Duke Wraps Duke Invite with Two Top-Five Program Marks, Three Event Wins

Saturday, April 8

Durham, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Three at Duke Invitational

Photo by: Anthony Garza

Duke Wraps Duke Invite with Two Top-Five Program Marks, Three Event Wins

4/8/2023 8:38:00 PM | Track & Field

Final Meet Results (PDF)

DURHAM – The Duke track and field program capped the 2023 Duke Invitational at Morris Williams Stadium on Saturday with a pair of top-five program marks, three event wins and nine top-10 placements.

The Blue Devils revised the program records in the men's and women's outdoor pole vault while claiming event wins in the women's 400m dash, men's decathlon and men's high jump.

TOP PERFORMANCES

Graduate student Tyler Hrbek and sophomore Paige Sommers, both taking part in the 'A' sections of their respective pole vault competitions, turned in a pair of top-five program marks via personal-best performances.
Hrbek cleared a height of 5.25m (17-2.75 feet) to place fourth and move into a tie for third all-time in program lore while Sommers finished runner-up behind a vault of 4.30m (14-1.25 feet) – No. 4 all-time at Duke.
Duke's first win of the day came from the women's 400m race, where freshman Julia Jackson clocked a time of 53.46 seconds in her outdoor 400m debut to finish atop the field.
Max Forte collected the win in his first career decathlon after totaling a career-best 6,130 points over the two-day meet.
The sophomore took part in the final five events of multis on Saturday and finished off his strong performance with a pair of runner-up finishes in the 110m hurdles (15.83) and 1500m (4:55.90).
Senior Beau Allen collected a third first-place finish for the Blue Devils in the men's high jump. Using a short approach due to rainy conditions on the track, Allen leapt 2.10m (6-10.75 feet) to claim the win.
Duke collected nine more top-five placements on the day – seven of those coming on the track while two stemmed from field events.
Also competing in the women's 400m race was graduate student Madison Mulder who registered a third-place finish via a time of 54.20 seconds. On the men's side, freshman Guinness Brown took fourth after clocking 49.12 seconds.
The women's 400m hurdles saw the Blue Devils grab two of the top-three spots behind strong running by graduate student Arianna Gragg and sophomore Meredith Sims.
Gragg finished runner-up via a time of 1:01.07, Sims right behind in third after running 1:01.81.
Senior Maya Provencal and junior Charlotte Tomkinson posted fourth-place finishes in the women's 100m and 800m races, respectively. Provencal dashed in 11.99 seconds while Tomkinson clocked 2:09.86.
The men's 4x100m relay of Joseph Laster, Guinness Brown, Rayan Khwaja and Ezra Mellinger placed fifth in their race following a time of 42.04 seconds.
Graduate student Lily Lockhart took part in the women's shot put, recording a throw of 14.04m (46-0.75 feet) to finish fourth among the field.
Rounding out the group was junior Danny Collins in the men's high jump, parlaying his season-best leap of 1.90m (6-2.75 feet) into a fifth-place finish.
Complete results from the Duke Invite can be found here.

UP NEXT
The Blue Devils head to the west coast for a pair of meets, with the team once again splitting into two groups. Several individuals will compete at the Bryan Clay Invitational (April 12-14) in Azusa, Calif., while others take part in the Mt. SAC Relays (April 12-15) in Walnut, Calif.

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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