Blue Devils to Host Tobacco Road Challenge

Friday, April 9

Durham, N.C.

Duke University

Day One at Tobacco Road Challenge & Combined Events Meeting

Photo by: Tom Connelly

Blue Devils to Host Tobacco Road Challenge

4/8/2021 3:28:00 PM | Track & Field

Live Stats Schedule (PDF)Watch | ACCNX | Day One Watch | ACCNX | Day Two

DURHAM, N.C. – For the first time in just under two years, Duke track & field is set to host a home meet, as the Tobacco Road Challenge & Combined Events Meeting is set to get under way. The event will take place at Morris Williams Stadium from Friday, April 9 through Saturday, April 10.

The Blue Devils will play host to several local ACC rivals as North Carolina, NC State and Wake Forest are set to compete in addition to several unattached athletes. In accordance with University and Athletics Department policies regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, fans will not be permitted to attend the Tobacco Road Challenge but can access live stats and video at the provided links.

FIELD EVENTS
Friday:

Action is set to get underway at 11:45 a.m. with the men's hammer, followed by the women's hammer at 1:15 p.m.
Redshirt senior Ben Beatty is back in action in the event for the third time this outdoor season, looking to add to his strong start that features a fifth-place finish and the fifth best mark in program history. Freshman Moorea Mitchell will compete in the women's event and be joined by a first-time hammer competitor in sophomore Payton Little.
Graduate students Evan Lee and Harry Lord will represent the Blue Devils in the first decathlon of the season. Lee ranks eighth all-time in the decathlon at the University of Pennsylvania and will look to add his name to the Duke record books.
For the first time in the outdoor season, senior Erin Marsh will get a crack at the heptathlon. After winning a bronze medal in the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Marsh will look to carry her multi-event success into the outdoor season. Marsh already owns the program record in the heptathlon with 5,806 points.
Action for the heptathlon will start at 3 p.m. and continue into day two. Marsh will be joined by graduate student Zoe Hughes, senior Kate Kutzer, junior Isabel Wakefield and freshman Brianna Smith in the event.
Beatty and Little will compete again the men's and women's discus and graduate student Kiegan Lenihan and sophomore Luke Jackson will conclude the day in the javelin.

Saturday:

Events will get started at 11 a.m. with the men's high jump and men's shot put. Sophomore Beau Allen will lead the field in the high jump, looking to take home a title after finishing second at the Virginia Invitational. Beatty is set to return in one of his strongest events, in which he owns the indoor program record and fifth best outdoor mark in the shot put.
For the first time this outdoor season, the Blue Devils will compete in the triple jump. Sophomore Keith Williams is hoping to add his name to the record books, like he did with the indoor triple jump in January.
Sophomore Elasia Campbell was one of the top performers at the Virginia Invitational and returns to lead a deep women's high jump field that includes two-time All-ACC Second Team in the pole vault recipient Rivka Arbiv and sophomore Hannah Kelly.
The day will conclude with the men's and women's long jump. Sophomore Ezra Mellinger will look to continue his progress from the Virginia Invitational in which he increased his previous mark from 6.97m at the Raleigh Relays to 7.09m in Charlottesville, Va.
Fresh off the fourth best mark in program history, graduate student Elena Brown-Soler will look to beat her mark in the women's long jump.

TRACK EVENTS
Friday:

Competition will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the men's and women's 1500 meter and end with the men's and women's 5000m.
Several top men's cross country runners are making their outdoor season debuts following the team's 16th place showing at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
In one of the largest fields of the event, the 1500m features 49 athletes, including 10 Blue Devils. Sophomore Rory Cavan owns the best 1500m time of the outdoor season so far with a mark of 3:48.07 at the Raleigh Relays.
Second Team All-American Leigha Torino will start a busy weekend of action and lead the women's 1500m field. Torino owns top-five times in Duke indoor history in the 800m and 1000m.
The Blue Devils best finisher at the NCAA Championships, senior Alex Miley, leads a crowded field of seven Blue Devils in the men's 5000m. Miley earned a 68th place finish and finished as one of two top-100 finishers for the Blue Devils.
Senior Sara Platek leads a large Blue Devils contingent in the 5000m, entering the event with the top seeding time among all competitors at 16:16.28, set at the 2021 ACC Indoor Championships.

Saturday:

The bulk of the track events will compete on Saturday, beginning at 4 p.m. with the men's and women's 4x100m relay. Both program record setting teams from the Virginia Invitational are set to have another chance to improve on their times.
Torino will hit the track again in the 800m, looking to duplicate her indoor season success in the event that made her an All-American.
Already making waves with the 10th best time in the nation, graduate student Cha'Mia Rothwell will run in the 100m hurdles for the third time this season. Rothwell has won five of the six events she's competed in as a Blue Devil, with the only exception being a second-place finish behind a Nike sponsored professional athlete.
The trio of graduate student Iman Sule and sophomores Carly King and Jenna Crean proved dominant in the 400m at the Virginia Invitational, taking first, third and fourth, respectively, and will return to action in the same event this weekend. Sule set the third fastest mark in program history at 53.61 seconds and King and Crean were right behind her with some of their best times.
Senior Miles Mingo and graduate student Alex Schwedt will lead the men's 400m field. Mingo is looking to build on last weekend's first place finish in the same event with a time of 47.58 seconds.
Sophomore Joseph Laster is set to compete in both the 100m and 200m this weekend. Laster is in the midst of a breakout season, setting the fourth-fastest 100m time in program history with a wind-assisted time of 10.54 and is coming off a personal best in the 200m at the Virginia Invitational.
Four women will represent the Blue Devils in the 100m. Junior Kelcie Simmons enters with the fastest seeding time of 11.75 seconds.
In what is quickly becoming a strong point for the Blue Devils, the men's and women's 400m hurdles are set to get underway at 5:05 p.m. Graduate student Connor Atkinson turned in a blazing time of 52.22 seconds for the fastest run by a Duke athlete in the event in 22 years at the Virginia Invitational. Atkinson's time also ranks 41st in the country.
Senior Lauren Hoffman has done even better, recording the 20th fastest mark in the country at 58.54 seconds at the Virginia Invitational. Hoffman is looking to win her second consecutive race.
Much like Rothwell, graduate student Brittany Aveni is off to an exceptional outdoor start, winning five of six events she's competed in and setting the 200m program record twice. She will be back in action in the event at 5:20 p.m. and is looking to break her program record for the third consecutive week.
The evening will conclude with the men's and women's 4x400m relay. Duke enters the event off of wins in both races at the Virginia Invitational.