After suffering a femoral stress fracture last year and sitting out the 2002 spring season, women's pole vaulter Laura Chen returned to top form this weekend at the Charlotte Invitational.
The sophomore star tied her career best mark with a 12-6 jump, good for first place overall and second best in school history. She easily defeated North Carolina's Terri Matthews for the victory.
"It was very rewarding," Chen said. "We had our ACC rivals there from UNC, and it was good competition."
Chen, a California high school state champion in 2000, is finally able to show the why she was one of the top secondary school pole vaulters in the nation.
"She's on her way to doing some great things," women's head coach Jan Ogilvie said. "She is really starting to look good, and I think that we will see much higher heights being cleared by her in the future. We are lucky to have a vaulter like her on our team."
Trailing Chen in the pole vault competition was teammate Kristie Howard, who tied for fourth.
On the men's side, Duke teammates Brent Warner and Jeff Buttaccio tied for third in the pole vault with jumps of 15-1.25.
Jeremy Davis, the only other Duke men's competitor, tied for seventh in the men's pole vault with a jump of 14-1.25.
The track teams compete this weekend at the ACC Championships, where Chen will look to claim the conference crown.
"I'm just waiting for this coming weekend," Chen said.
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