Blue Devils Honor 2021 Season at Awards Banquet

2021 Duke Track & Field and Cross Country Awards Banquet

Photo by: Chris Frezza

Blue Devils Honor 2021 Season at Awards Banquet

12/8/2021 11:52:00 AM | Cross Country, Track & Field

DURHAM – The Duke track & field and cross country team held its awards banquet Monday evening in Blue Devil Tower to honor the achievements from the 2020-21 track & field season, as well as the recently completed 2021 cross country season. Director of track & field and cross country Shawn Wilbourn along with other members of the coaching staff, presented 12 awards to 10 student-athletes for their respective accomplishments.

Graduate student Erin Marsh and recent graduate Alex Miley each took home a pair of awards. Marsh was awarded the Women's Field Athlete of the Year and the Curtis Beach Performer of the Year Award following a historic individual season. Marsh won the bronze medal in the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the silver medal in the heptathlon at the ACC Outdoor Championships, the silver medal in the 60m hurdles and high jump at the ACC Indoor Championships and a fourth-place finish in the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She also notched eight top-five all-time marks in the Duke record book last season alone, including the school record in three events - the pentathlon (4,344 points), indoor 60m hurdles (8.06 seconds) and heptathlon (5,924 points). Marsh also owns Duke's second fastest 100m hurdles mark (13.17 seconds), the No. 3 indoor & outdoor high jump (1.79m) and the indoor long jump (6.12 m), while also tying the fifth best distance in the outdoor long jump (6.06m).

Miley received the Men's Track Athlete of the Year and the Men's Most Improved Career Award. Miley steadily improved each year and capped off his Duke career with a strong senior campaign. The distance runner earned the silver medal and All-ACC First Team honors in the outdoor 3000m steeplechase, as well as the bronze medal and All-ACC First Team recognition in the indoor DMR. The Maple Grove, Minn., native recorded a historic run in the 3000m steeplechase at the ACC Outdoor Championships, smashing the 49-year-old school record with a time of 8:32.72. Miley also served as team captain during the 2020 cross country season.

Brittany Aveni took home the Women's Track Athlete of the Year. Aveni, a former middle distance runner, garnered All-ACC First Team honors in the outdoor 400m and 4x400m after delivering a career best performance at the 2021 ACC Outdoor Championships. She won two gold medals in the 400m and 4x400m relay, while also taking bronze in the 200m to help lead the Blue Devil women to the program's first ACC Championship. Aveni became the first Duke woman to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in three different events (400m, 4x400m relay, 4x100m relay), as well as the first five-time All-American in women's program history. Additionally, the 2021 USTFCCCA Outdoor First (400m, 4x400m) and Second Team (4x100m) All-American owns the school record in the 100 (11.35 seconds), 200 (22.96 seconds) and 400-meter (51.60 seconds) dash, as well as the 4x100 (44.02 seconds) and 4x400-meter (3:28.27) relays.

Ben Beatty earned the Men's Field Athlete of the Year. The redshirt senior earned 2021 All-ACC First Team accolades following a bronze medal in the indoor shotput where he set a school record with a throw of 18.43m (60-5.75 feet). During the outdoor season, Beatty notched the second best hammer throw in program history, hitting a PR with a throw of 59.13m (194-0 feet) to finish 10th at the Outdoor ACC Championships.

Cross Country MVP honors went to graduate students Michaela Reinhart for the women and Josh Romine for the men. Reinhart was captain of the women's cross country team and paced the Blue Devils at the ACC Championships for the fifth consecutive season, clocking in at 20:45.1 to take 14th overall and garner all-conference honors for the fourth straight year. She followed that up with her third All-Region honor and finished 20th at the NCAA Southeast Regional (20:44.4) – the top placement among the Duke women. She also earned a bronze medal and All-ACC Second Team honors in the indoor DMR, All-ACC Second Team recognition in the outdoor 5000m and set the second all-time Duke mark in the 5000m (15:55.38), as well as the fourth-best 10000m (33:26.61) finish in program history.

Romine posted the top time among the Duke men at the ACC Championships and finished 21st (24:16.5) to earn his first career All-ACC selection. The Highlands Ranch, Colo., native finished in 29:53.2 (20th), a personal best in the 10K, to secure his first All-Region selection. Romine garnered All-ACC honors for the first time with a sixth-place finish and a PR time of 14:03.84 in the 5000m at the ACC Indoor Championships - the third fastest time in Duke indoor history.

Cha'Mia Rothwell and Alex Schwedt earned the inaugural Women's and Men's Hell Raiser Award. In her only season as a Blue Devil, Rothwell set the school record in the 100m hurdles three times – the final time coming at the NCAA East Regional where she finished ninth and broke 13 seconds for the first time with a run of 12.95 seconds to qualify for the NCAA Outdoors Championships. Earlier that season, she set the fourth fastest time in program history in the 200m (23.53 seconds) at the Charlotte Invitational, as well as the second furthest long jump mark in Duke history (6.38m) at the Virginia Invitational. She also took home a bronze medal in the 100m hurdles at the ACC Outdoor Championships, earning All-ACC First Team honors while aiding the Blue Devil women to their first ACC title. Rothwell became a USTFCCCA All-American for the first time in the outdoor 100m (First Team) and 4x100m (Second Team), with her 4x100m relay's time of 44.02 seconds setting a school record.

Schwedt made an immediate impact after joining Duke, as he inserted himself in the record book in four categories and earned All-ACC Second Team honors in the indoor 4x400m relay. Schwedt owns the second-best all-time mark in the indoor 200m (21.48 seconds) and outdoor 400m (46.68 seconds), third fastest 300m time (34.49 seconds), while ranking fourth in the indoor 400 (47.67 seconds) and 500-meter (1:04.01).

Leigha Torino received the Women's Most Improved Career Award. Torino culminated her Duke career with a great senior season in which she garnered USTFCCCA Second Team All-American recognition. She set four PRs as a senior, with two of those coming in the ACC Championships. Torino earned All-ACC Second Team honors with a run of 2:05.20 (sixth) in the 800m at the ACC Indoor Championships, then finished sixth overall in the 800m final at the ACC Outdoor Championships to add another All-ACC distinction.

Rounding out the winners was junior Lara Kohlenbach, the 2021 Community Service Career Award recipient. A native of Koenigstein, Germany, Kohlenbach has spearheaded efforts and encouraged her teammates to continue making an impact in the community. She also formed a good relationship with six-year-old Charlie Galuten from Team IMPACT, who the Blue Devils' recently signed.

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