Blue Devil Women Win Duke Invitational Team Title

Saturday, April 11

Durham, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Two at Duke Invitational

Blue Devil Women Win Duke Invitational Team Title

4/11/2015 10:15:00 PM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. –The Blue Devil women's team totaled 174 points over the two-day Duke Invitational, a 50-point lead over second-place Liberty, to win the inaugural meet at Morris Williams Stadium. The Duke men finished third, tallying 122 points.

“I think the meet was spectacular for a number of reasons,” head coach Norm Ogilvie said. “Certainly the weather was fantastic. [There were] great conditions for the athletes, all the positive vibes of a brand-new track facility, great crowd, and just the general excitement level at an all-time high for a meet in mid-April.”

Combined, Duke logged 12 first-place performances and broke four school records during Saturday's portion of the competition.

“They were excited,” Ogilvie said. “They knew that this was a showcase for them at home and had a crowd that cared. I remember during the men's mile I was by the finish line, and it was loud. It's been awhile since we've had that at home.”

In what has been a tremendous junior year, Megan Clark continued that trend Saturday by winning the women's pole vault for the third time this season. Clark broke both the facility and Duke outdoor school record by clearing 14-9 (4.50m) on her first attempt. The new personal best for Clark ties her with Stephen F. Austin's Demi Payne for the second-best mark of the 2015 outdoor season, trailing only Arkansas' Sandi Morris at 14-11 (4.55m). Joining Clark in competition, freshman Madison Heath took third with her vault of 13-5.25 (4.10m).

Redshirt junior Teddi Maslowski had a career day in front of the home crowd, resetting one of her own school records and coming close on another. In the women's long jump, Maslowski leapt 20-2.25 (6.15m) on her second attempt to break the school mark, then went 20-4.25 (6.20m) on her fifth jump to set it even higher and claim first place. She then made her way to the track for the 100m hurdles, placing second with a 13.57 performance.

Starting the day at noon with the women's high jump and women's discus, the Blue Devil women picked up a combined 28 points in the two events. In the high jump, redshirt junior Karli Johonnot and junior Maddie Morrow took the top two spots with ACC automatic qualifying marks and personal-best jumps, leaping 5-10.75 (1.80m) and 5-8.50 (1.74m), respectively. Johonnot's performance also ranks second in Duke history, while Morrow's mark is fourth all-time.

Graduate student Erica Brand followed Johonnot with a win of her own in the women's discus. Brand only recorded one legal throw in her six attempts, but she made it count by notching a mark of 163-4 (49.78m) on her third try. The first-place performance was her second victory of the season and her fourth top-three finish.

After taking second in the discus, redshirt junior Stephen Boals later returned to compete in the men's shot put, winning the event with a throw of 57-5.75 (17.52m). It was the third time this season that Boals has won the shot put event.

Redshirt junior Thomas Lang recorded the best throw of his career and won the men's javelin for the second time this season. After taking the lead with his first toss of 221-10 (67.63m), Lang got the crowd going before launching the javelin 229-6 (69.96m) on his final attempt. The mark ranks as the second-best performance in Duke history.

In the men's high jump, freshman Andrew Pancoast finished second with a height of 6-6 (1.98m) to give Duke eight team points. The West Chester, Pa., native cleared both 6-4 and 6-6 on his first attempts before going out at 6-8, which proved crucial in winning a tiebreaker over Liberty's Zach Davis.

In the women's shot put, the Duke duo of redshirt sophomore Urina Harrell and Brand notched season-best marks to take third and fourth, respectively. Harrell threw the implement 46-4.25 (14.13m), while Brand recorded a best throw of 45-2.25 (13.77m).

Freshman Tanner Johnson led the way in the men's long jump, registering a mark of 22-6.25 (6.86m) to finish second. In the women's javelin, sophomore Kendall Gustafson notched a new season best with a toss of 129-10 (39.59m).

Records continued to fall as the teams made their way to the track. Up first, the women's 4x100 team of senior Lauren Hansson, freshman Maddy Price, sophomore Madeline Kopp and senior Elizabeth Kerpon placed second with a school-record time of 44.92.

The Blue Devils nearly swept the women's mile, led by junior Madison Granger in first with a time of 4:45.94. Finishing right behind in second, sophomore Haley Meier clocked a 4:51.54, followed by her twin sister Hannah Meier in fourth with a time of 4:52.68.

Senior Nate McClafferty matched Granger's performance with a win of his own in the men's race. After Jacob Thompson of NC State took control in the final lap, McClafferty surged in the final homestretch to reclaim the lead and the victory, crossing the line in 4:07.36. Freshman Sean Kelly joined McClafferty in the top three, taking third with a time of 4:11.67.

Another Duke record was reset in the women's 400m as Kopp sped to the finish line in first place. The sophomore out of Rochester, N.Y., clocked a time of 53.04, besting her own previous school record of 53.73.

The Blue Devils swept first-place honors in the 5,000m races, starting with graduate student Jessie Rubin in the women's competition. In a tight race with Ednah Kurgat of Liberty, Rubin was able to hold her off to win with a time of 16:43.88, an ACC automatic qualifying time. On the men's side, junior Blake Udland separated himself from what was a six-runner pack for most of the race. In the final 100 meters, Udland used everything left in his tank to distance himself from the competition to finish first with a time of 14:26.33, also an ACC qualifying time.

Ending the meet with the 4x400 races, the women capped the day the same way they started it – with a win. Starting the race off, senior Alexis Roper and Price combined for a 1:52.57 split through the first 800 meters to sit in second place. Senior Callie Francis took the lead with a 57.32 third leg before handing off to Kopp as the anchor. Kopp showed her quarter-mile speed and brought it home for the Blue Devils with a 53.81 final leg split. In the men's race, Duke finished third with a time of 3:15.86. Sophomore Michael Wilson turned in a 48.63 split on the third leg to lead the team.

A pair of Blue Devils added performances to the Duke record books in the 100m races. For the women, Kerpon placed fourth with a time of 11.87, tying for No. 2 on the all-time list. In the men's race, Duke football player DeVon Edwards showed off his track speed by placing runner-up in a time of 10.61, the fourth-fastest performance in Duke history.

In her first 800m race of the outdoor season, Anima Banks showed that she was in midseason form. The junior out of Mamaroneck, N.Y., took third overall, clocking a time of 2:06.88. In the men's race, senior Henry Farley also placed third with a time of 1:50.87, earning an automatic bid to the ACC Outdoor Championships. Freshman teammate Jordan Burton finished close behind Farley, taking fifth with a 1:51.72 performance.

Running the men's 400m hurdles, Wilson registered an ACC automatic qualifying time, crossing the line in 54.14 to finish sixth. For the women, Price, who earned her automatic spot at the conference meet last week, finished third with her time of 1:01.92.

Up next, the Blue Devils will look to divide and conquer with two meets on the schedule this week. A portion of the team will head to Walnut, Calif., to compete in the Mt. Sac Relays April 15-18, while others will travel to Atlanta for the Georgia Tech Invite April 17-18.

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