Some Duke sports teams look to the Atlantic Coast Conference championships as the end of their seasons. Others approach the ACCs as a stepping-stone or a tune-up to an NCAA tournament or meet. In some sports, the Blue Devils view the ACC championships as one last chance to beat those dreaded Tar Heels from Chapel Hill.
But the men's and women's track and field teams have different goals for their ACC meet, which takes place in Winston-Salem this Friday and Saturday. The Blue Devils would like to continue to set personal records and possibly beat a team with scholarships--Duke is the only ACC school which does not offer scholarships to its track and field athletes.
Two members of the men's team also hope to win their events at Wake Forest this weekend. Junior Miles Hall is seeded second in the conference in the 1,500 meters, and freshman Jamie Rodriguez is the second-ranked javelin thrower in the ACC. The last Blue Devil to take first-place at a conference meet was Brian Allf, who won the 5,000 meters in 1982.
"[Hall and Rodriguez] are not favorites, but they both have a shot at winning their events," assistant coach Norm Ogilvie said.
Rodriguez, who has been one of Duke's biggest surprises this season, will throw the javelin on Friday afternoon. He is one of only two competitors in the ACC who has thrown over 200 feet this year.
"It looks like a fairly safe bet for Jamie to be in the top two," Ogilvie said. "But the javelin is a strange event. With a strong wind, it is possible for someone to have a good throw early and for it to hold up."
Hall was fifth in the conference in the 1,500 last year. But only Wake Forest's Eric Dunn has run faster than Hall's 3:49 this season.
Senior Pat Kelly will join Hall in Friday's preliminaries of the 1,500 meters. Ogilvie expects both of the Blue Devil competitors to make the finals on Saturday afternoon--they both qualified last year. And Kelly also has another goal for his final ACC meet. He would like to qualify for the Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association of America (IC4A) meet. To do that, he would need to run 3:51.40, which is just slightly faster than he ran at the Duke Invitational last weekend.
But Hall and Kelly will not be the Blue Devils' only threats to score points in the middle distance events. Junior Doug Kling is ranked fifth in the conference in the 800 meters, and he will compete in the event this weekend. Kling has run 1:52.45 this season, but he would like to meet the 1:51.90 IC4A qualifying mark.
Sophomore cross country star Darin Mellinger will make his 1995 debut when he competes in the 10,000 meters this weekend. Mellinger will be joined by fellow sophomores Brett "Bulldog" Marcus and Chris Malfant in the 10,000.
"Darin has looked really good in practice this week," Ogilvie said. "Both Marcus and Mellinger have outside shots at scoring points."
And for a change, the Duke men are looking beyond their distance and middle distance runners to score points. Besides Rodriguez, two relay teams could finish among the top eight in the ACC. The 4x100 meter squad will feature at least three football players--Johannes Brugger, Charles London and Corey Thomas--and either senior Michael Coles or freshman gridiron competitor Desi Thomas. Coles will also compete in the 4x400 meter relay, probably with Kling, sophomore Jason Manse and junior Mark Blakemore.
Freshman Rob West and junior Tijan Redmon--who is also a football player--will participate in the decathlon at the ACC meet. This means that between Friday and Saturday, West and Redmon will each compete in 10 events. Both hope to score over 6,000 points.
"They are each stronger in different events," Ogilvie said. "I expect them to push each other. It's a grueling two days."
With all these potential sources of scoring, it is possible that Duke could finish out of last place in the conference this year. This would probably mean a victory over Maryland.
"It would be nice to beat someone," Ogilvie said. "We've definitely had our best outdoor track season in more than a decade, and it would be nice to show that at ACCs."
The women's team would also like to use this weekend's meet to demonstrate its improvement. For the past several weeks, the Blue Devils have been shattering personal records.
"We certainly want to continue the trend we've been on lately," assistant coach Scott Yakola said. "This is the time of year we want to be at our best, and I feel like that's where we are."
Like the men's team, the women believe that their 4x100 meter and 4x400 meter relay squads can score points in the meet. Sophomore Kirsten Johnson and freshman Kim Voyticky, Kim Hay and Lauren Banks will comprise the 4x100 team, and Hay, Voyticky and Johnson are likely to be on the 4x400 squad as well. Johnson will also run the hurdles.
Several Duke runners are also expected to do well in the middle distance races, including juniors Betsy Keever and Liz Hanly and senior Robin Schretter.
The Blue Devils will also send three heptathletes--Voyticky and sophomores Jen Stadler and Valenica Eggleston--to compete in Winston-Salem. Junior Megan Mitchell will participate in the shot put and the discus, and freshman Jamila forte will compete in the high jump. Forte placed eighth in the event in the ACC indoor meet.
Yakola believes that the young Blue Devils have improved greatly as the season has progressed.
"Heading into the ACC outdoor meet, I feel a lot better about our maturity," Yakola said. "We're not going to be intimidated by anyone."
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