Duke Heads to Blacksburg for Virginia Tech Invitational

Friday, January 15

Blacksburg, Va.

Duke University

Day One at Virginia Tech Invitational

Duke Heads to Blacksburg for Virginia Tech Invitational

1/15/2021 12:47:00 PM | Track & Field

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS HEAT SHEETS LIVE RESULTS

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke track & field team continues its indoor slate this weekend at the Virginia Tech Invitational in Blacksburg, Va.

Traveling to Rector Field House alongside Duke is Virginia, North Carolina, Syracuse, High Point and Rhode Island. Events will begin on Friday at 5 p.m. ET, and the meet will conclude with the men's 4x400m relay on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

FIELD EVENTS

Duke's weekend on the field will begin with senior Ben Beatty making his season debut in the men's weight throw at 5 p.m.
Beatty holds the Blue Devils' all-time record in the indoor weight throw with a mark of 19.08 meters (62-7.25 feet), which he set last February in Blacksburg at the Virginia Tech Challenge.
Freshman Gage Knight and graduate-transfer Harry Lord will compete in the men's unseeded pole vault at 7 p.m.
Knight placed first in the pole vault at the season-opening Orange and Purple Elite Meet last Saturday with a height of 4.15 meters (13-7.25 feet).
Field events will ramp up again at 11 a.m. on Saturday, starting with the women's high jump that features senior Erin Marsh.
Marsh is set to compete in her first meet since a historic ACC Indoor Championships last February in which she captured gold in the pentathlon and also earned second-team All-ACC honors in the 60m hurdles.
Marsh's high jump performance went a long way towards her 4,186-point total in the pentathlon, as she placed first in the event by matching her personal-best indoor clearance of 1.70 meters (5-7.0 feet).
Sophomore Brynn King will also represent the Blue Devils at 11 a.m., competing in the women's pole vault.
In her first collegiate meet last Saturday, King took first place in the pole vault with a mark of 4.00 meters (13-1.5 feet).
Beatty and sophomore Aiden Felty are set to compete in the men's shot put at 12 p.m.
Beatty's shot put PR of 18.01 meters (59-1.25 feet), set at the Tiger Paw Invite in February of 2020, remains second in Duke indoor history.
Felty's PR also came at the Tiger Paw Invite, where he recorded a distance of 16.85 meters (55-3.5 feet).
Six Blue Devils will compete in the women's long jump at noon – sophomore Elasia Campbell, sophomore Lara Kohlenbach, junior Kate Kutzer, junior Nikki Merritt, freshman Brianna Smith and junior Isabel Wakefield.
Her last time in Blacksburg, Wakefield set a PR in the long jump with a distance of 5.85m (19-2.5).
A pair of sophomores – Beau Allen and Davis Howell – will take part in the men's high jump at 1:30 p.m.
Allen is looking to build on a strong performance last weekend in which he placed second at the Orange and Purple Elite Meet. He currently holds the fourth-highest jump in Duke indoor history with a PR of 2.12m (6-11.50).
Campbell, Kohlenbach, Kutzer, Marsh, Smith and Wakefield will go toe-to-toe in the women's shot put at 2 p.m.
Field events will wrap up with the men's long jump at 2 p.m., featuring three Duke jumpers.
Sophomore Ezra Mellinger headlines the group, coming off of a PR jump of 7.27m (23-10.25) at the Orange and Purple Elite Meet that was good for first in the event and earned him ACC Men's Co-Field Performer of the Week.
He will be joined by Knight and Lord in the long jump.

TRACK EVENTS

Duke's slate of track events will begin at 6:05 p.m. with eight Blue Devils competing in the women's 60m hurdle prelims – sophomore Halle Bieber, Campbell, Kohlenbach, Kutzer, Marsh, sophomore Maya Provencal, Smith and Wakefield.
Marsh set the school record in the indoor 60m hurdles during her pentathlon competition at the 2020 ACC Indoor Championships. The Buford, Ga., native clocked 8.29 seconds to take first place in the event.
Bieber also cracked the all-time top five at last year's ACC's, as her recorded time of 8.44 seconds was good for third in Duke indoor history.
Knight and Lord will run in the men's 60m hurdle prelims at 6:20 p.m. Knight finished second in the event at Clemson last weekend with a time of 8.59 seconds, while Lord took third at 9.07 seconds.
Provencal will line up against sophomore Carly King, junior Kelcie Simmons and freshman Hailey Williams in the women's 60m dash prelims at 6:30 p.m.
Duke swept the event last weekend, with King, Williams and Simmons taking the top three finishes, respectively.
Simmons ran the third-fastest 60m in Duke indoor history (7.51 seconds) at ACC's last February.
Mellinger and sophomore Joseph Laster will line up for the men's 60m prelims at 6:40 p.m.
Laster's time of 6.84 seconds recorded at the ACC Championships a year ago rank third in Duke indoor history.
Following the final heats in the 60m and 60m hurdles, senior Lauren Hoffman will compete in the women's 500m run at 8 p.m. She last ran a 500m at the Virginia Tech Invitational in January of 2020, posting a time of 1:15.93.
Senior Miles Mingo and grad-transfer Alex Schwedt will take part in the men's 500m at 8:10 p.m. Schwedt, who joined the Blue Devils after four seasons at Michigan, got his Duke career started in the 300m and 600m last weekend.
Sophomore Jenna Crean will kick it off for the Blue Devils on Saturday at 1 p.m. when she runs in the women's 400m.
Crean set a PR time of 56.75 seconds in the 400m at the Tiger Paw Invite in February of 2020.
Schwedt will follow in the men's 400m at 1:10 p.m.
The women's 200m at 2:15 p.m. will feature Provencal, Simmons and Williams.
Provencal came in fifth in the event last week with a PR time of 25.50 seconds.
Simmons currently holds the third-fastest 200m time at Duke, as she clocked 23.82 seconds at the 2020 Tiger Paw Invite.
The women's 4x400m relay squad will close out competition for the Blue Devils at 3:20 p.m. The fastest women's 4x400 time last season was 3:42.09, run by Bieber, Hoffman, Simmons and graduate student Brittany Aveni at the Tiger Paw Invite.