If residents of Lynchburg, Va., heard something shattering this weekend, it may have been the sound of the Duke men's track and field team breaking records at the Lynchburg Invitational.
The Blue Devils topped the meet records in three events--the 400 meters, the 1,500 meters and the javelin throw.
"This was a really good meet for us," assistant coach Norm Ogilvie said.
Junior Doug Kling was Duke's biggest star of the meet. He won the 1,500 meters in a personal best time of 3:57.30 on Saturday. This was the fastest 1,500-meter run in the history of the Lynchburg Invitational.
Then, just an hour later, Kling broke the meet mark in the 800 meters. He won the event in 1:54.39.
In both of the 800 meters and the 1,500 meters, Kling ran "negative splits," meaning that he ran the second half of each race faster than the first part. This is an unusual phenomenon for middle-distance races.
"Doug sat back and then kicked well in both of those races," Ogilvie said. "It was a great double for Doug to win both events."
But Kling's day was not yet finished. He ran the second leg of the 4x400 meter relay team for Duke in 50.8 seconds, helping the squad to a second-place finish. For his efforts in the three events, Kling was named the most valuable performer of the meet. As a prize for this distinction, Kling was awarded a watch.
Freshman Mark Simmons anchored the 4x400 team with a 49.6 second performance, and also ran a 50.41 in the open 400 meters. Sophomore Jason Manse ran the anchor leg of the relay, which finished with a 3:23.8 time, in 51.8 seconds.
Like Kling, Manse excelled in three events on Saturday. He placed fourth in the 400 meters in 50.41, and then ran a personal best time of 1:51.6 in the 800 meters less than an hour later. The time was good enough for third place.
"This was by far Jason's best day as a Duke Blue Devil," Ogilvie said.
But the Duke heroics were not confined to Saturday. On Friday, freshman Jamie Rodriguez battled not only his fellow javelin competitors, but also an unfavorable wind, to win first place. Rodriguez, who surprised the Blue Devil coaches with his throws at the Raleigh Relays last weekend, had three throws over 195 feet in Lynchburg, including his 197-11 hurl which broke the meet record by 15 feet.
"He followed up his performance last week very well on Friday," Ogilvie said.
Junior T.J. Redmon was yet another Duke athlete who competed in three events. Redmon, the Blue Devils' top decathlete--he is ranked second in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the event--placed third in the pole vault and the shot put and took second in the discus throw on Friday.
Duke's biggest surprises of the meet may have come in the distance races on Friday. Sophomore Brett Marcus improved by more than two minutes on his time in the 10,000 meters from a year ago. Marcus took second in the event with a personal best time of 32:00.8. Like Kling, Marcus ran faster towards the end of his race. In fact he ran 15:50 in his final five kilometers, which is just 17 seconds off his personal best time in that event.
"Brett's time in the 10-K would have put him near the top of our cross country runners," Ogilvie said. "We're looking forward to see what he can do in cross country next fall."
Sophomore Danny Schuman improved by more than 30 seconds in the 5,000 meters, winning Friday's race in a personal best time of 15:23.9. Schuman took the lead after two miles and had a strong finish.
Junior hurdler Mark Blakemore added two more personal records to the Blue Devils' phenomenal total for the weekend. Blakemore ran 15.84 in his preliminary heat of the 110-meter hurdles (he placed fourth in the finals). He also was third in the 400-meter hurdles with his 57.97 time.
Junior Jeff Smith had a 6-6 leap in the high jump. His seasonal best jump earned him third place in the event. Freshman decathlete Rob West also had a 6-4 high jump.
Instead of going to Lynchburg with most of the team, freshman Mike Park participated in the Colonial Relays in his home town of Williamsburg, Va. Park was second in the freshman 1,500-meter race in a personal best time of 4:01.
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