and IC4A qualifier.

Ellis leapt 25-6, a personal-best and Duke record by six inches, to win the long jump in an NCAA Regional and IC4A distance. Ellis won the event by three centimeters over Florida State's Brian Chibudu, the 2009 ACC indoor champion.

Each earned All-ACC honors for their performances in addition to the championships.

Tyler Clarke joined his teammates as an All-ACC performer as he took third place in the decathlon with a Duke-record 7,326 points. Clarke's previous best ? and the old school record ? was 6,811 notched in 2007.

The women added another All-ACC performer tonight in senior Patricia Loughlin, who ran the second-fastest Duke time ever in 10:23.74 to take third place in the steeplechase. That was both an NCAA Regional and ECAC standard for Loughlin. Will Smith took eighth in the men's steeplechase in 9:27.05 to score a point for Duke.

Michael Barbas took seventh in the shot put for the Blue Devils, as he threw an outdoor personal-best distance of 54-7.5 on his sixth and final throw to move from ninth to seventh and score two points.

During tomorrow's third and final day of competition at UM, the Blue Devils will look for strong outings in the pole vault, discus, and all relay events on the track. Cory Nanni Joshua Lund, Molly Lehman, and freshman Esther Vermeer qualified for tomorrow's finals of the 1500m, while Devotia Moore heads to the finals of the 800.

Buzz Moorman narrowly missed the finals of the 100m ? short by only .06 seconds.

Keep up with the last day of ACC competition via live stats. Coverage will also be provided on ACC Select, which will stream from 4-8pm.

-d-u-k-e-