Seven Top-Five Marks Posted on Day One

Friday, January 14

Blacksburg, Va.

All Day

Duke University

Day One at Virginia Tech Invitational

Seven Top-Five Marks Posted on Day One

1/14/2022 11:16:00 PM | Track & Field

Results (PDF)

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Duke track and field program continued its blazing start to the 2021-22 season, as the Blue Devils posted seven top-five program marks and earned nine top-five placements, including a pair of first-place finishes, on the first day of the Virginia Tech Invitational.

Donovan Spearman made his Blue Devil debut one to remember, as the graduate student ran the men's 60m dash qualifier in 6.71 seconds to clock the fastest event time in Duke history, besting the previous mark of 6.74 seconds that stood for 30 years.

"The highlight of day one of the Virginia Tech Invitational is Donovan Spearman breaking the school record in the 60m dash," director of track & field and cross country Shawn Wilbourn. "That's a school record that has been on the books for quite some time. That was an impressive run by Donovan and set the tone for day one."

Graduate students Lauren Hoffman and Alex Schwedt moved into second all-time in the program record books after each notched first-place finishes to lead the Blue Devils to a sweep of the women's and men's 500m events. Hoffman finished with a PR of 1:11.97, while Schwedt finished in 1:02.42. Freshman Megan McGinnis (1:14.11) and sophomore Alejandro Rodriguez (1:04.01) also shined in the event, as the pair moved into the No. 5 and No. 4 all-time spot on their respective lists following fifth-place finishes from each.

Senior Isabel Wakefield improved her No. 3 all-time 60m hurdle time and finished in 8.37 seconds to place second in the event, while freshman Mike Herzog improved his No. 3 program mark in the triple jump with a leap measuring 14.54m (47-8.6 feet).

Duke also received top-five finishes from sophomore Carter Dillon, along with freshmen Chyler Turner and Beck Wittstadt. Competing for the first time in a Duke uniform, Dillon clocked a personal best time of 4:06.24 in the men's mile run to place second among the field. Turner competed in the women's 60m hurdles along with the 300m dash and turned in times of 8.50 and 39.18 seconds to place third and fifth, respectively. Wittstadt also made his Duke debut and ran the men's 1000m race in 2:27.51 to take third.

"Some of our upper classmen started the season off great, and this was a good early season test to see where we are at the moment," said Wilbourn. "We're training hard still, so I'm happy with the performances we got considering how hard we've been training. I'm excited to see how we do tomorrow. Then we'll evaluate, regroup and come back and do it again next week."

To stay up to date with Blue Devils cross country and track & field, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeTFXC."

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