Blue Devils Resume Indoor Season at Carolina Challenge, Virginia Tech Invite

Friday, January 17

Chapel Hill, N.C.

Duke University

UNC Dick Taylor Challenge

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Resume Indoor Season at Carolina Challenge, Virginia Tech Invite

1/16/2025 8:48:00 PM | Track & Field

Live Results (VT Invite)Live Results (Carolina Challenge)

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke track and field is back in action as the Blue Devils resume indoor competition this weekend. The Blue Devils will feature a split squad this weekend, with several members of the team headed up the road to Chapel Hill for the UNC Dick Taylor Carolina Challenge (Jan. 17-18) while others make the trek to Blacksburg, Virginia for the Virginia Tech Invitational (Jan. 17-18).

MEET INFO/WHAT TO KNOW

Action at the Virginia Tech Invitational gets going with the men's mile run (4:10 p.m.) while the Carolina Challenge commences Friday evening with the men's high jump at 5 p.m.
Events at the Carolina Challenge resume Saturday morning at 11 a.m., in the women's long jump. Down in Blacksburg, the Blue Devils return to the track for the afternoon session, starting with the women's 400m prelims at 2:00 p.m.
Live results for the UNC Dick Taylor Carolina Challenge are available HERE, while FlashResults provides coverage of the Virginia Tech Invitational.

LAST TIME OUT

Duke track and field opened the indoor season in style, turning in a dominant team performance en route to winning eight events at the Liberty Kickoff.
Overall, the Blue Devils totaled 23 top-three placements and 35 top-five finishes across the two days of competition.
Graduate student Christian Johnson picked up the first Duke win of the weekend in the men's weight throw Thursday evening after opening the 2024-25 campaign with a career performance.
Johnson came through with his best throw on the sixth attempt, launching the weight 22.45m (73-7.75 feet) to lock up the win. The mark was more than seven feet better than the event runner-up – teammate Christian Toro (20.28m/66-6.25 feet) – and bested Johnson's own program record by nearly two feet.
The Blue Devils posted seven of their eight event wins Friday, the first two coming via junior William Skelly in the men's mile and graduate student Birgen Nelson in the women's 60m hurdles.
Skelly clocked a time of 4:08.19 to cement himself atop the field, while Nelson dashed a personal best of 8.33 seconds to lock down the win – good for No. 4 all-time in program lore.
TJ Clayton sprinted his way to victory in his first meet as a Blue Devil courtesy of a collegiate-best performance in the 60m final.
The graduate student clocked 6.77 seconds for the first-place finish, the mark ranking fourth on the Duke charts. Clayton also had a strong showing in the men's 200m and moved into No. 3 all-time at Duke via a finish of 21.58 seconds.
Three of Duke's next four event wins were delivered by the women's sprints unit, as the Blue Devils placed first in the 300m, 500m and 4x400m relay.
Junior Julia Jackson slotted herself at the top of the Duke charts in the 300m, leapfrogging teammate Megan McGinnis for the No. 1 overall spot after delivering a personal best of 37.91.
Duke's speed was on full display in the event, with the Blue Devils claiming four of the top-five placements.
Amber Wimbish made her collegiate debut one to remember as the freshman picked up her first event win after turning in a time of 1:14.61 in the 500m race.
A first-place finish in the women's 4x400m relay capped the meet with an exclamation point for Duke. Comprised of graduate student Kyla Krawczyk, freshman Emily Royce, senior Meredith Sims and junior Lauren Tolbert, the Blue Devil quartet clocked 3:44.66 for the victory – two seconds faster than the runner-up (Virginia).
Freshman Luke Thompson rounded out the group of first-place finishers for Duke, running his 3000m in 8:20.80 to register his first collegiate victory.
The full meet recap can be found HERE.

UP NEXT
Duke returns to Blacksburg for the Virginia Tech Hokie Challenge Jan. 24-25.

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