Both the women's and men's track and field teams will head to Atlanta this weekend for the Atlantic Coast Conference outdoor championships, and both teams are looking to build on the successes of their seasons thus far.
On the women's side, a number of athletes are expected to score points in their respective events. In the heptathlon, sophomore Jeanie Minton will look to score again after contributing points at last year's meet. Although it has been a month since she has competed in the heptathlon, she has spent the last three weeks running, jumping and throwing in individual events.
Two other athletes who scored last year could once again score points in the field events. Senior Jenny Stadler will throw the javelin, and junior Jamila Forte will be competing in the high jump. Senior Kirsten Johnson has the ability to add to the Duke point total in both hurdling events-the 100- and 400-meter hurdles. Johnson was eighth in the 100-meter hurdles at the ACC indoor meet.
In addition to Johnson, there could be several other repeat scorers from the indoor championships. Junior Colette Gurtler, who was sixth indoors, will again compete in the 1,500 meters. Junior Kim Voyticky and sophomore Stephanie Thomas will both compete in the 800 meters, an event in which Voyticky was third and Thomas was fourth at the indoor championships in February. Junior Kim Hay will also run the 800 for the Blue Devils.
In the longer races, sophomore Kim Folk could score in the 10,000 meters, and junior Erin Fleming will look to score in the 3,000-meter event, a race that she normally does not run. Fleming will use the 3,000 as training for running the 10,000 at the Penn Relays. Additionally, both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays hope to score points at the meet.
"In any championship, the kids get fired up for it," assistant coach Scott Yakola said. "If we continue to do what we've done all year-compete with a ton of heart-we'll do fine. If we leave everything out on the track, I know we'll be happy."
Another factor that may affect the outcome of the meet is the addition of the women's team from Wake Forest, which does not run an indoor season, and thus did not compete in the ACC indoor meet. Wake's athletes will add even more competition to many of the events.
"We are going down with the goal of making the finals-anything can happen from there," Yakola said. "When the competition is this good, you just go out and compete, and the time, height or distance will come."
Several Blue Devil men are entering the meet with seedings that indicate that Duke is ready to compete with many of the top teams in the conference. Freshman Brian McCulley enters the meet with Duke's highest seed-No. 2 in the 800 meters after his performance at the Duke Invitational last weekend. McCulley trails only Georgia Tech runner David Krummenacker, but Krummenacker is the defending ACC champion in the 800 as well as the 1,500, and he was also the NCAA indoor champ in the event. McCulley does not see his position as a disadvantage, though.
"I would be surprised if Brian is thinking of settling for No. 2," assistant coach Norm Ogilvie said. "He has had a good week of practice and is fit right now."
Five other Blue Devils will compete in the 800-freshmen James Vasak, Matt Diglio and Kyle Leonard, junior Jeremy Walker and senior Jason Manse. In the 1,500, junior Mike Park will also be battling Krummenacker as the No. 5 seed in his event. Additionally, senior Danny Schuman will be running the 1,500 with the goal of turning in an IC4A qualifying time.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, senior Matt Haywood is the fourth seed,but was only one second behind the No. 3 seed last weekend at the Duke Invitational.
"Matt could win the whole thing-I wouldn't put it past him," Ogilvie said.
Although sophomore Jesse Allen is only seeded fifth in the 400-meter hurdles, he is competing in what Ogilvie feels is the premiere hurdling conference in the country. Allen has only lost to one collegian in his outdoor meets this season and is rated third in an IC4A field which includes over 100 schools. Allen is only tenths of a second off an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the event, and with the quality of competition he will be running against, he also has the chance to run an automatic time.
"Seed times don't determine who wins-it's determined by heart," Ogilvie said. "Jesse could win the race."
In the 10,000 meters, sophomore Tom Becker and senior Darin Mellinger are seeded fourth and fifth, respectively, and are capable of scoring points for the Blue Devils. In the decathlon, junior Rob West is seeded fifth, the same place that he has finished in the meet for the past two years. Freshman Pat Ratz is the No. 7 seed in the event.
The Blue Devils are also looking to add points in both relay events. Both the 4x100- and the 4x400-meter relay teams are seeded sixth in the conference. The 4x400 team of Allen, Vasak, McCulley and Diglio ran the fourth-fastest time in Duke history in the event last weekend.
"If it's a good day, we might even give the school record a scare," Ogilvie said.
After successful performances for both teams at the Duke Invitational last weekend, the Blue Devils are looking to build on their achievements in Atlanta.
"The ACC meet will be a dogfight-it always is," Ogilvie said.
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