Track & Field Set for Virginia Tech Challenge

DURHAM, N.C. - The Duke University men's and women's track & field teams head to Blacksburg, Va., for the Virginia Tech Challenge Feb. 19-20 as the Blue Devils prepare for the ACC Championships next weekend.

Duke will send over 50 athletes to Blacksburg for this weekend's competition, which gets underway Friday at 5 p.m. with the women's long jump. Friday's slate will end at 8:40 p.m. with the men's 200m dash.

Highlighting the first day of competition for Duke is the men's 1,000m run. Sophomores Stephen Clark, Brendon Pierson, Guillermo Echarte and Will Leister, along with freshman Jonathan Sanchez, are entered for the Blue Devils in their last opportunity to qualify for the IC4A's.

Action continues on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. with the men's high jump and women's pole vault. Junior Amy Fryt, the ACC leader in the women's pole vault, will look to move up the national standings after becoming Duke's first NCAA provisional qualifier a week ago.

Four Blue Devils will compete in the men's shot put at 12 p.m., followed by the women's shot put at 2 p.m. Multi-event specialists Curtis Beach and Karolina Haraldsdottir will focus on the event as both tune up for the ACC Championships.

Sophomore Cydney Ross, junior Devotia Moore, senior Anna Farias-Eisner and junior Katie Apibunyopas will run in the women's 800m at 12:45 p.m. In the men's 800m, junior Sean-Pat Oswald looks to break the Duke school record of 1:52.30 after running a personal-best 1:52.48 earlier this year. Joining Oswald in the event will be freshman Drew Hickey, senior Chris Rowland and freshman Daniel Schuchinsky.

The day continues with the women's mile at 3 p.m., and the men's mile at 3:30 p.m. Seven Duke runners are entered for the women, including senior Emily Sherrard, junior Katelyn Bastert, along with sophomores Leslie Morrison, Suejin Ahn and Amanda Truelove. Four Blue Devils will run for the men in juniors Joshua Lund, Ryan McDermott, Cory Nanni and Bo Waggoner. Waggoner will look to become the fourth Devil to post a sub-4:10 mark, while Nanni and McDermott aim for under 4:05 times.

Duke will close out the weekend with the debut runs for both the men's and women's 4x400m relays. Freshman Sophia Treakle, junior Devotia Moore, sophomore Kelsey Ontko and sophomore Brittany Whitehead will race for the women at 4 p.m. On the men's side, the Duke contingent includes freshman Michael Stanley, sophomore Caleb Duncanson, senior Mario Moreno and freshman Matt Marriott.

Duke returns to Blacksburg the following weekend for the ACC Championships from Thursday, Feb. 25 through Saturday, Feb. 27.

-d-u-k-e-

Track & Field Set for Virginia Tech Challenge

Duke information