Women’s 4x400m Dispatches ACC Record, Men’s 4xMile Shatters School Record

Saturday, April 29

Philadelphia, Pa.

All Day

Duke University

Day Three at Penn Relays

Women’s 4x400m Dispatches ACC Record, Men’s 4xMile Shatters School Record

4/29/2023 11:59:00 PM | Track & Field

Final Results (Penn Relays)Charlotte Invite - Final Results (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Duke capped an incredible outdoor regular season in historic fashion as a pair of record-breaking performances by the women's 4x400m and men's 4xMile relays headlined the final day of the 127th running of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field.

The Blue Devils also wrapped up competition at the Charlotte Invitational on Saturday, with the team turning in a strong day of performances featuring four event wins along with a top-five program mark.

PENN RELAYS

Duke's women's 4x400m delivered the stoutest performance of the day en route to picking up a third-place finish amid a stacked event final field.
After booking its spot in the final, following a preliminary round time of 3:39.74, Duke's relay of freshmen Julia Jackson and Lauren Tolbert, graduate student Madison Mulder and sophomore Megan McGinnis raised the bar once again, turning in a historic performance.
The Blue Devil quartet shaved 12 seconds off Friday's preliminary time and turned in a blistering ACC and school-record time of 3:27.14 – currently No. 6 nationally, featuring individual splits of 53.07 (Jackson), 52.05 (Tolbert), 51.85 (Mulder) and 50.19 (McGinnis) seconds.
Duke's time upended the former 17-year-old conference record set by Miami (3:27.85) in 2006, while edging out the program's previous fastest time of 3:28.27 that was registered at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The men's 4xMile relay joined in on the school record-breaking party with an incredible race of their own in the second track event of the afternoon.
Behind the foursome of junior Austin Gabay, graduate student James Lee, sophomore Beck Wittstadt and graduate student Nick Dahl the Blue Devils clocked a blazing time of 16:14.67 – the ninth fastest in collegiate history – dismantling the previous 49-year old school record (1973) by eight seconds in the process.
For the second time in as many days, the women's 4x100m relay of graduate student Isabel Wakefield, senior Halle Bieber, Jackson and sophomore Abby Geiser revised the program record books.
Advancing to Saturday's final behind a time of 44.44 seconds in the Friday preliminary, the Duke relay squad lowered its third-fastest 4x100m time in program lore via a run of 44.37 seconds, good for third place.
To view the full meet results, click here.

CHARLOTTE INVITATIONAL

The Blue Devils closed the two-day meet in Charlotte with event wins in four field events – the men's and women's high jump, men's long jump and men's javelin – along with a top-five program mark in the men's pole vault.
Graduate student Chinenye Agina kicked off the Saturday slate in the women's high jump and set the tone for the day with a first-place finish.
Agina passed on the first five heights then cleared the next two on her initial attempt, before bowing out with a final clearance of 1.76m (5-9.25 feet) on her second jump to finish atop the field.
On the men's side, it was senior Beau Allen who collected the win. After passing on the first five heights, Allen needed just one jump to grab the first-place finish – clearing the 2.08m (6-9.75 feet) bar on his initial attempt.
Graduate student Joe DiDario and sophomore Max Forte collected the final pair of victories for the Blue Devils in the men's javelin and men's long jump, respectively, in commanding fashion.
Forte flew out to 7.49m (24-7 feet) on his first jump, positioning himself atop the pack where he would remain for the duration of the competition.
DiDario set the tone for the day and the competition with a strong throw on his opening attempt, registering a toss of 59.48m (195-1 feet) – a mark that no one else could surpass.
Graduate student Tyler Hrbek improved his No. 3 all-time program mark with a personal-best performance in the pole vault, placing third among the field via a clearance of 5.31m (17-5 feet.)
The complete meet results can be viewed here.

QUOTE
"It was a great final meet of the regular season. We came away this weekend with three school records and an ACC record in the women's 4x400m relay. The team showed grit and determination in dealing with the adverse weather and our confidence is high heading into the postseason." – Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Shawn Wilbourn on the team's performance at the Penn Relays

UP NEXT
With the regular season now complete, the Blue Devils shift their focus to the postseason, beginning with the 2023 ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The three-day conference meet is slated for May 11-13 at the Paul Derr Track & Field Facility in Raleigh, N.C.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils cross country and track & field, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeTFXC."

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