With 1,779 participants and 102 teams and clubs entered, the Duke Invitational has set a new record for entries, and several Olympic athletes will be highlighting the meet, held Friday and Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium.
"It's the biggest field we've ever had," men's assistant coach Norm Ogilvie said.
Olympic gold medalist Allen Johnson leads the field in the 110-meter hurdles. Other international stars joining Johnson for the meet include former World 400-meter Champion Antonio Pettigrew and Rich Kenah, the 1997 bronze medalist at the World Indoor Championships in the 800-meter run. Kenah has won the 800 at the Duke Invitational the last two years.
Several top women athletes will also be coming to Durham this weekend. Kim Carter, an Olympic heptathlete, will be competing in the 200 meters and the long jump, and Julie Henner, an Olympic 1,500-meter runner, will be running the 800, an event that she won last year at the Duke Invite.
One of the top collegiate females at the meet will be Dawn Ellerbee, a senior at South Carolina and a champion in the women's weight throw. Ellerbee will participate in the hammer throw.
Georgetown, Michigan and Boston College are the top collegiate squads making the trip to Durham. Local teams from Wake Forest, N.C. State and North Carolina will also take part in the meet.
The host teams from Duke are hoping that the top-quality competition will bring out the best in them.
"Traditionally, we've always had a lot of personal bests and top-five performances because this is our only home meet, and I don't see that changing," women's assistant coach Scott Yakola said.
"In a lot of ways we have to be less motivating [as coaches]," Yakola said. "Everyone's excited, parents are here, alumni come back and there is a great atmosphere for our kids. Also, there's great competition, and friends are able to come and watch. So we don't have a problem motivating."
Several Blue Devils will go head-to-head with the top invited athletes. Freshman Brian McCulley will run against Kenah in the 800 meters. McCulley has already run a 1:51.4 split on an 800-meter relay leg, but has only run one open 800-meter race. The coaches feel that the competition should enable McCulley to run the IC4A qualifying standard of 1:51.9 at the meet.
Junior Mike Park will also be competing against several top runners in the 1,500 meters, and sophomore Jesse Allen will face top seed Rodrick Pfish and meet-record holder Ryan Hayden in his event, the 400-meter hurdles. Allen will be aiming for an NCAA provisional qualifying time in his race.
The Duke women will also have runners competing in the toughest fields. Sophomore Stephanie Thomas and junior Kim Voyticky will face three All-Americans-including the NCAA runner-up-in the 800 meters.
It will be the final home meet for several Blue Devil seniors.
"The bittersweet part here is that we're so excited to see [the seniors] run, but it's so hard to see them run their last home meet," Yakola said.
Of the seniors, Matt Haywood (steeplechase) will be running for only the second time this season. Haywood is hoping to run an IC4A qualifying mark in the event. Rob Bethea is looking to improve his mark in the shot put at the Duke Invitational after a personal best throw of 44-6 last weekend at St. Augustine's.
In the distance events, senior Chris Malfant will be racing the 5,000 meters and Brett Marcus will run his first 10,000 of the season. Marcus will also be working to run an IC4A qualifying time in his event, a feat which he was able to accomplish last year. Senior Jason Manse will run in the developmental 400- and 800-meter events.
Two other seniors will be a part of the distance medley relay team. Danny Schuman will lead the team off with his 1,200-meter leg, while Darin Mellinger will anchor the event for Duke with his 1,600-meter leg. Schuman will also compete in the 1,500-meter event.
For the women, senior Kirsten Johnson will be running in both the 100- and 400-meter hurdle races. Johnson is also a part of the 4x400-meter relay team. Megan James will run the 1,600-meter leg of the DMR, and will also run in the 800. Kirsten Black will run the 5,000 and Jenny Stadler will be throwing the javelin at the meet.
"Everyone's coming off their best two-week training cycle all year, and they're ready to go," Yakola said.
Field events will begin Friday at 2 p.m. and running events will start at 4 p.m. Events will last through 9:15 p.m. on Friday. Both running and field events will resume at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday and will continue through 5:50 that evening.
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