Duke Women Qualify Eight More Events for NCAA Outdoor Championships

Saturday, May 27

Jacksonville, Fla.

All Day

Duke University

Day Four at NCAA East Regional

Duke WTRACK_4x100m Relay_NCAA East Regional

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Women Qualify Eight More Events for NCAA Outdoor Championships

5/27/2023 11:13:00 PM | Track & Field

Day Four Results (PDF)Photo Gallery

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duke track and field program closed out NCAA East Regional action in style as the final day of women's competition saw the Blue Devils secure spots in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in eight of the 10 events they competed in – five of those coming via record-breaking performances.

The Blue Devil women pushed its overall bid total to 11 on Saturday after punching tickets to the national meet in one field event, the high jump, along with seven track events in the 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m steeplechase and 5,000m races.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Graduate student Chinenye Agina set the tone for the day as she posted a top-10 placement among the women's high jump field en route to earning her first-career bid to the Division I NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Agina was without a miss through her first three heights and finished with a final clearance of 1.77m (5-9.75 feet) – good for eighth in the East region.
Competing in the women's 4x100m relay, the Duke foursome of senior Carly King, sophomore Abby Geiser, senior Halle Bieber and sophomore Megan McGinnis put on a strong display of running to earn the automatic qualifier to the national meet.
The quartet etched their names in the Duke record books via a season-best time of 44.13 seconds, slotting themselves third all-time in program lore.
Sophomore Amina Maatoug parlayed a pair of dazzling displays of running in the women's 1500m and 5,000m races into NCAA Outdoor Championship bids behind a pair of personal-best performances, improving her spot on the Duke charts in the process.
Maatoug finished the 1500m with a time of 4:13.16, No. 6 in the NCAA East Regional and No. 2 all-time at Duke, while the 5,000m race saw the sophomore earn an automatic bid to nationals after clocking 15:58.23 – improving her fourth-fastest time in Duke history.
Senior Emily Cole punched her ticket to the national meet for the second year in a row after finishing among the top 12 in the 3,000m steeplechase quarterfinal with a time of 10:02.82.
McGinnis punched her second overall, and first individual, ticket to Austin – this one coming in the women's 400m. The Roanoke, Va., product registered the third-fastest time of the East prelims and picked up the automatic bid with a dash of 51.79 seconds.
Freshman Lauren Tolbert sees her sensational rookie campaign continue after punching her ticket to Austin in the 800m with the fastest time of her young career.
Tolbert earned an automatic qualifier after finishing third in her heat and improved her No. 4 time on the Duke charts behind a personal-best run of 2:04.76.
The Blue Devils went two for two in relays on Saturday as the women's 4x400m capped the night with a record-breaking performance to lock down their spot at nationals.
Duke's quartet of King, Tolbert, graduate student Madison Mulder and McGinnis produced a finish of 3:31.66 to grab the automatic berth, with the time checking in at No. 3 in the East Region and No. 5 all-time in Duke history.

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

#GoDuke