After having strong showings for five consecutive weekends, the men's track and field team suffered through losses to Maryland and Wake Forest in a pair of dual meets in Winston-Salem on Saturday.
The Blue Devils lost to Wake 100-67 and fell to the Terrapins by a 82-57 margin. The three squads competed together as if it were a tri-meet, although the event was scored as a pair of separate two-team competitions.
"Our guys didn't perform up to their capabilities," assistant coach Norm Ogilvie said. "They competed well for five weekends in a row and just had an emotional letdown this week."
Despite the team's subpar showing, a few athletes had strong performances.
Senior Gil Winters beat all competitors from both Wake and Maryland in the javelin with his 170-10 throw.
Winters then came back to throw 135-0 in his first discus competition of the season, which also gave Duke the victory in the event against both the Demon Deacons and the Terrapins.
"That is the epitome of what we expect in a dual meet," Ogilvie said.
The only other Blue Devil to win in both dual meets was sophomore Mark Blakemore who ran the 110-meter hurdles in 15.91 seconds.
Junior Miles Hall also built on his recent successes by beating Maryland -- and finishing second overall -- in the 800-meters in a season-best 1:53.5. Hall then anchored the 4x400-meter relay.
In the high jump, sophomore Jeff Smith leapt 6-6, which was good enough to beat Maryland's best jumper.
Duke's scores were hurt because three of its best athletes -- senior pole vaulter Matt Anderson, senior shot putter Plym Nelson and junior distance runner Pat Kelly -- did not compete in the meet. Also, fortune did not favor the Blue Devils, as Blakemore had a false start in the 400-meter hurdles and junior Brian Sydow dropped out of the steeplechase after hurting an ankle trying to clear a barrier.
The Blue Devils will get another look at Maryland and Wake Forest at the Atlantic Coast Conference championships in Raleigh next weekend.
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