Blue Devils Prepare for NCAA East Regional

Wednesday, May 26

Jacksonville, Fla.

Duke University

Day One at NCAA East Regional

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Photo by: Jaylynn Nash

Blue Devils Prepare for NCAA East Regional

5/25/2021 4:44:00 PM | Track & Field

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DURHAM, N.C. – Looking to build off the first ACC Outdoor Championship in women's program history, the Duke track & field program heads to the NCAA East Regional in Jacksonville, Fla., on the campus of North Florida.

The Blue Devils have qualified 33 competitors for the NCAA Regional, with 20 women and 13 men seeking an advancement to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., from June 8-11. This week's competitors are looking to join senior Erin Marsh and graduate student Zoe Hughes, who already qualified in the heptathlon.

FIELD EVENTS
Wednesday:

Four Blue Devils will compete in two events on day one of the NCAA East Regional. The day begins with the men's javelin where graduate student Kiegan Lenihan, sophomore Luke Jackson and freshman Scott Campbell will compete at 1:30 p.m.
Lenihan enters the event after earning All-ACC Second Team honors after finishing sixth with a throw of 64.51m (211-7 feet). Lenihan is looking to set a personal best in the NCAA East Regional after 24th and 25th place finishes earlier in his career.
Campbell's throw of 68.77m (225-7 feet) remains the best throw by a Blue Devil this season and third best in the ACC.
The remaining event of the day is the men's long jump as sophomore Ezra Mellinger is set to compete at 3 p.m. Mellinger recorded a season-best jump of 7.42m (24-4.25 feet) which ranks fourth in outdoor program history.

Thursday:

Women's events will dominate the slate Thursday, beginning with the women's javelin at 1:30 p.m. Senior Ashleigh Rodriguez earned All-ACC honors for the first time in her collegiate career with a fifth-place throw of 47.27m (155-1 feet) and is looking for another first in potentially advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Action will conclude in the field at 3 p.m. with the women's long jump and pole vault.
Graduate students Elena Brown-Soler and Cha'Mia Rothwell will compete in long jump. Both have added their names to the Duke record books with Rothwell's season best of 6.38m (20-11.25 feet) standing at second best and Brown-Soler's 6.10m (20-0.25 feet) at fourth furthest.
Fresh off a silver medal at the ACC Outdoor Championships, graduate student Julia Valenti is looking to make noise in the pole vault along with sophomore Brynn King. Valenti set a personal best of 4.13m (13-6.5 feet) her last time out and will look to add to Duke's rich pole-vaulting tradition.

Friday:

The day's sole field competition for the Blue Devils will be the men's high jump as sophomore Beau Allen will compete at 1 p.m. Allen is hoping to replicate his early season jump of 2.10m (6-10.75 feet) that ranks fourth on Duke's all-time list.

Saturday:

The week's final field event will be one of the deepest as Marsh, sophomore Elasia Campbell and freshman Brianna Smith will compete in the women's high jump.
Campbell enters after a career weekend at the ACC Outdoor Championships, becoming the Blue Devils' first ACC Champion in the event since Debra Vento in 2006. Campbell set the fourth-highest clearance in program history with a jump of 1.78m (5-10 feet) in the victory.
Marsh will be another formidable competitor, having hit 1.79m (5-10.5 feet) in the heptathlon at the Tobacco Road Challenge and 1.78m (5-10 feet) in the heptathlon at the ACC Outdoor Championships this season.
Smith is having a breakout season and will look to make noise in her first NCAA East Regional. Smith earned All-ACC Second Team honors with her sixth-place finish at the ACC Outdoor Championships and has cleared a personal best of 1.75m (5-8.75 feet) this year.

TRACK EVENTS
Wednesday:

Track events get started in the evening as sophomore Rory Cavan will open competition in the first round of 1500m. Cavan set a personal best of 3:43.21 at the Tobacco Road Challenge earlier this season.
Graduate student Alex Schwedt will look to better his impressive preliminary time he set in the 400m at the ACC Outdoor Championships as he will run in the same event at 7:25 p.m. Schwedt ran himself into the record books, clocking the second fastest time in program history at 46.68 seconds.
Graduate student Connor Atkinson will open his run at the NCAA East Regional in the first round of the 400m hurdles. Atkinson's season has been historic, recording Duke's best results in the event since 1999, setting the second fastest time in program history at 51.14 seconds.
The evening will conclude with distance events when CJ Ambrosio and Zach Kinne will compete in the 10,000m. Kinne recorded a huge weekend at the ACC Outdoor Championships, registering the fifth fastest time in program history and crushing his previous personal best by 12.76 seconds with a mark of 29:21.37. Kinne took 11th in that race, while Ambrosio took 15th, finishing with a person best of his own at 29:25.14.

Thursday:

A packed evening begins at 6 p.m. as Marsh and Rothwell compete in the 100m hurdles.
Rothwell took home a bronze medal at the ACC Outdoor Championships, turning in a time of 13.10 seconds, just 0.01 seconds shy of her school record. The All-ACC First Team honoree will be joined by fellow All-ACC heptathlete Marsh, who ran a personal best of 13.17 seconds in the ACC heptathlon for the second fastest time in program history.
After putting the ACC on notice by taking first, second, fourth and fifth in the women's 400m at the ACC Outdoor Championships, the quartet is back for the NCAA East Regional. Graduate students Brittany Aveni and Iman Sule are two of the top competitors, owning the top-two marks in program history, with each setting personal bests of 51.60 seconds and 52.25 seconds, respectively, in their gold and silver medal finishes at the ACC Outdoor Championships.
Rounding out the group are graduate student Elena Brown-Soler and sophomore Jenna Crean. Brown-Soler made waves in the same race with a blazing time of 53.10 seconds to set the fifth fastest time in program history. Crean is also peaking at the right time and has set a personal best in five consecutive races, going from 55.28 seconds at the Raleigh Relays to 53.97 at the ACC Outdoor Championships.
Senior Leigha Torino will compete in the 800m next, looking to build on her outdoor personal best time of 2:05.41 set at the ACC Outdoor Championships. Torino is trying to join Marsh as NCAA Championship participants in both the indoor and outdoor season.
Next up for the Blue Devils is senior Lauren Hoffman who has become one of the strongest national championship threats on the team after shattering the school record multiple times. Her latest run earned her a silver medal at the ACC Outdoor Championships, recording a time of 56.98 seconds to crush her own school record by 0.56 seconds.
Junior Kelcie Simmons is set to race in the 200m in the penultimate event of the day for the Blue Devils. Simmons is looking to best her previous personal best of 23.78 seconds set at the Duke Twilight on May 3.
The final event of the day features three Blue Devils as the women's 10,000m will get underway. Senior Michaela Reinhart is riding high after earning All-ACC Second Team honors and racing the second fastest time in program history which set up the Blue Devils' photo finish victory in it at the ACC Outdoor Championships. Reinhart ran a time of 15:55.38 in her fifth-place finish. Seniors Amanda Beach and Sara Platek round out the field for the Blue Devils.

Friday:

Senior Alex Miley enters the competition as one of the primary national names to watch in the 3000m steeplechase, owning the best time by an American collegiate athlete. Miley delivered a historic run at the ACC Outdoor Championships, smashing a 49-year-old school record with a time of 8:32.72 and earning the silver medal. Miley is set to run at 6:10 p.m.
The men's 4x400m relay will compete at 9:15 p.m. The Blue Devils have used a combination of sprinters this year with great results, owning the second and third fastest times in program history. Atkinson, Schwedt, Mellinger, freshmen Alejandro Rodriguez and Job Trahan are the possible members of the relay.
Should Cavan and Atkinson advance, both would also compete in the quarterfinal of 1500m and 400m hurdles, respectively.

Saturday:

The final day of action features several women's quarterfinals in the 100m hurdles, 400m, 800m, 400m hurdles and 200m.
The day also features the women's 4x100m and 4x400m relays as the Blue Devils will look to recapture the magic from the ACC Outdoor Championships. The 4x400m quartet of Sule, Brown-Soler, Crean and Aveni delivered the program's first ACC Championship with a gold medal and school record run of 3:30.47. The 4x100m team also set a school record earlier in the year.
Freshman Victoria Patterson will look to continue her storybook season in the 3000m steeplechase. Patterson has been one of the most impressive rookies in the conference, taking eighth at the ACC Outdoor Championships with the second fastest time in program history and a personal best of 10:08.13.
Reinhart is set compete in the 5000m after competing in the 10,000m Thursday. Reinhart is hoping to best her previous NCAA East Regional mark of 22nd in the 5000m in 2019.

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