If Purple Heart medals were given to track athletes, Mike Park would undoubtedly receive one.
Park, a senior on the men's track team, endured a disappointing final leg of Friday's distance medley relay at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. Although Duke was three seconds ahead of its pace at last year's Penn Relays when Park took the baton from teammate Jeremy Walker, Park ran the mile leg in 4:10, four seconds behind his split from one year ago.
Park was fighting soreness in his leg, but he insisted on fighting through it. On Saturday, he fought through much greater pain.
The Blue Devil team of Park, Brendan Fitzgibbon, Kyle Leonard and Mike McKeever was slated to run Saturday's 4x1-mile relay, one of the featured events at the Penn Relays. The first three runners kept the Blue Devils within range of their goal of 16:30, and Park, despite pain in his leg, ran a solid 2:03 split over the first half-mile of his leg.
With 600 meters to go, he took a step that made him wince.
Later, X-rays revealed that Park had fractured the second metatarsal bone in his left foot. That injury pulled Park to the back of the 16-man field, as he finished in a disappointing 4:16.
He could hardly be blamed for his poor time.
"It was a very gutsy effort on his part," said coach Norm Ogilvie, who also watched Leonard and McKeever fight bouts of strep throat. "It was just one of those days that everybody has sometimes in sports."
Although the mile relay dampened the Blue Devils' spirits, it did not erase the enthusiasm produced by sophomore Lamar Grant. Grant, who missed most of the outdoor season while attending spring football practice, ran a remarkable 21.2-second split in the 200-meter leadoff leg of Friday's sprint medley relay, despite starting without a block.
"He ate everybody up," Ogilvie said. "He was clearly the leader at the handoff."
After Nii-Amar Amamoo and Matt Diglio had run their legs, sophomore James Vasak completed the 800-meter leg in a personal-best 1:53.3. That gave Duke a time of 3:27.01, three seconds better than its previous best this season.
Grant also excelled in the long jump, leaping 22-6 1/4. His high mark from indoor season has already qualified him for next month's outdoor IC4A Championships.
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