Three Top-Five Finishes For Blue Devils At Penn Relays

Thursday, April 23

Philadelphia, Pa.

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Lehman Earns At-Large Bid To NCAA Championships

Three Top-Five Finishes For Blue Devils At Penn Relays

4/23/2009 11:15:00 PM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

PHILADELPHIA ? The Duke track & field squads saw three top-five finishes during day one at the historic Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field on Thursday, joining over 22,000 entrants at the 115th annual running of the meet ? the oldest existing event of its kind.

The Penn Relays includes 425 events each year, with participants representing over 60 countries.

Duke got things going in the relays with the women's Championship of America distance medley ? as the team of Molly Lehman, Brittany Whitehead, Devotia Moore, and Patricia Loughlin took sixth place in 11:28.14. Lehman's leadoff 1200m split of 3:21.1 set Duke out to an early lead in the event, while that time is the fifth-fastest 1200 leg ever run at the Penn Relays in its 115 years. Whitehead then came in with a 55.5 400-meter split, leaving Duke in second, followed by Moore's 2:15.7 800m and Loughlin's 4:55.8 to close it out.

Duke freshman James Kostelnik notched a 15-second personal-best time in the men's college 5000-meters, running to third-place in 14:28.38 for the Blue Devils' third-fastest time in the event this season. It was Kostelnik's first IC4A qualifier in the 5K.

Sophomore Christy Adamyk took 11th place in the college women's 5000-meters, logging an 18-second personal-best time of 16:37.00 to notch an NCAA Regional and ECAC standard.

Duke pole vault standout Amy Fryt took fourth place in the extremely strong field of the women's championship pole vault, leaping 12-7.5 for her second-best outdoor jump of 2009. The mark was the sophomore's second NCAA Regional mark of the season and seventh ECAC mark. Entering the Penn Relays, Fryt had won her event in five consecutive meets, including last week's ACC Outdoor Championships, giving her the first conference title of her career.

In the women's college pole vault, Cassie Ludwig took third in 11-11.75, her second-best jump this season and her second ECAC standard outdoors in 2009.

Duke continues competition tomorrow, April 24, at 10 a.m. in the field events and at 12:35 p.m. on the track.

Friday will see the team of Buzz Moorman, Caleb Duncanson, Sam Bowler, and Jade Ellis in the college men's 4x100m at 12:35 p.m., followed by Esther Vermeer, Patricia Loughlin, Suejin Ahn, and Emily Schwitzer in the women's 4x1500m Championship of America race at 1:30 p.m. Rounding out the Friday running events will be Moorman, Duncanson, Bowler, and Chris Rowland in the Corporate distance medley at 7:15 p.m.

In the field on day two, Tony Shirk will compete in the men's pole vault college section at 10 a.m., before the throwing duo of Mike Schallmo and Michael Barbas head for the college shot put at 11:15 a.m. Schallmo then comes back in the college discus at 1:30 p.m., while Jade Ellis will look to build on his ACC championship in the long jump when he competes in the college championship at 2:00 p.m.

Keep up with all the action at the Penn Relays official homepage, where you can find a full schedule of events and live results as well as other information on the historic meet.

-d-u-k-e-