Heading into their first outdoor meet of the season, the Blue Devils were looking for a decisive, confidence-building start. They got it.
At Raleigh Relays Thursday through Saturday, Duke track and field darted its way to wins in four women’s events: the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, the 400m and the 400m hurdles. The men, meanwhile, placed first in the long jump and broke two records on the track at the Paul Derr Track and Field Facility.
“We really gear our training and our planning for the outdoor season,” head coach Shawn Wilbourn said Sunday. “You saw a little bit of that this first weekend, where our kids really stepped up on the track.”
Basking in Friday afternoon’s warm weather, freshman Braelyn Baker and senior Abby Geiser raced to third- and fourth-place finishes in the 100m. It was a strong start, but Duke left room to improve. Junior Lauren Tolbert replaced her personal best time in the 400m dash at 51.86 seconds, holding her at third in the program books (behind Megan McGinnis in first). Tolbert’s speed left her closest competitor behind by a gaping 0.58-second gap. Junior Julia Jackson and graduate students Aliya Garozzo and Ally Gomm also all made the top 10 in the event, with times at or under 54.05 seconds.
Duke continued its dominance in relays, where runners have consistently delivered for the team, even at indoor meets. On Saturday in the 4x400m relay, Garozzo, Tolbert, Baker and senior McGinnis sprinted to a speedy 3:31.31, the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season and the fastest in Raleigh this weekend. Baker joined Geiser, sophomore Mia Edim and senior Meredith Sims for a win in the 4x100m relay, with 0.35 seconds to spare.
“We build our program around the 4x400m,” Wilbourn said. “We talk a lot about it. They take a lot of pride in getting an opportunity to run on that four by four. When they do get the opportunity, they get a little bit of adrenaline.”
The Blue Devils’ blows continued as hurdles proved no obstacle to a team eager to hit the track. Gomm, Garozzo and Baker locked out the top three within 1.5 seconds of each other and a full 1.31 seconds ahead of Wake Forest’s Aria Wegh. Sims placed eighth to add a fourth Blue Devil to the top 10. Despite not winning the 200, Duke still took three of the top 10 slots and five of the top 20.
The men’s team broke its 4x100m program record with a 40-second performance good for fourth at the meet. Liam O'Hara, Andrew Robinson, Jeremiah Lauzon and Joseph Taylor ran just 0.05 seconds faster than their teammates from three years ago.
The men’s team also saw bright spots in field events: Freshman Phillips Moore snagged the Blue Devils’ first win of the meet Thursday with a 17.96m throw in shot put — the fourth-best in Duke history — while sophomore Christian Toro emerged as the runner-up in hammer throw. Graduate Max Forte nabbed a second field event victory for Duke with a 7.77m leap in long jump that earned him gold.
“It's still fairly early … So this was an opportunity to kind of see where we are, get some true speed work in,” Wilbourn said.
Next up for the Blue Devils is the Jim Click Shoot Out in Tucson, Ariz., Friday and Saturday.
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Samanyu Gangappa is a Trinity sophomore and local/national news editor for the news department.