Duke Caps Carolina Challenge, Hokie Invite With Strong Saturday Performances

Saturday, January 20

Chapel Hill, N.C.

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Dick Taylor Carolina Challenge

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Duke Caps Carolina Challenge, Hokie Invite With Strong Saturday Performances

1/21/2024 12:17:00 AM | Track & Field

Final Results - Hokie Invite (PDF)Final Results (Carolina Challenge)

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Duke closed out another strong weekend of indoor track and field action on Saturday with some stellar individual and team performances. The Blue Devils, which featured a split squad competing at the Carolina Challenge and Hokie Invitational this weekend, combined for nine event wins and several other top-five program marks.

TOP PERFORMANCES – HOKIE INVITATIONAL

Duke closed out the weekend with another solid showing, tallying four event wins on day two of the Hokie Invitational and several more top-five placements.
The women's DMR set the tone for the day with a victory in Duke's first event of the Saturday slate. The quartet of Julia Fenerty, Anna Corcoran, Katie Hamilton and Emily Cole turned in a commanding run of 11:44.12 – over a minute faster than the runner-up (ECU).
Sophomore Lauren Tolbert notched her second victory of the weekend – this one coming in the women's 400m – after clocking 55.39 seconds.
Abby Geiser took part in a tight 200m race featuring a stacked field but was able to will herself to the first-place finish for Duke's third triumph of the afternoon.
The sophomore dashed 24.59 seconds, narrowly edging out former Duke track and field standout Lauren Hoffman, who finished in 24.60.
Duke grabbed its fourth and final win via the men's 4x400m relay. The Blue Devil foursome of Ezra Mellinger, Michael Bennett, Max Forte and Alejandro Rodriguez posted a mark of 3:16.67 to slot themselves atop the field.
In addition to assisting the men's 4x400m to the first-place finish, Mellinger also delivered a career-best performance in the men's 200m final. The graduate student sprinted his way to a runner-up finish of 21.35 seconds, trimming down his school-record time in the event.
Hailey Williams had a solid showing in the women's 200m with the senior placing fourth via a time of 24.78 seconds, while junior Samantha Wallenstrom ran her 800m in 2:13.15 to place fifth.
To view the full meet results, click here.

TOP PERFORMANCES – CAROLINA CHALLENGE

Up the road in Chapel Hill, it was the field events that shined for Duke as four individuals combined to register five wins at the Carolina Challenge.
Graduate student Tia Rozario pushed her win total to three this season after picking up a pair of wins in the women's long and triple jump events.
The long jump saw Rozario's best leap come on her third attempt, as she flew out to 5.64m (18-6.00 feet) – nearly a foot further than the event runner-up – to claim the win.
In the triple jump, Rozario bested her performance from a week ago by more than a foot en route to locking up the first-place finish. The Singapore product made her second jump her best and turned in a leap of 12.33m (40-5.50 feet), moving her into a tie for No. 2 all-time on the Duke charts.
Classmate MaKayla Mason made another revision to the Duke record book as she earned her second shot put victory in as many weeks. After setting the Mondo Invite meet record and slotting herself fourth on the program charts in her Duke debut last weekend, Mason raised her performance to an even higher level on Saturday.
Mason locked down the victory after delivering the competition's top throw of 15.66m (51-4.50 feet) on her sixth and final attempt. The measurement was nearly two feet more than second-place finisher Patience Marshall (Charlotte) and leapfrogged Mason up two spots into No. 2 all-time.
Senior Moorea Mitchell parlayed the best performance of her Duke career into a dub in the women's weight throw. Mitchell produced her best throw on the fifth attempt launching the weight 19.38m (63-7.00 feet) – good for No. 2 all-time on the Duke charts.
The mark was four feet further than teammate and event runner-up Zoe Waddell, who tallied a throw of 18.23m (59-9.75 feet), improving her No. 5 program mark.
Addie Renner secured the final win for the Duke field events in the women's high jump. Renner skipped the first four heights then cleared each of the next three bars on her first attempt, before bowing out with a final and winning height of 1.73m (5-8.00 feet).
Duke also received an incredible showing by its men's shot put unit culminating in the Blue Devils locking down three of the top-five placements – two coming via personal best performances.
After shattering the program record in the event at the JDL Mondo Invite, graduate student Christian Johnson one-upped that showing with another incredible performance.
Johnson came through with his clutchest toss on his fifth attempt, improving his own school record with a throw that measured 21.14m (69-4.25 feet) – No. 17 in the NCAA – to finish as runner-up.
Classmate Aimar Palma Simo also bested his performance from a week ago while improving his No. 2 all-time program mark in the process. Palma Simo launched the shot put 20.48m (67-2.25 feet) on throw number five to finish in third.
Christian Toro rounded out the trio with a fifth-place finish of 18.65m (61-2.25).
Full meet results are available here.

UP NEXT
Duke makes the trip to Beantown for the first of three indoor regular season meets, beginning with the BU Terrier Classic slated for January 26-27 at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center.

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