Quality was certainly more important than quantity for the women's track team at the ECACs in Boston this weekend.
Duke competed in just three events, but earned points in all of them. A combined nine points earned the Blue Devils a 24th-place finish out of 89 teams at the Reggie Lewis Track Center.
"We certainly bounced back well from the ACCs," coach Norm Ogilvie said. "It was a great way to close out the season."
Both sophomore Jillian Schwartz and senior Lisa Bell competed in the pole vault. They each cleared a height of 10-foot-6, but Schwartz cleared on her first attempt to finish in fifth place and earn All-East honors. Bell had several misses, which placed her in ninth, one spot short of earning the same honor.
In the 5,000 meters, Ellie Culp was the top freshman finisher. Culp ran a 17:18.14 to place sixth and also qualified for All-East recognition.
Duke's one team event, the 4x800, also placed. In the prelims, a foursome of Stephanie Thomas, Heather Ryan, Katie Atlas and Megan Sullivan ran a school-record time of 8:55.21, easily eclipsing the previous mark of 9:02.
Sullivan, the anchor, ran the fastest leg in 2:12 but injured her foot in the race and was unable to run in the finals. She was replaced by Andrea Buchwalter, who ran third. The team was thus composed of a senior in Thomas and three freshmen behind her.
The Blue Devils' time of 9:10.76 in the finals was much slower, but the seventh-place finish still earned all five members All-East honors.
The men, meanwhile, were represented by Jesse Allen in the Last Chance Invitational at Virginia Tech. Allen, a senior racing for the first time in six weeks, broke the school record in the 500 meters with an IC4A-qualifying time of 1:04.11. The previous Duke record was 1:04.72.
The men will be sending 13 athletes to the IC4As in Boston next weekend.
"We're certainly looking forward to turning in a strong performance at the IC4As," Ogilvie said.
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