Duke Opens Season at Carolina Cup

1/16/2015 9:00:00 AM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. -- The Duke men's and women's track and field teams will kick off the 2015 indoor season Friday, Jan. 16 at the Dick Taylor Carolina Cup in Chapel Hill, N.C. One of three scored meets for the Blue Devils during the indoor season, Duke will compete against host North Carolina, East Carolina and Gardner-Webb. The meet will begin with field events at 5 p.m., followed by running events at 6 p.m. In last year's edition of the Carolina Cup, the women's team placed first, while the men took second.

In the men's distance, senior Shaun Thompson will attempt to take gold in both the mile and the 3,000. In the 2014 Carolina Cup, Thompson placed second behind former Blue Devil Mike Moverman. Seniors Nate McClafferty and Brian Schoepfer join Thompson as Duke's three top returners. Adding depth to the distance group is a trio of freshmen: Sean Kelly, Kyle Francis and Jordan Burton. All three rookies specialize in the 800, with Francis recording the nation's top indoor 800 time among high school athletes.

Slated to compete in the women's mile, junior Anima Banks leads the women's distance group after a successful 2014 season. Another runner to watch will be sophomore Haley Meier in the 800, while former Duke field hockey standout Jessica Buttinger will compete in her first race as part of the track team. In the 3,000, senior Julianna Miller, junior Madison Granger and freshman Callie Wynn are set to compete for the Blue Devils.

Sophomore Madeline Kopp is set to compete in the 400, the school-record holder in the event, along with senior Callie Francis and freshmen Maddy Price and Jasmine Hill. The Blue Devil men will be represented by juniors Matthew Rodio and Christian Vail and sophomore Michael Wilson.

The women's 4x400 race will feature Blue Devil relay teams. Banks, graduate student Dorehn Coleman, Francis and Hill make up one squad, while Meier, senior Elizabeth Kerpon, Kopp and Price make up the other. For the men, Rodio, Wilson, Vail and Francis will represent Duke.

Senior Ian Rock and redshirt junior Karli Johonnot headline the multi-event action. Rock is looking to make his final year in Durham another outstanding one. The Davis, Calif., native was the ACC champion in the heptathlon as a sophomore and earned runner-up honors as a junior behind eventual national champion and former Blue Devil Curtis Beach. Johonnot, who has an ACC crown of her own, won the pentathlon at the conference indoor meet in 2012 and placed second last year. She was also an All-American high jumper in 2014, placing 14^th at nationals with a clearance of 5-10.00 (1.78).

In the pole vault, junior Megan Clark headlines the competition. A 2014 All-America selection, Clark looks to build off of her successful sophomore campaign that included a 14^th-place finish at the indoor national meet.

Highlighting Duke's throwing unit are redshirt junior Stephen Boals and graduate student Erica Brand. Boals, the school record holder in the shot put with a mark of 59-4.25 (18.09), will look to break the 60-foot threshold in 2015, while Brand will look to improve on last season's toss of 49-7.75 (15.13) in the shot put, the second-farthest mark in school history.

Leading a relatively young group of men's jumpers will be high jumper Carl Heinz. The junior finished the 2014 indoor campaign with a season-best jump of 6-9.50 (2.07) at the ACC Championships to place eighth. On the women's side, high jumper Maddie Morrow and long/triple jumper Karly Gregory will look to make in an impact in their respective events.

A complete list of Blue Devil competitors and a schedule of events can be found below. For live results, visit here.

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FIELD EVENTS

Time	Event	Name
5:00 p.m.	Women's Pole Vault (Men's warm-ups to start 30 min. after)	Women: Megan Clark Madison Heath Men: Connor Hall Jordan Hatfield Tanner Johnson Ian Rock
5:00 p.m.	Men's Weight Throw (Women's to follow)	Men: Stephen Boals Michael Foley Women: Erica Brand Stephanie Skove
5:00 p.m.	Men's Long Jump (Triple Jump warm-ups start 30 min. after)	Long: Ashton Huey Tanner Johnson Ian Rock JR Smith Triple: Grant Emrie Alex Jebb
5:00 p.m.	Women's Long Jump (Triple Jump warm-ups start 30 min. after)	Long: Karly Gregory Karli Johonnot Teddi Maslowski Baily Murphy Triple: Kiersten Bell Karly Gregory
6:00 p.m.	Men's High Jump (Women to follow)	Men: Carl Heinz Andrew Pancoast Calvin Park Colt Sessions Women: Karli Johonnot Teddi Maslowski Maddie Morrow Baily Murphy
7:15 p.m.	Men's Shot Put (Women to follow)	Men: Stephen Boals Michael Foley Women: Erica Brand Urina Harrell Karli Johonnot Teddi Maslowski

RUNNING EVENTS

6:00 p.m.	Men's 60m Hurdles (prelims)	Tionne Barmer Tanner Johnson Calvin Park Ian Rock
6:10 p.m.	Women's 60m Hurdles (prelims)	Karli Johonnot Baily Murphy
6:20 p.m.	Men's 60m (prelims)	Brett Bofinger Chaz Hawkins JR Smith
6:25 p.m.	Women's 60m (prelims)	Dorehn Coleman Lauren Hansson Elizabeth Kerpon Alexis Roper
6:35 p.m.	Men's 400m	Matthew Rodio Michael Wilson Christian Vail
6:45 p.m.	Women's 400m	Callie Francis Jasmine Hill Madeline Kopp Maddy Price
6:55 p.m.	Men's Mile	Henry Farley Sean Kelly Nate McClafferty Shaun Thompson
7:05 p.m.	Women's Mile	Anima Banks Chloe Maleski Jessie Rubin Allison Sturges
7:15 p.m.	Women's 60m Hurdles (finals)
7:20 p.m.	Men's 60m Hurdles (finals)
7:25 p.m.	Women's 60m (finals)
7:30 p.m.	Men's 60m (finals)
7:40 p.m.	Men's 800m	Jordan Burton Kyle Francis Alec Kunzweiler Dylan Newman
7:50 p.m.	Women's 800m	Jessica Buttinger Gina Daniel Haley Meier
8:00 p.m.	Men's 200m	Tionne Barmer Brett Bofinger Chaz Hawkins
8:10 p.m.	Women's 200m	Lauren Hansson Elizabeth Kerpon Madeline Kopp Maddy Price
8:20 p.m.	Men's 3,000	William Rooney Brian Schoepfer Shaun Thompson Blake Udland
8:35 p.m.	Women's 3,000	Madison Granger Julianna Miller Callie Wynn
8:50 p.m.	Men's 4x400	Matthew Rodio Michael Wilson Christian Vail Kyle Francis Alternate: Tionne Barmer
8:55 p.m.	Women's 4x400	Team 1: Anima Banks Dorehn Coleman Callie Francis Jasmine Hill Alternate: Alexis Roper Team 2: Haley Meier Elizabeth Kerpon Madeline Kopp Maddy Price Alternate: Lauren Hansson