Barbas and Anumba Set Top National Marks

Saturday, January 29

Chapel Hill, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day One at Kent Taylor Run for the Kids Invitational

Duke Gears up for Second Meet of the Season

Barbas and Anumba Set Top National Marks

4/3/2011 5:15:00 PM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. - The majority of Duke's track and field team traveled to the Auburn Tiger Track Classic and set some top 10 national marks in the throws.

Junior Michael Barbas left the weekend as the big winner, finishing as the top collegian in the shot put with a throw of 58'7.25". His toss ranks him seventh in the nation and was a two foot improvement on his personal record. Fifth year senior Mike Schallmo also threw shot, finishing fourth with a toss of 55'4.25". Additionally, Schallmo finished second in the discus with 173'3" and improved his hammer throw personal best by almost 10 feet with a 175'2" effort.

For the women's throwers, redshirt freshman Michelle Anumba has continued her impressive first competitive season as a Blue Devil with a first place finish in the women's shot. A 53'10.25" throw won the event by over two feet, set a new school record and ranks her ninth in the nation. Freshman Erica Brand was the top collegian in the discus with her throw of 149'1" and Andrea Hopkins, Amy Matulewicz and Shannon Sullivan went first, second and fourth in the javelin throw.

Closing out the field events, freshman Tanner Anderson saw his firs outdoor action this weekend in the high jump. The school record holder missed the seven foot barrier for the first time in his career by only a half inch with a leap of 6'11.5" for a fourth place finish.

On the track, Ryan McDermott lead the Blue Devils in the 1,500m to a second place finish with a time of 3:47.77. Bo Waggoner followed closely behind with a fourth place 3:49.25 and Domenick DeMatteo closed out for Duke with a 3:50.7 sixth place effort. In the 3,000m Duke took second through fourth place thanks to the efforts of Josh Lund's 8:11.46, Andrew Brodeur's 8:13.79 and Cory Nanni's 8:14.05.

Back closer to home, several of Duke's mid distance women ran at William & Mary's Colonial Relays. Despite poor weather, Esther Vermeer opened up her outdoor season with a 4:26.63 in the 1,500 getting a new personal best by four seconds. Cydney Ross also saw action for the first time since she garnered All-American honors as a member of Duke's DMR with a 2:09.64 800m race. Ross and Vermeer finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Duke will compete at the annual Duke Invitational next weekend hosted at Wallace Wade stadium. The meet sees hundreds of athletes from over 50 different schools.

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