Duke Caps First Day at NCAA Indoor Championships

Friday, March 13

Fayetteville, Ark.

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Duke University

Day One at NCAA Indoor Championships

Duke Caps First Day at NCAA Indoor Championships

3/13/2015 11:35:00 PM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Duke track and field teams were represented in three events during the opening day of the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by the University of Arkansas at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark. Headlining the day for the Blue Devils was the men's distance medley relay team, earning first team All-America honors with a seventh-place finish. Heading into the second day, the Duke men are tied for 24^th in the team standings with two team points.

The men's DMR team ran strong in a physical race to clock a time of 9:39.32 to earn first team All-America accolades. Senior Brian Schoepfer started the race off with the 1,200m leg, handing off to freshman Brett Bofinger after his 3:00.83 split. Bofinger clocked a 47.78 400m leg to put the Blue Devils in ninth halfway through the race, and then senior Henry Farley moved the squad into eighth with his time of 1:50.53 in the 800m leg. Anchoring for the Blue Devils, senior Nate McClafferty ran a time of 4:00.19 for the fifth-fastest split in the final leg to give Duke the seventh-place finish.

“The 1,200m leg was really rough,” head coach Norm Ogilvie said. “There was a lot of banging. Our guys ran smart and got out of the way. I think Brett Bofinger actually hurdled someone on his 400m leg. Then McClafferty, a lot of credit to him too because he didn't get stuck in the position of trying to make up too much ground.”

“That was our goal coming in,” Ogilvie said. “We wanted to be first team All-America, which is top-eight, and we did one place better. We feel really good about it and are happy for the guys.”

Competing at her first NCAA Indoor Championships, redshirt junior Teddi Maslowski kicked off the meet for the Blue Devils by placing 10^th in the women's long jump to earn second team All-America accolades. The Burgettstown, Pa., native ranked eighth after her leap of 19-0.75 (5.81) in the first round, then moved into fifth with a 20-0.25 (6.10) second attempt. Maslowski again notched a mark of 19-0.75 (5.81) on her third jump to miss qualifying for finals by one place, finishing 10^th overall.

In the 5,000m race, Shaun Thompson capped his Duke indoor career by garnering second team All-America honors of his own. A senior from Baldwinsville, N.Y., Thompson clocked a time of 14:16.23 to place 13^th in his first appearance at the national indoor meet.

The Blue Devil women will be represented in two events during Saturday's session. Redshirt junior Megan Clark is slated to compete in the women's pole vault at 6:30 p.m. (EST), followed by the 4x400 team of seniors Elizabeth Kerpon and Lauren Hansson, sophomore Madeline Kopp and freshman Maddy Price at 9:30 p.m.

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