The men's track and field team sent a number of athletes to the Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association of America (IC4A) meet this past weekend in Cambridge, Mass., and four of these athletes combined for the highest finish for a Duke team at the IC4As since 1973.
The distance medley relay team of freshmen Brian McCulley, Lamar Grant, sophomore Jesse Allen and junior Mike Park finished second at the meet after battling a tough Villanova squad. The Blue Devils earned a spot in the finals of the event by winning their preliminary heat on Friday.
In the finals on Saturday, Duke took an early lead in the first leg when McCulley ran a 3:02.7 for his 1,200 meters. In the 400-meter leg, Grant split a 49.3 to hold the lead for Duke. Allen then increased the lead with his 1:52.7 800-meter leg. Park anchored the team with his 1,600-meter leg, receiving the baton with a substantial lead.
Park ran a smart race, coming through the 800-meter mark at 2:07. With two and a half laps left in his eight-lap split, a runner from Villanova caught Park and tried to distance himself from the Blue Devils. Because of his conservative running in the first half, however, Park was able to run a 61 second final quarter to remain with the Villanova runner who has already run a quick 4:02 mile this season.
Park split 4:10.6 for his mile to finish second in the race in 9:55.53, just barely missing the win, which Villanova captured in 9:54.45. The time was Park's personal best in the mile.
"He showed a lot of poise and didn't crack under the pressure," assistant coach Norm Ogilvie said. "Instead, he came up with his best time ever."
To indicate the strength of the top two finishes, third place Seton Hall was six seconds behind, finishing in 10:01.67.
"[The distance medley relay team] showed that they can get it done," Ogilvie said.
Although the DMR team had hoped to provisionally qualify for the NCAA meet next weekend, its time was still not fast enough to make the cut. In the Blue Devils' favor, however, is the fact that all members of the team will be returning next year and the group will also have the opportunity to run the event in the upcoming outdoor season.
Running individually in the open mile run, senior Danny Schuman ran a personal best 4:16.77.
The meet ended the indoor season for the Blue Devils. The team now has two weeks off to prepare for its first outdoor meet of the season, the Seahawk Invitational in Wilmington, NC.
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