"Everyone's just trying to find out where their guys are, so that they can see what they need to do to be their best in May," men's track and field head coach Norm Ogilvie said of the prevailing attitude at the Tar Heel Indoor Track and Field Classic in Chapel Hill this past weekend.
If the Classic was a diagnostic exercise for the men's and women's teams, it found them in admirable health.
The Blue Devils distinguished themselves as a group in a competition that had no team scoring and "not a big team emphasis," according to Norm Ogilvie. The strength of the Duke team in an individually-focused atmosphere was evident in the relays, which were dominated by the Blue Devils. The men's and women's 4x800 relay squads each took first place, with times of 7:45.50 and 9:07.82.
Both quartets qualified for late-season meets: the men for the IC4As and the women qualifying for the ECAC championships with time to spare, beating the qualifying time by more than 17 seconds. The women's relay
Women's head coach Jan Ogilvie was quite pleased with her team's performance, but stressed that distance running is not the only strong suit of the Blue Devils.
"Our vaulters continued to improve," Jan Ogilvie said. "And Allison Nesbitt has been getting stronger as the season goes on."
But the most impressive individual Duke performance of the meet belonged to freshman and indoor initiate Shannon Rowbury, whose 9:33.41 time in the 3,000-meter run earned a second-place finish and qualified her for both the ECACs and the NCAA Provisionals. More outstanding is the fact that this impressive performance came in the California native's first time running indoors.
Rowbury wasn't then only freshman to deliver an impressive performance at the Tar Heel Classic. North Carolina's Laura Gerraugty won the women's shot put in stylish fashion, breaking the school record with a throw of 65 feet and six and three quarters inches. Her efforts earned her the title of ACC co-performer of the week.
Duke's men's team featured some outstanding performers in its own right. The 4x800 team was not the only men's relay group to set itself apart. The Distance Medley Relay squad also won their event, with three runners contributing to both Duke victories. Aaron Paul led off the 4x800 and also ran the 800 leg of the DMR, while Donny Fowler ran the 400 in the DMR and took the baton for the third leg of the 4x800. Sophomore phenom Chris Schneider, normally a miler, anchored both races and sealed both Blue Devil victories.
As the Blue Devils begin to get their bearings on the upcoming season, the prognosis is good.
Duke next travels north to Penn State, although the men's team will split up, with some athletes returning to Chapel Hill for the Fast Times meet. Both teams will visit UNC again Feb. 8 for the Carolina Heels Challenge.
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