Football season is months away, but Wallace Wade stadium will come alive today and tomorrow, when 2,300 athletes from 45 universities take part in the annual Duke Invitational track meet.
Several athletes of national prominence highlight the event, including Marion Jones, the world record holder in the 100 and 200 meter dash and the long jump. Jones was a star on the basketball women's basketball team at North Carolina for four years and began running track full-time after she graduated in 1996.
Jones is aiming for five gold medals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, which would be a record for a track and field athlete if she succeeds. At the Duke Invitational, she will compete in the 100 at 1:55 p.m. Saturday and the long jump at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
"Duke fans will have the chance to see the world's odds-on favorite competing in the 100 and the long jump here at Duke," said associate men's track coach Norm Ogilvie. "It's an Olympic preview."
Other Olympians include Allen Johnson, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist in the high hurdles, long distance runner Joan Nesbit, hurdler Calvin Davis, javelin-thrower Lynda Lypson-Blutreich and half-miler Tina Paulino of Mozambique. Paulino is one of the few women in the world currently able to break 2:00 in the 800 meters.
Duke's top half-miler in recent memory, Kim Voyticky, will also be running in the 800 tomorrow. Voyticky graduated last year after becoming the first Blue Devil women to run in the NCAA Championships.
Current Blue Devils will also be competitive in several events. In the pole vault, Seth Benson, Lisa Bell and Jillian Schwartz all have a chance to place. Benson and Bell won the pole vault at the Raleigh Relays last weekend.
Kyle Leonard is the only member of last year's Duke Invitational champion 800 meter men's distance medley relay team that will be running again this year. The relay team, consisting of Mike McKeever, James Vasak and Bill Spierdowis in addition to Leonard, will face stiff competition against a perennially strong Georgetown team.
Another highlight for the Blue Devils will be senior Jesse Allen's return to the 400 meter hurdles for the first time since his sophomore year, when he ran 51:08 and made the NCAA provisional qualifying time.
Ellie Culp and Terry Brennan should lead the Blue Devils in the distance events. Culp, who set the indoor school record in the 5000 meters with a time of 17:12.9, will run the first outdoor 5000 of her Duke career.
The Duke Invitational is the Blue Devils' only home meet this year.
"Our kids get really fired up about this," Ogilvie said. "Nearly all of our athletes have their parents come in. It's always special.
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