Blue Devils Complete Day One of Action-Packed Weekend

Friday, February 11

Lynchburg, Va.

All Day

Duke University

Day One at Darius Dixon Invitational

Photo by: Andrew Snyder

Blue Devils Complete Day One of Action-Packed Weekend

2/11/2022 10:39:00 PM | Track & Field

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Six top-five placements and a pair of program marks headlined the first day of competition at the eighth annual Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational.

Junior Sam Rivera placed third in the men's 5000m run with a 13:52.30 finish, which ranks second all-time in program lore. Sophomore Moorea Mitchell improved her No. 3 mark in the weight throw by two feet on an 18.16m (59-7 feet) toss, good for fourth among the field.

Graduate student Alex Schwedt notched the top placement of the day by the Blue Devils in the men's 400m dash. Schwedt finished as the event runner-up after clocking 47.94 seconds. On the women's side, junior Carly King claimed a third-place finish as she dashed in 55.43 seconds.

Duke's last two top-five finishes of the night were tallied in the men's and women's long jump by junior Ezra Mellinger and senior Nikki Merritt. Merritt recorded a 5.72m (18-9.25 feet) jump to take third, while Mellinger collected fourth following his 7.34m (24-1 feet) leap.

Junior Halle Bieber and senior Isabel Wakefield, along with Mellinger, advanced to their respective event finals following strong showings in the semifinal round. Bieber and Mellinger competed in the women's and men's 60m dash and secured their spots in the finals with finishes of 7.64 and 6.83 seconds, respectively. Wakefield clocked the fastest time in the 60m hurdles semifinals on an 8.23 second finish.

The Blue Devils also competed in two other events across the southeast.

Indoor Music City Challenge
Down in Nashville, the Blue Devils recorded phenomenal performances from graduate students Nick Dahl and Michaela Reinhart as the pair claimed their spot in the program record books. Dahl ran a personal best and improved his school record in the mile run with an official time of 3:55.89. Reinhart finished second among the field and etched her name onto the Duke women's 5000m run list, as her 16:00.31 finish sits fourth all-time.

Tyson Invitational
Duke featured a quartet in the 400m event, and each member of the group registered a strong performance among an extremely competitive field. Graduate student Lauren Hoffman led the way with a time of 54.68 seconds, followed by freshmen Megan McGinnis and Abby Geiser who clocked 54.76 and 54.90 seconds, respectively. Junior Jenna Crean rounded out the bunch as she finished in 55.32 seconds.

The quartet, along with graduate student Erin Marsh, turn their attention to Saturday as they get set to take part in the 200m dash and 4x400m relay events.

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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