WINSTON-SALEM--For the first time in five years, the women's track and field team moved out of last place at the Atlantic Coast Conference outdoor meet by scoring 13 points to finish in eighth place.
The majority of the Duke athletes who scored at the meet were freshmen, a sign that the Blue Devils have the potential to move up even higher at future meets.
"I'm very excited for the future," assistant coach Scott Yakola said. "This is the most points we've scored since 1990, and we scored in six events."
"The fact that we scored in six events is a building block," head coach Mike Forbes said. "Next year we won't aim for 7th or 8th place, but 5th or 6th. We won't score in six events, but nine or 10."
The highest-placing athlete at the meet for Duke was freshman Kim Voyticky, who finished fifth in the heptathlon. She entered the second day of competition in tenth place but was able to improve enough on Saturday to move up five places. Voyticky set personal bests in six of the seven events to total 4,167 points.
"Kim was outstanding," Yakola said. "This is the highest anyone has ever finished in the heptathlon [for Duke]."
Voyticky also led off the 4x100 meter relay team and anchored the 4x400 meter relay team that set a new school record with its time of 3:55.9.
Going into the final event of the meet, Duke was tied with N.C. State with 12 points. In the third leg of the 4x400, senior Beth Gadkowski went out quickly in the first 200 meters to pull away from State's runner, and Forbes said he feels this broke the spirit of the State relay team. Gadkowski's 59.5 split helped the Blue Devils finish in eighth place to gain the point needed to break the tie and earn the school record.
"The other members of the [relay] team said they wouldn't leave without a school record for Beth," Yakola said. "She has battled injuries throughout her career, but was still able to run under 60. That showed what a leader she is."
Another key member of both relay teams was freshman Kim Hay. Hay led off the record-breaking 4x400 team with a 57.6 400-meter split, her personal best, and also ran on the 4x100 team that finished in 49.94, the third-fastest time in Duke history. "[Hay's racing] opened some eyes--not only hers but other people's as well," Yakola said.
Sophomore Kirsten Johnson also participated on both relay teams and came up with a personal best 15.1 in the 100-meter hurdles.
In the heptathlon, sophomore Jenny Stadler also had bests in six of her seven events on the way to eighth place with 3,989 points.
In the distance events, senior Robin Schretter scored in the 3,000 meters on Friday by finishing eighth in 10:16.34, and then came back to place sixth in the 5,000 meters the following day in 17:35.
Also in the 3,000 meters, freshman Kristin Faraguna ran a strong final lap to edge Schretter for seventh place with her time of 10:12.34. Freshman Erin Fleming scored for the Blue Devils with an eighth-place finish in the 10,000 meters with her time of 39:29.34.
The only area where Duke was not able to score any points was the middle distance events. Junior Betsy Keever was battling an injury and raced a sub-par 1,500 meters, while several of her teammates came away from the meet disappointed with their performances.
"There is a silver lining to something like that," Yakola said. "They know they can do better, and they won't accept anything less next year."
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