Blue Devils Gear Up for Hokie Invitational

Friday, January 21

Blacksburg, Va.

All Day

Duke University

Day One at Hokie Invitational

Photo by: Tom Connelly

Blue Devils Gear Up for Hokie Invitational

1/20/2022 5:40:00 PM | Track & Field

HOKIE INVITATIONAL - FINAL SCHEDULE

DURHAM – Duke track & field looks to keep the momentum rolling this weekend as the Blue Devils make their return to Blacksburg, Va., for the second consecutive week to compete in the Hokie Invitational Jan. 21-22.

A total of 23 women and 27 men will represent the Blue Devils at the meet this weekend. Duke will compete among a field that Virginia Tech, Louisville, Virginia, Clemson, Wake Forest, NC State, North Carolina, Tennessee, UNC Charlotte, UCF and Georgetown.

Friday's schedule of events is set to begin at 10:30 a.m., with the men's heptathlon, followed by the women's pentathlon at 11 a.m. An action-packed Saturday opens at 9 a.m. with the men's pole vault.

LAST TIME OUT

Duke's men's and women's track & field team combined to post eight top-five program marks and collected 25 top-five placements over the weekend, including event sweeps in the 500m and 4x400m relay.
Graduate student Donovan Spearman 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.
Graduate student Alex Schwedt moved into second all-time in the program record books in the 500m after finishing 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).
Junior Kinsie Huggins broke her previous PR and moved into fourth all-time on the Duke women's shot put list following a throw of 14.27m (46-10 feet).
Sophomore Carter Dillon, along with freshmen Chyler Turner and Beck Wittstadt also notched top-five placements.
In their Duke debuts, Dillon clocked a PR of 4:06.24 in the men's mile run to place second, while Wittstadt ran the men's 1000m race in 2:27.51 to take third. Turner competed in the women's 60m hurdles and 300m dash, turning in times of 8.50 and 39.18 seconds to place third and fifth, respectively.
In the 4x400m relay, the men's team of graduate students Miles Mingo and Alex Schwedt along with sophomores Alejandro Rodriguez and Job Trahan posted a time of 3:14.86
On the women's side, junior Jenna Crean, freshman Abby Geiser, Hoffman and sophomore Hailey Williams completed the event sweep for Duke, running the race in 3:43.21; The other 4x400m relay team comprised of junior Carly King, senior Nikki Merritt and freshmen Megan McGinnis and Chyler Turner wasn't too far behind, clocking 3:45.95 to place second.

WHAT TO WATCH

Graduate student Lauren Hoffman enters the weekend after being named the ACC Women's Co-Track Performer of the Week following two first-place finishes at the Virginia Tech Invitational this past weekend.
Hoffman placed first in the 500-meter run, with a time of 1:11.97 – the fastest time in the nation. The mark was also a PR in the event and moved her into No. 2 all-time in the Duke record books. She also recorded a 53.1 second split during her leg of the 4x400m to help lead the relay team to a first-place finish and time of 3:43.21, which currently ranks third overall in the ACC this season.
Two of the Blue Devils' top-five record holders in the indoor pentathlon – graduate student Erin Marsh and senior Isabel Wakefield – compete in the event for the first since the 2021 Indoor ACC Championship.
Marsh owns the Duke record in the indoor pentathlon, which she secured at 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships, after racking up 4,344 points to finish third overall – including a first-place finish of 8.13 seconds in the 60m hurdles.
Wakefield stands fourth all-time on the Duke pentathlon list. She notched 3,936 points to place fourth at the 2021 ACC Indoor Championships. Her performance featured a win in the 60m hurdles (8.44), second place in the long jump (5.75m) and fifth in the shot put (11.12m).

Duke Competitors

Name	Event
Halle Bieber	300m run, 200m dash
Jenna Crean	300m run, 400m, 4x400m relay
Abby Geiser	300m run, 200m dash, 4x400m relay
Katie Hamilton	Mile, DMR
Lauren Hoffman	300m run, 400m, 4x400m relay
Kinsie Huggins	Shot Put
Hannah Kelly	High Jump
Brynn King	Pole Vault
Carly King	300m run, 400m, 4x400m relay
Lara Kohlenbach	Pentathlon
Erin Marsh	Pentathlon
Megan McGinnis	600m run, 400m, 4x400m relay
Nikki Merritt	300m run, long jump, 400m, 4x400m relay
Moorea Mitchell	Weight Throw
Maya Provencal	60m dash, 200m dash
Michaela Reinhart	Mile, DMR
Kelcie Simmons	300m run
Brianna Smith	Pentathlon
Paige Sommers	Pole Vault
Charlotte Tomkinson	DMR
Chyler Turner	60m Hurdles, 300m run, 4x400m relay
Isabel Wakefield	Pentathlon
Hailey Williams	300m run, 400m, 4x400m relay
Beau Allen	High Jump
CJ Ambrosio	3000m run, DMR
Drake Anzano	Mile, DMR
Michael Bennett	Heptathlon
Rory Cavan	Mile, 3000m run, DMR
Nick Dahl	Mile, 3000m run, 800m run
Carter Dillon	Mile, 800m run
Erick Duffy	Pole Vault
Michael Fairbanks	Pole Vault
Austin Gabay	Mile, 3000m run
Mike Herzog	Triple Jump, Long Jump
Zach Kinne	3000m run, DMR
Gage Knight	Heptathlon
Joseph Laster	60m dash, 200m dash
Ezra Mellinger	300m run, Long Jump, 200m dash
Miles Mingo	300m run, 200m dash, 4x400m relay
Sam Rivera	3000m run, DMR
Alejandro Rodriguez	300m run, 400m run, 4x400m relay
Josh Romine	3000m run, DMR
Cole Rowan	Pole Vault
Alex Schwedt	300m run, 400m run, 4x400m relay
Chris Theodore	3000m run, DMR
Job Trahan	300m run, 400m run, 4x400m relay
Michael Ungvarsky	3000m run, DMR
Bri'Yon Watts	300m run, 400m run, 4x400m relay
Connor Wells	3000m run
Beck Wittstadt	Mile, 800m run

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