The men's and women's track teams traveled to New York City Saturday and pulled through the New York Sports Museum Collegiate Armory Invitational with several starring performances.
Both Duke teams placed sixth at their first-ever appearance at the meet, which took place at the Armory Track and Field Center on Broadway and featured competition from 10 other schools, including track powerhouses Ohio State and Seton Hall.
Freshman Sheela Agrawal turned in one of the top performances of the meet by becoming the only competitor to win two events. She set a school record and indoor personal best in the mile, finishing in 4:54. An hour and a half later, she returned to take first place in the 3,000-meter run with an ECAC-qualifying time of 10:00.57.
Junior Jillian Schwartz also scored points in two events, clearing 10-11 3/4 to win the pole vault and placing fourth in the 60-meter hurdles. When Duke opened its indoor season Jan. 8 at the George Mason University Invitational, Schwartz cleared 11-5 3/4 to qualify for ECACs and set a new school record.
Combined, Schwartz and Agrawal scored 35 of the women's 61 total points.
Other ECAC qualifiers were Katie Atlas in the 1,000-meter run (2:57.27) and Janay McKie's new school record of 25.18 in the 200-meter dash. McKie, a freshman from Brooklyn, smashed the old school record of 26.21.
"I really think that the meet in New York was the best scoring meet that the women have been involved in," said women's coach Jan Samuelson-Ogilvie. "The team as a whole is probably going to be as good as we've ever been. It's exciting to watch. I'm excited for every meet now-it's fun."
On the men's side, cross country MVP Terry Brennan set a new school record in his first meet of the indoor season. Brennan "picked up where he left off," said men's coach Norm Ogilvie, by breaking a 1995 record with a time of 8:26.12.
Lamar Grant and Bill Spierdowis both qualified for IC4As in two separate individual events. Grant placed third overall in the 60-meter and 200-meter dash, finishing in 6.93 and 22.18, respectively.
Spierdowis placed second in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:27.23. He came in sixth in the 800, finishing in 1:53.94. He also gave the Blue Devils the lead in the first leg of the distance-medley relay. The Blue Devils placed second in that event and qualified for IC4As by 20 seconds.
The meet also featured a ceremony from the New York Sports Museum honoring Duke Director of Track and Field Al Buehler for his 45 years of service to the sport. Buehler plans to retire after this semester.
The men's and women's teams travel to Virginia Tech this weekend for their next competition.
Note: Agrawal was named the ACC's performer of the week Monday following her performance in New York.
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