Blue Devils Qualify Six More to NCAA Outdoor Championships

Saturday, May 29

Jacksonville, Fla.

Duke University

Day Four at NCAA East Regional

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Qualify Six More to NCAA Outdoor Championships

5/29/2021 11:35:00 PM | Track & Field

RESULTS (PDF)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With the final day of action at the NCAA East Regional on Saturday, the Duke women's track & field program put on a brilliant performance, qualifying six more student-athletes to the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.

After senior Erin Marsh and graduate student Zoe Hughes already qualified in the heptathlon before the NCAA East Regional, the Blue Devils secured program history on Saturday afternoon. The school-record holding 4x100m relay team of Halle Bieber, Brittany Aveni, Elena Brown-Soler and Cha'Mia Rothwell gave the Blue Devils their first NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifier in the event in school history. The quartet finished with a time of 44.08 seconds, just 0.07 seconds away from setting a new school record, to gain the automatic qualifying spot at third in their heat.

For Aveni, it marked the fourth time she has qualified for the NCAA Championships, having previously competed in the 4x400m relay at the 2019 and 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships and 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships. Aveni will look to top her previous best finish of ninth place at the 2018 Outdoor Championships.

Brown-Soler is also set to return to Eugene, Ore., having placed 17th in the 4x400m relay in her previous appearance at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships while at Penn. Rothwell will make her long-awaited NCAA Outdoors debut, having competed in four NCAA East Regional's over her collegiate career, while Bieber will also make her debut after advancing in her first try at the NCAA East Regional.

Rothwell's amazing day continued, as she competed in the 100m hurdles later in the day. The Durham, N.C., native built on her wind-assisted time of 12.95 seconds in the preliminaries, with a legal 12.95 seconds to take third place in her heat and qualify for her second NCAA Outdoor Championships event. Her run officially breaks 13 seconds for the first time and smashes her own school record by 0.14 seconds. It also gave the Blue Devils their first 100m hurdler in the NCAA Outdoor Championships and made Rothwell the first Blue Devil since Madeline Kopp in 2017 to qualify for more than one event. Marsh also finished 22nd overall in the same event with a time of 13.37 seconds.

Not to be outdone, Aveni continued her sensational season in the 400m alongside graduate student Iman Sule. Running in the same heat, Aveni punched another ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, finishing second in her heat with a time of 51.79 seconds for an automatic qualifying spot. Aveni qualified for the first non-relay event of her collegiate career and matched Rothwell as the second multi-event competitor in Eugene, Ore. Sule turned in another impressive time of 52.64 seconds, but finished fourth in the heat and 15th overall.

Senior Lauren Hoffman delivered a thrilling finish in the strongest heat of the 400m hurdles, recording a time of 57.60 seconds to finish sixth in her heat. With just one heat remaining, Hoffman's time proved strong enough to qualify as the last-of-12 finalists to head to Eugene. For the Haymarket, Va., native, it marked the culmination of a sensational year and the second NCAA Outdoor Championships berth of her collegiate career, after finishing 19th in the 400m hurdles in 2019.

With several more historic marks in sight, the Blue Devils were set for their final event, which was the 4x400m relay. The last time out, the Blue Devils delivered the women their first ACC Championship. This time, they raised the bar. The team of Sule, Brown-Soler, Hoffman and Aveni ran a scorching time of 3:29.19, to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships and set a new school record by 1.28 seconds. Sule became the eighth Blue Devil to qualify, which marks the most by the Blue Devil women since 2017. It also gives the Blue Devils competitors in five events, for the most since 2016.

Aveni made history of her own, qualifying for her third event of the day and fifth event in her outdoor career. The Geneva, Ohio native set the record for most events qualified for in outdoor program history, beating MacKenzie Kerr's previous high of four. She also became the first Blue Devil in outdoor program history to qualify for three NCAA Outdoor events in one season.

Earlier in the day, three Blue Devils took a shot at the high jump. ACC Champion Elasia Campbell led the way for Duke with an eighth-place finish in her flight at 1.72m (5-7.75 feet) but finished 18th overall. Freshman Brianna Smith had a strong NCAA East Regional debut, taking 20th with the same jump as Campbell at 1.72m (5-7.75 feet). Marsh took 48th at 1.67m (5-5.75 feet).

Freshman Victoria Patterson also made her NCAA East Regional debut, competing in the 3000m steeplechase. The Greenville, S.C., native wrapped up her impressive breakout season with a 44th place finish overall and a time of 10:48.12. Senior Michaela Reinhart also wrapped up a historic season, finishing 30th in the 5000m with a time of 16:37.94.

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NCAA Outdoor Championship Qualifiers
Brittany Aveni: 400m, 4x100m Relay, 4x400m Relay
Halle Bieber: 4x100m Relay
Elena Brown-Soler: 4x100m Relay, 4x400m Relay
Lauren Hoffman: 400m Hurdles, 4x400m Relay
Zoe Hughes: Heptathlon
Erin Marsh: Heptathlon
Cha'Mia Rothwell: 100m Hurdles, 4x100m Relay
Iman Sule: 4x400m Relay

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