The members of the women's track and field team have set personal and school records nearly every meet this season, so it was fitting that three school marks fell and numerous Blue Devils had personal best performances at the Duke Invitational at Wallace Wade Stadium this weekend.
Sophomore Megan Mitchell broke her own Duke record in the shot put by over two feet with her 40-1.25 throw. Mitchell, who has set school records in two consecutive meets, has improved her best performance by more than three feet in the past two weeks.
"I knew she could be a 40-foot thrower," assistant coach Scott Yakola said. "But I didn't think she would make this big of a jump this week. She's worked so hard for the last year to get to where she is now."
The distance medley relay team also easily broke the former Duke record, finishing in 11:50. Sophomore Betsy Keever (1,200 meters), senior Christine Gregorski (400 meters), senior Beth Berghausen (800 meters) and senior Jeanne McFeely (1,600 meters) combined to claim second place in Friday's race.
The Blue Devils' performance, which was 10 seconds faster than the previous school mark, was the top finish by a collegiate team in the relay which was won by Westchester Track Club.
Freshman Breanna Pearson set the third school record of the meet with a 36-4.5 performance in the triple jump. Like Mitchell in the shot put, Pearson had set the previous Duke triple jump mark last weekend.
While these three events were the Blue Devils' most obvious successes at the Duke Invitational, they were not the only highlights of the meet for Duke's squad.
Three other Duke runners -- senior Liz Lorscheider, junior Robin Schretter and sophomore Nicola Crabtree -- set two personal records this weekend. Schretter ran the 1,500 meters in 4:45 and came back to run the 800 meters in 2:21.
Crabtree (60.2) and Lorscheider (61.0) both set personal records with their legs of the 4x400-meter relay. Crabtree also ran 2:20 in the 800 meters, and Lorscheider completed the 200 meters in 27.31 seconds.
Senior Amy Gravitt broke the 18-minute barrier for the first time in her life as she ran the 5,000-meter race in 17:51.
"I'm not that surprised by the records," Yakola said. "Every weekend we [work hard] and that's how you get better.
"We traditionally always run well in this meet. The runners get really fired up for it. All the conditions are right for them to have good performances."
In the 100-meter hurdles, freshman Kirsten Johnson's 15.22 was the fourth-fastest time in school history. Sophomore Kristin Stout also hurdled well, finishing in 15.58 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles and 66.3 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles.
Johnson and Stout also teamed up with Lorscheider and Gregorski to set a seasonal best mark of 50.7 seconds in the 4x100-meter relay.
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