Completed Event: Track & Field at NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 11, 2025 , , M: T-35th/72 (8.5) || W: T-34th/68 (8)
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Final
Track & Field
at NCAA Outdoor Championships
Photo by: Duke Athletics
Duke Welcomes Three to Jumps Unit
8/2/2021 3:00:00 PM | Track & Field
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Shawn Wilbourn has announced the addition of three to the men's and women's jumps unit for the 2021-22 season. Brooke Blaisdell, Michael Herzog and Paige Sommers are set to come to Durham with strong national pedigrees in various events.
"A priority in recruiting has been to build the horizontal jumps group and bring balance to the program," said Wilbourn. "Michael and Brooke both are high level student-athletes that have the ability to score points at the ACC Championship and eventually score points at the NCAA Championship. Paige comes in highly accomplished and ready to contribute at the national level right away in the pole vault. The future of the program is in good hands with these three."
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"A priority in recruiting has been to build the horizontal jumps group and bring balance to the program," said Wilbourn. "Michael and Brooke both are high level student-athletes that have the ability to score points at the ACC Championship and eventually score points at the NCAA Championship. Paige comes in highly accomplished and ready to contribute at the national level right away in the pole vault. The future of the program is in good hands with these three."
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Brooke Blaisdell
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Joining the Blue Devils from Syracuse, N.Y., Blaisdell is set to compete in the triple jump and long jump after a stellar career at Cicero-North Syracuse High School in Cicero, N.Y. A seven-time Section 3 individual champion, Blaisdell set three school records in her time at Cicero-North. Blaisdell earned All-CNY honors in the indoor season and All-SCAC in the outdoor season and has won four top performer awards in her high school tenure. She is also an accomplished student, winning the 2021 Scholar Athlete Award and serving as a National Honor Society member.
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Michael Herzog
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A native of Thorndale, Texas, Herzog brings an accomplished jumping pedigree to the Blue Devils. A two-time Texas 2A state champion in the triple jump (2021 and 2019), Herzog set a new school record and personal best of 15.34m (50-4 feet). His win in 2021 capped off a big individual season in which he was the district, area, and regional champion. Herzog is also a talented long jumper, recording a personal best of 7.23m (28-8.75 feet). Herzog also competed in football, earning 2018 First Team All-District honors.
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Paige Sommers
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One of the top pole vaulters in the nation, Sommers joins the rich Blue Devil pole vaulting tradition after a decorated career at Westlake High School in Westlake Village, Calif. Sommers set the national all-time high school pole vault record and the national high school outdoor pole vault record, en route to becoming the 2020 Gatorade Player of the Year in California track & field. Her personal best of 4.50m (14-9 feet) was good enough to qualify her for the U.S. Olympic Trials, where she competed alongside Duke alumni Megan Clark in June. The 2021 Los Angeles Daily News Girls Athlete of the Year, Sommers collected numerous awards, became the first athlete, male or female, to become a two-time CIF champion and was inducted into the Ventura County Hall of Fame.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils cross country, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeTFXC."
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