The Blue Devils did not let the weather rain on their parade this weekend as they hosted the Duke Invitational at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Instead, they had a working lunch to outrace Mother Nature to the end.
"We just ran one event after another. We skipped the lunch break that we normally give the officials, and we just jammed it all in," head coach Norm Ogilvie said.
Despite the fast and furious schedule, several Blue Devils turned in personal bests.
Redshirt-freshman John Austin set a new school record by throwing a personal best of 219'-11" Friday in the javelin. Jamie Rodriguez set the previous record in 1995. Austin managed to heave it six feet farther than his previous season-best to take first place overall in the Invitational, which included athletes from 93 colleges across the country.
Junior Bobby Weinstein also threw a personal best of 209'-11" and finished in fourth place. It was the second time this year both men have qualified for the NCAA East Regional. The duo, in addition to senior Mark DellaVolpe, could serve as the favorites in the upcoming ACC championships.
"We feel like we have three of the top javelin throwers in the ACC," Ogilvie said.
The most competitive race on the weekend was the men's 4x800-meter relay Saturday. Freshman Joshua Lund, senior John Brockardt, senior Chris Spooner and freshman Cory Nanni battled the Virginia Military Institute team down to the wire, but crossed the finish line .68 seconds after VMI to finish in second place.
Freshmen Bo Waggoner and Joshua Lund also turned in personal bests in the men's 3,000-meter race Friday.
On the women's side, freshman Amy Matulewicz finished third in the javelin with 130-01. Additionally, freshman Amy Fryt met the qualifying standard for the ECAC in the pole vault with a personal-best 11-11.75. She will be looking to clear the NCAA regional standard of 12-7.5 as the season progresses.
Twenty-four Blue Devils will travel to Arizona Sate next weekend to compete , while the rest of the team will be down the road in Chapel Hill in the final tuneups before the ACC championships April 17-19 in Atlanta, Ga.
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