4x400 Record Falls on Day Two of Duke Twilight

Thursday, May 7

Durham, N.C.

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Day Two at Duke Twilight

4x400 Record Falls on Day Two of Duke Twilight

5/7/2015 9:57:00 PM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke track and field teams produced another strong showing on the second and final day of the Duke Twilight. The Blue Devils won two events to bring their meet total to five, including a school record falling in the men's 4x400.

In the final race of the day, the team of junior Matthew Rodio, sophomores Chaz Hawkins and Michael Wilson and freshman Brett Bofinger placed first in the men's 4x400 with a school-record performance of 3:10.76. Anchoring for the Blue Devils, Hawkins ran a 46.72 split and edged Virginia State at the line to claim victory.

The Duke women's 4x400 squad of seniors Abby Farley, Jessica Buttinger and Callie Francis and junior Anima Banks took fourth in the event, clocking a time of 3:50.39. Francis, handling the anchor leg duties, paced the unit with a 55.93 split.

Duke registered its first victory of the day in the women's 800m run, as junior Anima Banks finished first among the field of 46 competitors. Banks clocked a winning time of 2:06.30, her best outdoor time of the 2015 campaign. Senior Abby Farley also recorded a season-best time in the event, placing 12^th at 2:11.40.

A trio of Blue Devils placed in the top 10 in the men's 800m race, led by senior Henry Farley with a career-best time of 1:50.08 to take seventh. Freshman Kyle Francis finished right behind Farley, winning heat six with a season-best time of 1:50.42 to place eighth, while sophomore Dylan Murphy finished 10^th with a personal-best 1:51.00 clocking.

Moving on to the sprints, senior Elizabeth Kerpon finished a fraction of a second away from tying her own school record in the 200m. The Coppell, Texas, native ended up placing third with a season-best time of 23.70, just missing her Duke standard of 23.69. Running with Kerpon in the 200m, sophomore Madeline Kopp notched the fifth-fastest performance in school history, crossing the finish line in 24.14 to take seventh, and freshman Maddy Price finished eighth with a 24.27 showing.

Bofinger won the second heat of the men's 200m and placed 11^th overall with a personal-best time of 21.70 to pace the Blue Devil contingent. Finishing close behind, Hawkins used a 21.96 performance in heat three to take 15^th place.

In the 3,000m steeplechase, junior Olivia Anderson ran a 10:57.55 to place eighth in the women's race. The performance from the Greenwood Village, Colo., native improves her personal best by more than 20 seconds, which was previously set at 11:18.38.

In the field events, redshirt junior Thomas Lang notched his fourth top-two finish of the season in the men's javelin. The Royersford, Pa., native took runner-up honors with a throw of 219-0 (66.76m) on his fifth attempt, jumping up three places from fifth. Freshman Travis Closs earned ninth overall with a season-best mark of 186-0 (56.69m), while senior Ian Rock finished 10^th with a distance of 176-4 (53.75m). Competing for the Blue Devil women in the javelin, sophomore Kendall Gustafson used a throw of 122-11 (37.48m) to place eighth.

Duke took two of the top three spots in the men's shot put with redshirt junior Stephen Boals and freshman Jack Maher. Boals launched his fourth throw of the day a distance of 57-5.50 (17.51m) to secure runner-up honors, while Maher recorded a mark of 48-7.50 (14.82m) on his second attempt for third.

In the women's shot put, graduate student Erica Brand produced a second-place performance, while redshirt sophomore Urina Harrell finished fourth. After winning the discus yesterday, Brand showed off her versatility by throwing a personal-best mark of 46-4.75 (14.14m). Harrell recorded a best throw of 45-4.50 (13.83m) on her sixth and final attempt.

In the men's high jump, junior Carl Heinz recorded his best height of the season to place third. After making the first two heights on his first attempts, the Oak Park, Ill., native cleared 6-7.50 (2.02m) on his third try to secure the top-three finish. Joining Heinz, freshman teammate Andrew Pancoast successfully jumped 6-4.00 (1.93m) to claim fifth place.

Following Heinz's performance, junior Maddie Morrow picked up a third-place finish of her own in the women's high jump. Morrow was flawless through her first two attempts, clearing both heights on her first jump, and ended with a height of 5-7.25 (1.71m).

With the regular season in the books, the Blue Devils will shift their focus to next week's ACC Outdoor Championships. The conference meet will take place May 14-16 in Tallahassee, Fla.

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