RALEIGH--It is unusual for an athlete to come into a Division I collegiate program and make an impact in his first season--but freshman Jamie Rodriguez has done just that.
Rodriguez, a member of the men's track and field team, threw the javelin nearly 40 feet farther than he had been throwing in practice at last weekend's Raleigh Relays. His best throw in practice had been around 180 feet, but in what the track coaches call the biggest surprise of the year, Rodriguez threw 212 feet in his first attempt in the event.
"After his first throw, my mouth just dropped open," assistant coach Norm Ogilvie said. "I couldn't believe it."
Yet Rodriguez wasn't through. His second throw was even four feet better, and his 216 feet-6 inch mark earned him second place in the event. He beat every competitor from the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the only person that could do better was an All-American javelin thrower. Four of Rodriguez's six throws were well above the IC4A qualifying mark of 185 feet, and he was only 1.5 meters off the NCAA provisional standard.
"It felt great. I had wanted to hit 200 feet this year, but I thought I'd hit 202 or 204," Rodriguez said. "When I hit 212, I went crazy. I don't have a single idea how it happened."
Rodriguez's throw was also the second best throw ever at Duke, but the record of 250 feet is believed to have been thrown with a lighter javelin. In the mid-80's, the weight of the javelin was increased, and the 216 feet-6 inches is being considered the school record with the "new" javelin.
"It was a spectacular performance, and this is only the beginning," Ogilvie said.
Before the start of the season, Rodriguez wanted to crack the top 10 at the ACC meet, but after last weekend, his new goals include placing in the top three at the conference meet, hitting the NCAA provisional mark and consistently throwing 220 feet or better.
The Blue Devils were burning up the competition on the track as well. The 4x800-meter relay team of senior Doug Kling, freshman Mike Park, senior Pat Kelly and senior Miles Hall was only 0.4 seconds off the school record with its 7:34.52 performance.
"The record has eluded us for a while," Kelly said. "We've talked about it for four years now--it's been a carrot the coaches have put in front of us.
"This was our most realistic opportunity to get it, but I'm confident we can get it at Penn Relays."
Meet officials decided to combine the two sections of the event in an attempt to get the meet back on schedule. Because of that, 17 teams were on the line at the start of the race. Kling showed his experience in the leadoff position by not getting boxed-in despite the unusually large number of people in the race. Instead, he worked his way to the front of the pack.
Kling was able to hand-off to Park in second place, finishing his split in 1:53.6. Park then moved Duke into first place with his personal best time of 1:54.1.
"Mike [Park] had an outstanding race for a freshman," Ogilvie said.
Kelly then took the stick and held the lead until the very end of his 1:54.7 split. Kelly was caught at the end by one of the top half-milers in the country, Albert Roister from Seton Hall, who finished his leg in 1:49.5.
Going into the final leg, Hall dominated Seton Hall's anchor runner, one of the best milers in the nation, who had finished just ahead of Hall in the college mile at February's Millrose games. Hall pulled away early in the race and easily finished in first place with his time of 1:51.8.
Although the team beat the IC4A qualifying time of 7:45 with ease, there is still less than half a second separating the runners from their main goal--the school record.
"It's been a goal of ours, and this is the closest we've come to it," Ogilvie said. "It's going to fall--I'm sure of it."
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