The track team found success this weekend at the ACC championships in College Park, Md. as a number of athletes recorded personal bests and qualified for postseason tournaments.
The men's team scored 29 points and finished in 11th place while the women's team totaled 45 points to finish ninth.
"We had a really good meet," head coach Norm Ogilvie said. "Our athletes really competed well, and we're really pleased with how things went."
One of the highlights of the weekend was Kevin McDermott's fifth-place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase. His time of 9:03:73 was 12 seconds better than his previous best and the fastest by a Duke athlete since 1977.
"[Kevin] was very tough and aggressive," Ogilvie said. "It was the best race he's run since he's been at Duke."
Ian Cassidy also qualified for the NCAA Regionals after clearing 16-feet, 6.75-inches in the pole vault to finish fifth.
Freshman Mike Schallmo used his third and final attempt in the discus to set the second-best mark all-time for Duke and earn a fifth-place finish. And in perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend, freshman Mike Kotecki, a walk-on, improved his personal best in the high jump from 6-feet, 2-inches to 6-feet, 6.75 inches to finish sixth overall.
On the women's side, freshman Kate Van Buskirk had a personal best performance in the 1500-meter run. She finished third and qualified for the NCAA Regionals along with sophomore Michelle Seibert, who placed fourth in the 800-meter run.
In the 5000-meter race, sophomore Maddie McKeever and senior Liz Wort finished in second and fourth places, respectively.
McKeever and Van Buskirk were both awarded All-ACC Honors for finishing among the top three in their events.
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