Bo Waggoner won the men's 5,000-meter Friday, and the Blue Devils never looked back. By Saturday afternoon, Duke had run away with the competition, posting eight NCAA regional qualifying times.
The Duke Track and Field Invitational, held in Wallace Wade Stadium over the weekend, hosted more than 50 schools and competitive track clubs, as well as numerous unaffiliated athletes. The annual meet featured a wide variety of Blue Devils running, jumping and throwing both in the competition and in preparation for the upcoming ACC championships in Miami in two weeks.
Six of Duke's eight regional-qualifying athletes also met the standards for the IC4A meet later in the postseason.
One IC4A qualifier was Waggoner, who ran a time of 14:24.85 in the 5,000, a personal best. Waggoner, an editorial columnist for The Chronicle, ran the first few laps with fellow Blue Devils Andrew Brodeur and James Osborne in the main pack, but followed two other runners when they broke away from the crowd.
"We all wanted to get out conservatively, see what the pack did, and wait until later in the race to make a move," Waggoner said. "Especially because it was windy-it's a lot harder to lead and spend all that energy when the wind is gusting. For all the Duke guys, the plan was to go with as many guys as we could and not take the lead unless we had to."
Waggoner hung just off the shoulder of the second-place runner for another mile or so before making his move with 700 meters left in the race.
"I'm not the kind of guy who wants to wait until the last straightaway," said Waggoner. "My strength isn't the top-end speed, so I started a bit earlier."
His steady kick at the end of the race pulled Waggoner away from his competition, earning him a solid 25-meter victory at the finish.
Molly Lehman also ran to a victory Friday, winning the women's 1,500-meter run in 4:20.40.
Off the track, the Blue Devils put forward a strong showing in the field events, with multiple event wins. Nationally ranked sophomore John Austin won the men's javelin with a throw of 209 feet, 11 inches, while Jade Ellis won the men's triple jump with a 49 feet, 5.5 inch effort. Amy Fryt won the women's pole vault with a personal-best vault of 12 feet, 11.5 inches. All four event winners posted NCAA regional qualifying marks, with Ellis' jump also an IC4A qualifier.
Competition continued Saturday, with the pace of the meet seemingly slower in the hot midday sun than under the Friday night lights. A large group of spectators gathered to see Ellis win the men's long jump with a 25-feet, .5 inch leap, his second event win and second IC4A qualifying mark of the weekend.
Another strong showing for the Blue Devils was a victory in the men's 4x800-meter relay, the second race of the day for two of the runners. In the 800-meter run, senior Chris Rowland took fourth in 1:52.25, while Sean-Pat Oswald placed 10th with a personal-best 1:53.57. Three hours later, the duo ran in the 4x800-meter relay. The team of Stephen Clark, Oswald, Rowland and Cory Nanni ran away with the race, finishing in 7:35.83.
Nanni said that while the 4x800 team won a convincing victory, Duke's real talent lies in the longer 4x1500-meter relay, which wasn't run at the Invitational.
"The 4x800 wasn't really that competitive," Nanni said. "For a big meet, something like the Penn Relays, we'll send the 4x1,500 team, the people who can really do something good."
The value of Duke's performances this weekend was not in the medals the Blue Devils won, but in the experience they gain going into the ACC Championships.
"This weekend's relays were just to get people some more practice," said Oswald. "Every year our goal at the ACCs is to get more competitive. This weekend was a chance to figure out who can do what we're looking for. We're looking to be really competitive, and hoping to surprise some people at the ACCs."
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