The men's and women's track teams traveled to Philadelphia this past weekend to compete in the 103rd running of the Penn Relays, and neither team returned without several top performances.
Sophomore Jeanie Minton became the first Duke athlete to win a field event at the Penn Relays when she was the top high jumper in the college division, jumping a personal best by two inches when she leapt 5-8.
"The height she went out at [5-9.25] was an NCAA provisional qualifying height," assistant coach Scott Yakola said. "She jumped well, no doubt about it. It's the first time she has won the high jump, and it's a pretty nice place to do it too."
Minton's event began with 30 participants, and was quickly narrowed down after the bar was set at an opening height of 5-6. Her victory allowed her the opportunity to jump in the Championship of America section with top athletes from around the country. Although she came close in her three attempts, Minton was not able to clear the opening height of 5-8.75.
Another Blue Devil also found success at the meet in an individual event. Junior Erin Fleming finished eighth in the 10,000 meters, running an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 35:29.60.
"I felt good about my race-I knew the pace I had to run," Fleming said.
Although Fleming was 10 seconds under the provisional time, she must still wait and see how many other athletes will qualify-as well as choose to run in the event-before she knows if she will run at NCAAs. If necessary, Fleming might run another 10,000-meter race to try and run an even faster qualifying time.
The women also ran in three relay events. In the 4x800, the team of juniors Colette Gurtler, Kim Voyticky, Kim Hay and sophomore Stephanie Thomas ran a time of 9:01.59 to place fifth in their heat. Gurtler led off with a 2:15.7 split and Thomas followed in 2:11.8. Voyticky ran the fastest 800 relay split ever for Duke when she finished in 2:09.3. Hay then anchored in 2:23.9, an uncharacteristicly slow time for the Blue Devil who qualified for the 800-meter finals at the ACC meet last weekend. However, Hay was pushed and fell during the first lap of her race.
"Her hamstring might have still been bothering her, plus some of the shock from last week," Yakola said. "But, it doesn't take away what she's done for us all year."
In the sprint medley relay, sophomore Tara Cyre led off the first 200-meter leg in 26.7 and Minton ran the next 200 in 26.5. Sophomore Kelley Martens ran the 400 in 59.7 and senior Megan James anchored with her 800 split of 2:18.6. Their overall time of 4:13.12 was good for seventh in their heat and a top-five Duke all-time performance.
In the 4x400-meter relay, Thomas, Voyticky and Hay were joined by senior Kirsten Johnson, and the group combined to run a 3:53.50, another top-five performance. Thomas led off in 58.7, a fast time considering that the runners did not start from blocks, instead having to battle 12 people in five lanes at the start. Voyticky then ran a 57.3, Hay followed in 58.5, and Johnson then anchored in 58.5, a personal best time by 0.6 seconds in her final race as a Blue Devil.
"I hate to say that was the end," Yakola said. "[Johnson] has had an absolutely outstanding career. Not many people have gone through this program and had the impact as an athlete and a leader and come through with the kind of success that she's had."
The men's team also had a successful showing at the Penn Relays. On Friday, the sprint medley relay team of junior Ekan Essien (22.7 in the 200), freshman Matt Diglio (22.7 in the 200), junior Jeremy Walker (49.9 in the 400) and senior Danny Schuman (1:53.5 in the 800) finished with an overall time of 3:29.21, a seasonal best and good for second in their heat. Additionally, Schuman's leg was a personal best by two seconds.
Also on Friday, the distance medley relay team finished third in the college section with a time of 9:50.96, also a seasonal best. Freshman Brian McCulley led off with a 1,200-meter split of 3:02.4 and freshman Matt Diglio then ran a 48.5 400-meter leg. Walker ran the 800 in 1:53.3 and junior Mike Park anchored with a mile split of 4:06.5, a personal best. Park got the baton in fifth place and was able to move the Blue Devils up to third after running a 60-second last lap.
"I feel like I had a great move at the end-if I'd had 100 meters more, I think I could have won it for us," Park said.
The following afternoon, the Blue Devils competed in the Championship of America heat of the 4x800. Freshman James Vasak ran a 1:55 first leg, despite being badly spiked coming around the first turn. Diglio then ran a 1:54 second leg, and Park moved the team up three places from last to 10th with his personal best split of 1:52.5. McCulley anchored in 1:52.1, holding on to finish in 10th overall with a final time of 7:34.16, the third-fastest time in school history.
Sophomore Jesse Allen was entered in the 400 hurdles and was to be a member of the 4x800-meter and sprint medley relay teams, but did not run due to a possible hamstring strain.
"A lot of coaches commented to our coaches about being impressed with how the Duke runners were doing, and one even asked [assistant coach Norm Ogilvie] if Duke had gotten scholarships," Park said. "For such a young team, it shows we have the potential to do even better. We lack a lot of experience in racing situations, but everyone's learning to be better racers."
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