A trio of Blue Devil juniors highlighted a strong performance by Duke at the ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Clemson, S.C.
Redshirt junior John Austin opened up the competition with a victory in the javelin, marking the first time a Duke thrower had won the event since 1963. Austin’s winning toss went 225 feet, good enough to break the school record he set two years ago.
Also on the men’s side, junior Ryan McDermott continued his dominance in the steeplechase by repeating as champion of the 3,000-meter race. McDermott’s time of 8:56.01 earned him his second title and the ninth in Duke history in the steeplechase.
Finally, junior Amy Fryt matched McDermott’s accomplishment by triumphing in the pole vault for the second straight season. Fryt managed a jump of 13 feet, 1.5 inches to take home the title.
Fryt’s performance was also instrumental in moving the Duke women’s team up the standings into fifth place, a six-spot improvement from last season. The Blue Devil men finished in eighth place.
“Overall, our first two days were nearly flawless,” head coach Norm Ogilvie said. “Our last day, we didn’t perform quite as well as we had hoped, but we’re still very proud of the overall team effort. The wind was incredibly strong, up to 30 mph gusts, but the kids still competed really hard. The depth in the women’s distances was fantastic and Amy Fryt was clearly the best women’s pole vaulter in the conference.”
—from staff reports
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