Freshman Katelyn Gochenour was one of two Blue Devils to finish in the top 10, securing sixth place in the javelin throw.
The women took fifth with 77.5 points while the men finished in eighth place with 53 points at Georgia Tech's George C. Griffin Track from Friday to Sunday.
In the 120-plus year history of the Penn Relays, the renowned competition has seen its fair share of Olympians as well as top collegiate and high school athletes grace the track at Franklin Field. This weekend in Philadelphia, some Blue Devils got to join that group for the first time. With Duke splitting its track and field squad between the 123rd Penn Relays and the Virginia Grand Prix at Lannigan Field in Charlottesville, Va., plenty of Blue Devils were able to put their best feet forward in their last weekend of "regular-season" competition before a break for finals and the ACC championships in two weeks. Sophomores Sydnei Murphy and Jeremy McDuffie captured third- and fourth-place honors in their respective events in Philadelphia—Murphy in both the long jump and sprint medley and McDuffie in the triple jump.
McDuffie is back on the track after missing two years as he recovered from a torn ACL and adjusted to college football.
In the Blue Devils’ biggest home meet of the season, Duke’s women defended their home track well against competition from up and down the East Coast.
After a solid performance in the Tennessee Relays, the Blue Devils sent a small squad of their top athletes to get exposure to national competition in this week’s Mt.
Coming off a successful weekend at the Tennessee Relays—including a first-place finish in the men’s sprint medley relay—Duke is traveling to the West Coast to compete in three different meets.
In their first home meet of the season, the Blue Devil women took down No. 17 Michigan and North Carolina Saturday at Morris Williams Stadium.
Although the race served as a tune-up for the Blue Devils’ home meet next Saturday, freshman Katelyn Gochenour highlighted the weekend by breaking a decade-old school record in the first outing of her career in the javelin.
Although senior Madeline Kopp and junior Madison Heath have been two of Duke’s top performers this year, the duo fell short of expectations this weekend.
Heath claimed the ACC indoor title in the women's pole vault this week to highlight Duke's ACC championship performances Thursday through Saturday in South Bend, Ind.
Lowe is part of a deep group of sprinters on the women's side that has the 4-x-400-meter relay gunning for a spot at the NCAA championship, and Wisner won the 800 meters in his first three indoor meet to add to a dangerous Blue Devil distance medley relay squad for the men.
Several Blue Devils have been in and out of the lineup the past few weeks gearing up for the ACC indoor championship, but Duke has still set several personal-best marks as the indoor season winds down.
The Blue Devils have begun their indoor season with several impressive performances, and added another record-setting finish to that list Saturday.
At the Bob Pollock Invitational in Clemson, S.C, the Blue Devils fought valiantly during the course of the two-day meet, earning four first-place finishes and bringing home several other top-10 performances.
Although team scores were not calculated for the 13-team field featuring ranked teams in Florida, N.C. State and Virginia Tech, several Blue Devils put together standout performances Friday and Saturday at Rector Field House in Blacksburg, Va.
After top-two team finishes last weekend at the Dick Taylor Carolina Cup, the Blue Devils will look to carry their strong performances to the Hokie Invite this weekend against stiffer competition.
Winter weather limited how much Duke could practice this week, but did not prevent the Blue Devils from notching a top finish in their season-opener. The Duke men tied for first with North Carolina with 41 points and the women’s unit finished second at the Dick Taylor Carolina Cup at Eddie Smith Field House in Chapel Hill Friday evening.
Murphy has never been one to commit all her time to one sport.
Men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski is not the only Blue Devil who will make a third appearance at the Olympics in August.
