It was a record-setting weekend for the men's track team.
Six All-East performances helped Duke compile a total of 20 points and place 14th out of the 104-school field, its best finish in school history, at the Intercollegiate Indoor Championships this weekend in Boston, its best finish in school history.
The Blue Devils were anchored by a second-place performance in the 4x800 meter relay. Junior James Vasak, sophomore Mike McKeever, freshman Bill Spierdowis and junior Kyle Leonard all earned All-East honors with their time of 7:32.40 yesterday in the relay.
The four runners, who set the fastest pace during Saturday's qualifiers, fell less than two-tenths of a second short of first-place Georgetown. Duke's time would have been good enough to win on any other day against any other team in the nation, as the Blue Devils and Hoyas posted the two fastest times in the 4x800 so far this year.
"The guys on the team were very disappointed [to lose], but we were really proud of all of them," coach Norm Ogilvie said. "It was 3,200 meters and we led for 3,199 of them. Our hats go off to Georgetown. They're obviously the best team in the country and we were very close to beating them."
Duke led wire-to-wire-as it had during Saturday's qualifying time when the team finished first-until Hoyas' anchor Sam Gabremarian caught Leonard during the race's final few strides. Leonard's split time of 1:52.6 was the best of the weekend for the Blue Devils, but it wasn't enough to fend off Georgetown's charging senior.
"[Gabremarian] is one of the top middle distance men in the country," Ogilvie said. "Kyle can hold his head up after his performance. We're very proud of what he did."
Duke also earned eight points for another second-place, All-East performance. Sophomore Seth Benson successfully scaled the pole vault at a height of 16-4 3/4 and he almost won the event with several near misses at 18 feet. Benson's mark was a four-inch improvement on his previous best, recorded when he vaulted to a third-place finish earlier this year at the ACC Championships.
A school record nearly fell in the 4x100 meter relay when sophomore Dhamian Blue, junior Lamar Grant, freshman Josh Kommer and senior Jesse Allen finished with a time of 3:17.67, a mere tenth of a second short of Blue Devil history.
Grant earned All-East honors earlier in the weekend when he won his heat and finished sixth overall in the 200-meter dash.
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