The men's and women's track teams faced their highest level of competition of the indoor season at the USAir Invitational in Knoxville, Tn. this past weekend, and both teams responded to the challenge.
The highlight for the men came in the distance medley relay. In his first ever 1,200-meter race, freshman Brian McCulley ran a 3:04.9 to take the lead in a competitive field. Teammate Matt Diglio took the baton and ran a 49.4 for his 400-meter leg of the event to keep the Blue Devils up front. Sophomore Jesse Allen, in his first indoor 800 meters, ran a 1:51.9, one of the fastest indoor splits for Duke in several years.
Allen extended the lead for junior Mike Park, who ran the final leg of the race, the mile. Park ran the first half of his race in a quick 2:03. In the final laps, William and Mary began to catch up to Park, but Park was able to hold him off to run a 4:16 split and win in 10:02.46, which qualified the Blue Devils for the IC4A meet.
"It was a gutsy anchor by Mike Park," assistant coach Norm Ogilvie said. "He ran with heart and took out the pace in the beginning, which forced the other teams to go out hard. He was drained physically and emotionally at the end, and that's what running is all about."
Despite the fact that Park has been injured during the season, he said he felt no pain during the race, which was a personal best time for him in the mile.
"I felt light on my feet," Park said. "When I got the baton, I took off because I didn't want to give any teams behind me any confidence."
Three of the four members of the DMR also combined to run the 1,600-meter relay team-McCulley, Diglio and Allen. They joined with junior Jeremy Walker to run a 3:17.51 to win their heat and qualify for the IC4A meet.
"We have run four relay races, and have come in first each time," Ogilvie said. "It's a good feeling to have. They are doing everything possible to win and their confidence is growing."
Additionally, freshman Lamar Grant qualified for his third IC4A event when he won his heat of the 200 meters in 22.02, and set another qualifying time when he ran 6.97 in the 60 meters. In the distance events, sophomore Tom Becker missed out on qualifying for the IC4A meet by a second when he ran a 14:51.69 in the 5,000 meters. However, Becker was able to beat two UNC runners who had beaten him at the Atlantic Coast Conference cross country meet and an indoor meet earlier in the season, and his time was the fastest in the ACC this year.
Like the men, the women were also able to find luck in the relay events. The Blue Devils began the meet with a school-record time in the 1,600-meter relay. The group of sophomore Stephanie Thomas, juniors Kim Hay and Kim Voyticky and senior Kirsten Johnson broke the old record by two seconds to place ninth in the event in 3:55.83. Johnson had a personal best split in the relay, anchoring the team in 59.6.
In additon, the distance medley relay team of Hay, Thomas, junior Colette Gurtler and senior Megan James finished fourth in 12:08.76. Thomas had a personal best 2:15 split in the 800 meters, and James had a best time of 5:12 in the mile. The team ran one of the top five Duke times for the event despite the fact that the group was changed-Voyticky, who usually runs the race, was taken out in order to rest for an 800-meter race following the DMR, and James was added to the team.
The rest seemed to do Voyticky well. She finished fourth in the Invitational 800-meters, comprised of ten runners who were specially invited to run in the race. Voyticky ran a new school-record time of 2:12.52 in the event, breaking her own record that she set last weekend.
"Kim ran really well," assistant coach Scott Yakola said. "She wasn't feeling 100 percent, but to run that time in that kind of a field is very impressive."
Voyticky is now only two seconds off a provisional qualifying time for the NCAA indoor meet, and the coaches feel she has the potential to run the 2:10.5 time necessary to make the meet.
In the sprints, sophomore Tara Cyre broke the school record in the 60 meters with her time of 8.24, and sophomore Fay Wells set a personal best in the same event, finishing in 8.39.
Junior Erin Fleming also set a personal best, running an 18:02.73 in the 5,000 meters to place ninth, and sophomore Kim Folk was just off her best time in the event, running an 18:25.
"[The USAir Invitational] is one of the largest indoor meets and the competition is the best we've seen all year," Yakola said. "Overall, we had a very good weekend."
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