The men's and women's track and field teams started their indoor season with strong performances in the North Carolina Collegiate Big 12 meet Saturday in Chapel Hill.
The Blue Devil poll vaulter and middle distance runners, in particular, dominated their competitions.
The meet which included all 12 Division I schools in the state of North Carolina, was scored on only an individual basis, without an overall team winner.
"We did a remarkable job and it was an encouraging way to start the season," men's head coach Norm Ogilvie said.
Women's pole vaulter Laura Chen placed third vaulting 3.60 meters; on the men's side, Brent Warner placed second, clearing the bar at 4.90 meters. Both qualified for ECAC and IC4A Championships in May and had the best vaults of the ACC competitors in their respective events.
"Warner had the performance of the day," Ogilvie said. "It bodes well for a shot at 17 feet this season."
Another positive for the Blue Devils was their their depth in the men's 800-meters, racking up second, fourth and fifth place finishes.
Junior Jon Amt, who came in second, was the top competitor in a Duke uniform, posting a time of 1:55.84.
"Jon had a great early season showing," Ogilvie said. "He is in shape to have his best season ever."
Two Duke freshmen, Keith Rand and Charles Salmen, took the top two honors in the 500-meter-their debut collegiate indoor event.
"I was really happy with the run," Rand said. "It was a great way to start my career and hopefully it bodes well for the rest of the season."
Also placing in the distances for Duke was its mile runners. On the men's side Casey Reardon (4:20.84) and Cameron Bell (4:25.57) took home third and fifth, respectively, while Lauren Matic of the women's team placed second with a time of 5:05.51.
Women's hurdler Allison Nesbitt had a fifth place performance in the 60 meter hurdles with an 8.85 time in finals. Nesbitt posted the second best time in Duke history with a 8.87 time in her preliminary heat.
On the other hand, the Blue Devils struggled in the sprints, failing to qualify a single athlete for the final heat. Similar problems occured in the field events, save pole vault, where Duke failed to rack up a place.
The poll vaulters will be back in action next Friday at the Pole Vault Summit and the team as a whole will compete Jan. 17 and 18 at the Virginia Tech Invitational.
"It was exciting and the team had a great performance," Rand said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.