The men's track and field team had several top performances by its members last weekend, but it was two freshman who came out on top for the Blue Devils.
Freshmen Tom Becker and Jesse Allen both qualified for the Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association of America (IC4A) Indoor Championships Mar. 2-3, although both did so at separate meets during the weekend. Becker ran the 5,000 meters at the St. Valentine's meet in Boston with teammate Matt Haywood, while Allen joined the majority of the team at the Winter Invitational held at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. to run the 500 meters.
Becker's race was the most impressive of the weekend as he cruised to a personal best 14:42.99, seven seconds better than the IC4A qualifying time of 14:50. As a senior in high school, Becker's best time in the two-mile was 9:18, but on Saturday, he passed through the two-mile mark in 9:19 and then continued to run another 1.1 miles. In only his second time running the 5,000 meters indoors, Becker dropped 22 seconds off his previous best time.
"It was a phenomenal performance," assistant coach Norm Ogilvie said. "It was one of the single biggest improvements I've ever seen in the 5,000."
"Running a 15:04 [at the U.S. Air Invitational two weeks ago] hurt like hell," Becker said. "My goal was to qualify for the IC4As, but taking that much time off seemed impossible. Everyone on the team encouraged me and said I could do it, and it helped to keep me focused during the race."
Junior Matt Haywood also continued to improve in the event as he ran a personal best 14:59.35. Haywood has improved by at least 10 seconds each time he has raced, starting off running a 15:40 and then moving up to 15:25 and 15:09 before finally breaking the 15-minute mark on Saturday. If he continues the trend, qualifying for the IC4A meet is a realistic goal for him.
With their performances, Becker has now run the second-fastest time in the 5,000 meters indoors in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season and is the top freshman in the conference, while Haywood holds the sixth-fastest time.
"They are the first Duke runners to run under 15 minutes in the 5,000 indoors in over a decade," Ogilvie said. "They have the possibility to score very high in the ACC-there's no doubt about it."
At the Winter Invitational, Allen ran his IC4A qualifying time in the 500 meters with less than a second to spare, running a 1:05.31 to edge the mark of 1:05.90.
"We knew he was going to [run the qualifying time]," Ogilvie said. "He got boxed in his previous two races, but he ran a sound, tactical race on Saturday."
Duke's distance runners also had a strong showing at the meet, with four Blue Devils running personal best times in the 3,000 meters to finish within two seconds of each other. Freshmen Colin Young and Brandon Busteed ran 8:51.18 and 8:51.37, respectively, while junior Brett Marcus ran a 8:51.79 and senior Shawn Hynes came through in 8:53.32. The time was Hynes' best by nearly 13 seconds.
"The race was a huge breakthrough for Shawn," Ogilvie said. "His previous best was 9:06."
The meet was also the first meet of the season for sophomore Desi Thomas, Duke's third-leading long jumper. Thomas placed 10th in the long jump in 22-4.25. The event was extremely competitive, with only six athletes making it to the finals, but the coaches are sure that he will reach the IC4A qualifying mark after given the opportunity to jump again.
Sophomore Rob West was the sole competitor for Duke at a pentathlon at Fork Union Military Academy last Thursday. West finished with 3,435 points-a 100-point personal best-to place third. He had seasonal bests in the long jump, shot put and 1,000-meter race.
"He's had a very good indoor season and we're excited about his decathlon prospects in the outdoor season," Ogilvie said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.