Lang, Clark Secure Conference Titles

Saturday, May 16

Tallahassee, Fla.

All Day

Duke University

Day Three at ACC Outdoor Championships

Lang, Clark Secure Conference Titles

5/16/2015 10:47:00 PM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Two Blue Devils were crowned conference champions and three school records fell on the third and final day of the ACC Outdoor Championships in Tallahassee, Fla. The Duke men finished sixth in the team standings with 53 points, while the women placed eighth with a point total of 51.

Duke started Saturday off in grand fashion, capturing gold in the first two events of the day. After winning on his final attempt last season with a personal-best throw, Redshirt junior Thomas Lang gave everyone at Mike Long Track a case of déjà vu in the men's javelin competition. The Royersford, Pa., native opened the competition with a toss of 217-11 (66.43m), a mark that would have secured him sixth place heading into the final round. Lang had other plans, however, launching the javelin a distance of 231-8 (70.62m), the best throw of his career and the second-farthest mark in Duke history, to claim ACC gold for the second consecutive season.

“It was exactly like last year, except he was in more dire straits [this year],” Ogilvie said. “It's the stuff of legends when you do that. It's like hitting a buzzer-beater. He's done that twice in a row for the ACC title now. [He has] nerves of steel and produces when it matters most.”

Entering the women's pole vault competition as the clear-cut favorite, junior Megan Clark did not disappoint as she added another conference crown to her résumé, completing the sweep after winning the event at the ACC indoor meet earlier this year. Clark's consistency was key to her victory, holding off Miami's Alysha Newman for the win. With Clark clearing both 14-1.75 (4.31m) and 14-5.50 (4.41m) on her first attempts, Newman elected to pass until 14-9.50 (4.51m). With both Clark and Newman failing to surpass the final height, Clark's successful clearance of 14-5.50 proved to be the difference.

“[Megan] is the best in the ACC, hands down,” Ogilvie said. “She proved that by winning the indoors, getting second at NCAA's and then came out today and was clearly the best. She actually took an attempt at a personal-record 4.51 meters, one centimeter over her best, and gave a really good attempt. We're excited about the postseason in Jacksonville and Eugene for her.”

Sophomore Connor Hall nearly matched Clark's golden performance in the men's pole vault, finishing runner-up and earning first team All-ACC status with a height of 16-7.50 (5.07m). Hall was flawless through his first three heights, clearing each on his first attempt before failing at 16-11.50 (5.17m). The sophomore's mistake-free competition ultimately settled a tiebreaker with Virginia Tech's Jared Allison, who also finished at 16-7.50. Hall's performance ranks fifth all-time in Duke's outdoor pole vault record books.

In the women's discus, graduate student Erica Brand captured the silver medal and eight points for the Blue Devils. Brand made the most of her first attempt, sending the shot 170-6 (51.98m) to take the lead after the opening round. The Shawnee, Kansas, native dropped one position as Louisville's Emmonnie Henderson moved into first in the second round, but Brand's mark cemented her in second for the remainder of the competition.

Redshirt junior Karli Johonnot earned her second conference honor in as many days, placing third in the women's high jump to garner first team All-ACC status. Already a second team all-conference selection in the heptathlon, Johonnot cleared 5-8.75 (1.75m) on her first attempt, breaking a tie with three competing jumpers to lock up the bronze medal. Also competing, junior Maddie Morrow just missed scoring points for the team, finishing ninth with a 5-7.75 (1.72m) performance.

Rounding out the field events, redshirt junior Stephen Boals, who placed third in yesterday's shot put, took 12^th in the men's discus with a throw of 167-1 (50.94m), while graduate student Alex Jebb used a leap of 43-9.75 (13.35m) to finish 15^th in the men's triple jump.

Three school records fell on the track Saturday, highlighted by both 4x400 relay teams. The women's squad of senior Lauren Hansson, sophomore Madeline Kopp, freshman Maddy Price and senior Elizabeth Kerpon captured the silver medal and second team All-ACC honors with a time of 3:32.40, besting the mark of 3:33.09 set last year. Duke held the lead through the first 1,500 meters of the race, but Notre Dame closed hard in the final stretch to claim gold. Updated after tonight's races, the Blue Devils currently rank ninth in NCAA Division I. The same group also ran the 4x100, taking eighth with a time of 45.44.

After breaking the school record just nine days ago at the Duke Twilight with a 3:10.76 showing, the men's 4x400 team decided to set the mark one second faster. The unit of freshman Brett Bofinger, junior Robert Rohner and sophomores Michael Wilson and Chaz Hawkins won the first heat of the men's 4x400, combining for a blistering time of 3:09.21 to edge the Florida State Seminoles on their home turf. The Blue Devils' time held up well against the faster heat, ultimately placing fifth overall.

Kopp, running earlier in the women's 400m final, picked up another second team All-ACC selection and broke her own school record in the process. The sprinter out of Rochester, N.Y., blazed to a sixth-place finish in the one-lap race with a time of 53.01, besting her previous best and Duke's all-time mark of 53.04 by just fractions of a second.

Running in the final heat of the women's 1,500m, junior Madison Granger just missed All-ACC honors with her seventh-place showing, producing a 4:21.83 to pick up two points for the Blue Devils. On the men's side, senior Nate McClafferty took eighth to garner one point, clocking a 3:48.88.

Also coming one spot away from an all-conference selection was junior Anima Banks in the women's 800m final. Banks, a native of Mamaroneck, N.Y., took seventh with a time of 2:06.40.

Rounding out the individual races, junior Blake Udland led a trio of Blue Devils in the men's 5,000m, clocking a 14:27.69 to capture ninth place. Sophomore Stephen Shine and senior Brian Schoepfer joined Udland in the event, taking 19^th and 20^th, respectively, with times of 15:07.10 and 15:09.94.

Over the three-day event, 15 Blue Devils combined for 17 All-ACC honors, outperforming many of their seedings heading into the weekend.

“It was a really great team effort, the best we've come together,” Ogilvie said. “Coming into the meet, if you went straight off the performance list, the Duke men were supposed to score 22 points and finish 14^th out of 15 schools. Instead, we score 53 points and finish sixth. They absolutely competed to the best of their abilities.”

Qualifying Blue Devils will return to action May 28-30 for the NCAA East First Round meet in Jacksonville, Fla., competing for the opportunity to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., June 10-13.

1^st Team All-ACC
Erica Brand (women's discus - 2nd)
Megan Clark (women's pole vault - 1st)
Karli Johonnot (women's high jump - 3rd)
Teddi Maslowski (women's long jump - 3rd)
Connor Hall (men's pole vault - 2nd)
Thomas Lang (men's javelin - 1st)
Tanner Johnson (men's decathlon - 1st)
Ian Rock (men's decathlon - 2nd)

2^nd Team All-ACC
Karli Johonnot (women's heptathlon - 4th)
Lauren Hansson (women's 4x400 - 2nd)
Elizabeth Kerpon (women's 4x400 - 2nd)
Madeline Kopp (women's 400m - 6th; women's 4x400 - 2nd)
Maddy Price (women's 4x400 - 2nd)
Stephen Boals (men's shot put - 4th)
Andrew Pancoast (men's high jump - 6th)
Robert Rohner (men's decathlon - 5th)