Distance Squads Shine at Penn Relays

Thursday, April 25

Philadelphia, Pa.

All Day

Duke University

Day One at Penn Relays

Distance Squads Shine at Penn Relays

4/25/2019 10:40:00 PM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Duke track & field team opened the first day of the 125th Penn Relays Thursday evening at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa., as the men's and women's distance squads posted standout performances.

The women's sprint squad got the action started with a second-place finish in the preliminary heats of the college 4x400m relay. Lauren Hoffman, MacKenzie Kerr, Kelcie Simmons and Brittany Aveni clocked in at 3:38.57 to advance to Saturday's Championship of America finals. Duke took the lead on Simmons' leg to hand off to Aveni as she closed it out in 53.25.

The Blue Devils continued their success in the men's 3000m steeplechase with three personal-best times, highlighted by Alex Miley's third-place finish in a time of 8:50.89, which ranks fourth on Duke's all-time list and is nine seconds faster than his previous best time. Miley's time also currently ranks 10th in the east.

Michael Ungvarsky and Ethan Ready competed alongside Miley and both registered personal-best times in 9:02.04 and 9:09.69, respectively, as Ready notched an ACC qualifying performance. Ungvarsky posted a seven second improvement and Ready's was four-seconds faster than his previous top performance.

The women's distance squad shined in the 5000m as Monica Hebner, Helen Williams and Lindsay Billings all posted personal-best times. Hebner crossed the finish line first for the women in 13th in a time of 16:45.62 in her first collegiate 5k and posted an ACC qualifying performance. Williams clocked in at 16:47.00, followed by Billings in 16:53.79. Williams' time this evening was 34-seconds faster than her previous best time as Billings' time was 19-seconds quicker.

CJ Ambrosio was Duke's top finisher in the men's 5000m in a personal-best performance of 14:13.61.

The Blue Devils will open Friday's action at the Penn Relays with the women's shuttle hurdle relay at 3:20 p.m.

Certain segments of the meet will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network and NBC Gold. The NBCSN broadcast will be from 5-6 p.m., on Friday during the Duke men's distance medley relay and from 12:30-3 on Saturday for the Duke men's 4x800m relay. The meet will also be available LIVE exclusively on USATF.TV+Plus powered by RunnerSpace. Subscribers to the +Plus platform will have access to both live and on demand content of the 2019 Penn Relays in addition to the thousands of hours of programming on the +Plus Network.

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MEN:

CJ Ambrosio	5000m	9th, 14:13.61 – PR
Alex Miley	3k Steeplechase	3rd, 8:50.89 – No. 4 Duke All-Time
Ethan Ready	3k Steeplechase	19th, 9:09.69 – PR
Josh Romine	5000m	14:32 – PR
Tom Sullivan	5000m	60th, 14:56.65
Chris Theodore	5000m	39th, 14:38.62 – PR
Michael Ungvarsky	3k Steeplechase	11th, 9:02.04 – PR
Charles Cooper, Miles Mingo, Carter Dillon, Matt Wisner	Distance Medley Relay
Carter Dillon, Nick Cox, Charles Cooper, Matt Wisner	4x800m Relay

WOMEN:

Lindsay Billings	5000m	16th, 16:53.79 – PR
Monica Hebner	5000m	13th, 16:45.62
Erin Marsh	Long Jump	10th, 5.60m
Erin Marsh	100m Hurdles
Isabel Wakefield	100m Hurdles
Helen Williams	5000m	14th, 16:47.00 – PR
Lauren Hoffman, MacKenzie Kerr, Kelcie Simmons, Brittany Aveni	4x400m Relay – Prelims	2nd, 3:38.57
Erin Marsh, Isabel Wakefield, Nikki Merritt, Lauren Hoffman	Shuttle Hurdle Relay
Kelcie Simmons, Nikki Merritt/Erin Marsh, MacKenzie Kerr, Brittany Aveni	Sprint Medley Relay