Hoffman Breaks School Record in 400m Hurdles on Day Two of Virginia Challenge

Saturday, April 17

Charlottesville, Va.

Duke University

Day Two at Virginia Challenge

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Hoffman Breaks School Record in 400m Hurdles on Day Two of Virginia Challenge

4/17/2021 6:42:00 PM | Track & Field

Results (PDF)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Duke track & field rewrote the record books on Saturday as the team completed its stint at the Virginia Challenge.

The theme of the afternoon proved to be the 400m distance, with the Blue Devils showing prowess in several events. Senior Lauren Hoffman impressed in the 400m hurdles, recording a program record of 57.54 seconds to take second place overall. Hoffman's mark beats former Blue Devil India Lowe's record of 57.58 seconds set in 2019 and marks the second-best time in the ACC this season. The Haymarket, Va., native also tied the fifth fastest time in NCAA East Regional qualifying and tied the eighth best time in the nation.

Graduate student Connor Atkinson delivered a strong bounce back performance, earning a fourth-place finish with a blazing time of 52.53 seconds in the 400m hurdles. Atkinson came just .31 seconds shy of his personal best which ranks third all-time in Duke history and finished second among ACC competitors in this event.

Earlier in the day, sophomore Elasia Campbell delivered a third place showing in the high jump. Campbell matched the top two competitors with a mark of 1.73 meters (5-8 feet), finishing just 0.1m away from her personal best and 0.2m away from the top-five in program history.

The late afternoon saw historic marks in the 4x400m relay. The women's team of Hoffman, graduate student Elena Brown-Soler, sophomore Jenna Crean and graduate student Brittany Aveni went first and took home first place with a time of 3:32.92. The run ranks fourth in program history and set meet and facility records at Lannigan Field. The Blue Devils broke the meet record previously held by Clemson, who ran a time of 3:33.68 in 2012 and the facility record of 3:34.00 set by Ohio State in 2015.

In addition, the triumph marked another victory for Aveni, who has now strung together eight straight event victories and wins in nine of the first 10 to begin the outdoor season. Aveni has also etched her name into the Blue Devils record books with three separate 4x400m relay teams. The Geneva, Ohio native was a part of the unit that set the program record in 2018 and is also a member of the third fastest time set in 2019.

Action concluded with the men's 4x400m relay team, made up of graduate student Alex Schwedt, sophomore Ezra Mellinger, freshman Alejandro Rodriguez and senior Miles Mingo. The quartet took home second place with a time of 3:10.24. The run checks in as the second-fastest in Blue Devils history, trailing only the program record set in 2015 by Brett Bofinger, Robert Rohner, Michael Wilson and Chaz Hawkins.

The Blue Devils will be back in action April 23-24 with a return to the state of North Carolina for the Charlotte Invitational on the campus of UNC Charlotte.

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