Blue Devils Strong in Season Opener

Friday, January 16

Chapel Hill, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Carolina Cup

Blue Devils Strong in Season Opener

1/16/2015 11:48:00 PM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Duke track and field teams opened the 2015 indoor season with great performances at the Dick Taylor Carolina Cup at Eddie Smith Field House in Chapel Hill, N.C. Combining for 12 gold medals on the day, the women's squad placed first in the team standings for the second consecutive year, scoring 71 points, while the men finished second behind North Carolina with 47 points.

The women open the season with a 3-0 record after defeating North Carolina, East Carolina and Gardner-Webb, and the men notch a 2-1 mark to start the year with wins over East Carolina and Gardner-Webb.

"The kids competed really tough," Director of Track and Field Norm Ogilvie said. "We were hoping to maybe win both team titles, but to win the women's for the second straight year and have the men really make UNC earn it is tremendously satisfying. Just a bunch of great performances."

The Blue Devils received a strong showing Friday night from the sprinters, highlighted by a sweep in the women's 200. Senior Elizabeth Kerpon took first, crossing the line in 24.83, followed by fellow senior Lauren Hansson (24.89), sophomore Madeline Kopp (25.34) and freshman Maddy Price (25.46). Kopp and Price also turned in great races in the 400, placing first and second, respectively.

On the men's side, sophomore Chaz Hawkins placed second in the 200 with a time of 22.47, while freshman Brett Bofinger placed fourth, running a 22.91.

In the 4x400 relays, the women's team, comprised of senior Alexis Roper, sophomore Haley Meier, Kopp and Price, finished first in a time of 3:53.90. For the men, sophomore Michael Wilson, Bofinger, junior Christian Vail and freshman Kyle Francis combined to earn silver, running a 3:27.22.

In the distance events, the women were dominant, taking home two golds. In the 800, Haley Meier won the event with a time of 2:13.33. Right behind her were teammates Jessica Buttinger and Gina Daniel, finishing second and third, respectively.

Junior Anima Banks captured the second gold for the women's distance squad, winning the mile in 4:55.28. Graduate student Jessie Rubin took second with a time of 5:03.70, while senior Chloe Maleski added one point with a fourth-place finish.

In the 3,000, junior Madison Granger and senior Julianna Miller placed second and fourth, respectively, to round out the scoring for the women's distance group.

Not to be outdone, the men's distance team secured two first-place finishes of its own. Freshman Jordan Burton was able to hold off the field down the home stretch to win gold in his first collegiate race, while Francis earned bronze.

Nate McClafferty got his senior season off to a great start, running a personal-best time of 4:06.63 to win the mile. Junior Henry Farley finished fourth in the event with a time of 4:14.21.

Seniors Brian Schoepfer and Shaun Thompson placed second and third, respectively, in the 3,000, running 8:17.20 and 8:17.42. Thompson also ran the mile earlier in the day, finishing sixth with a time of 4:14.68.

The Duke field event athletes were equally as impressive Friday night, winning both the men's and women's pole vault, the men's and women's shot put and the women's high jump.

Junior Megan Clark and sophomore Connor Hall each won gold in the pole vault, clearing 13-3.75 (4.06) and 16-4.75 (5.00), respectively.

In the shot put, redshirt junior Stephen Boals was victorious with a mark of 56-9.00 (17.30), while redshirt sophomore Urina Harrell took first on the women's side with a toss of 47-1.75 (14.37). Placing second in the women's shot put was graduate student Erica Brand, tossing the implement 46-2.00 (14.07).

In the women's high jump, multi-event athlete Karli Johonnot cleared 5-10.75 (1.80) on her way to capturing gold. Junior Maddie Morrow placed third with a jump of 5-7.75 (1.72).

For the men, junior Carl Heinz set a new personal record by jumping 6-10.00 (2.08) to place second. Jumping in his first collegiate meet, freshman Colt Sessions earned a fourth-place finish with a leap of 6-6.00 (1.98).

Redshirt junior Teddi Maslowski turned in a stellar performance in the long jump, registering a mark of 18-10.00 (5.74) to earn the bronze medal.

The teams will return to action next week with two events on the docket. A portion of the team will be back in Chapel Hill for the Tobacco Road Cup Jan. 22-23, while the rest of the team will head to Blacksburg, Va., for the Virginia Tech Invite Jan. 23-24.

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