The women's track and field team took advantage of a meet designed specifically with relay events to run several top five performances at the Raleigh Relays hosted by N.C. State this past weekend.
The Blue Devil sprint medley relay team of Yvonne Ayew, Fay Wells, Stephanie Thomas, and Kim Hay set a new school record by nine seconds, running a 4:04.55 to take eighth overall. Both Ayew and Wells ran 200-meter legs and kept the team in position for Thomas' 400-meter leg. Thomas split a 56.7, and Hay, in only the second 800-meter race of her career, ran a 2:13 to lead the team to its record performance.
"It was a great time [for Hay]," assistant coach Scott Yakola said. "She is such a good competitor. She ran nice even splits and was second in the heat by just an eyelash."
In the 4x800-meter relay, the team of junior Colette Gurtler, senior Megan James, Thomas, and junior Kim Voyticky finished second overall, beating teams from Georgetown, UNC, and Michigan. Gurtler led off with a 2:17, and James followed up with a 2:18. Thomas then ran a 2:13 to move the Blue Devils from seventh to third place in her leg of the relay. Voyticky matched Thomas' time to reel in a Carolina runner and hold off the anchor for Georgetown.
Both Gurtler and James might not have been as fresh as they could have been since they had also run in the 4x1,500-meter relay. Gurtler again led off and ran a personal best time of 4:37 for her split, and James came through in 4:42. Junior Claire Butler ran the third leg for Duke, finishing in 4:47, and sophomore Ali Balfour took nine seconds off her previous best to also run a 4:47. The group ended with a time of 18:57, the second-fastest time at Duke.
"I'm really, really happy with what this group did," Yakola said. "I'm so impressed with them running the way they did with the lack of experience that the group had running together."
In the shorter relays, the 4x200-meter relay team of sophomore Tara Cyre, Hay, senior Kirsten Johnson, and sophomore Teabra Dixon finished in the second-fastest time in Blue Devil history with their 1:46.84 finish. Hay and Johnson then teamed with Voyticky and sophomore Kelley Martens to run a 3:56.18 in the 4x400, a top-five performance at Duke.
Outside of the relay events, the meet also included many individual events. Martens ran a personal best 58.86 in the open 400 meters, a top-five time.
"Kelley has continued to improve and is really seeing that she can run these times," Yakola said. "This is just a starting point for her."
Johnson finished 10th in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 63.42, also a top-five performance. On the field, junior Jamila Forte finished eighth in the high jump, leaping 5-5.
Perhaps the most impressive runner at the meet, however, was distance runner Erin Fleming. The junior ran the 10,000 meters in 35:55, a personal best by close to 50 seconds. In a competitive field, Fleming ran not only the second-fastest time in Duke history, but was only 15 seconds away from running an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the event. Sophomore Kim Folk finished in 37:08 in the race.
"Erin ran a great race," Yakola said. "I can't say enough about how hard she's worked."
Fleming has worked with the coaches this season specifically for the 10,000 meters. Although she will probably not actually run the event again for several weeks, the races she competes in between then will be used as training to qualify for the NCAA meet.
"I feel confident that I can do it," Fleming said. "I know that I can run the time-I just need to run my best race. I feel confident in the work we've done in the last three months."
In addition to the meet in Raleigh, two Blue Devils went to Gainesville, Fla. last Thursday to compete in the Florida Relays. Voyticky and sophomore Jeanie Minton headed south to compete in the heptathalon. While in Florida, Minton set a new school record in the event by scoring 4,542 points, breaking the old mark of 4,417 set by Voyticky last year. Minton achieved her score by recording personal bests in four events-the high jump, shot put, 200, and 800 meters. Voyticky totaled 4,190 points at the meet.
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