Mellinger Sets Long Jump Meet Record; Knight, Reinhart Win Decathlon,1500m Elite

Friday, April 8

Durham, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Two at Duke Invitational

Photo by: Matthew Fecteau

Mellinger Sets Long Jump Meet Record; Knight, Reinhart Win Decathlon,1500m Elite

4/8/2022 11:58:00 PM | Track & Field

Results - Day Two (PDF)

DURHAM – Wins in the men's long jump, decathlon and women's 1500m Invite by junior Ezra Mellinger, sophomore Gage Knight and graduate student Michaela Reinhart, respectively, headlined several great performances by the Duke track and field team on the second day of the Duke Invitational.

Mellinger won his second consecutive long jump event of the outdoor season while snapping the three-year-old Duke Invitational meet record in the process. The junior produced his best jump on his sixth and final attempt, leaping out to an outdoor personal-best 7.50m (24-7.25 feet). The jump improved Mellinger's No. 4 all-time Duke event mark.

Knight maintained control of the field and tightened his grip on the top spot with a trio of strong performances to finish with 7,134 total points. Opening the day in the 110m hurdles, Knight raced to a 15.50 second finish, which was good for third among the field. Later in the afternoon, the sophomore earned his fourth event win of the decathlon behind a clearance of 4.30m (14-1.25 feet) to take first in the pole vault. Knight capped his overall performance with a third-place finish in the 1500m run after clocking 4:42.17.

Reinhart earned the first-place finish in her section behind a personal-best performance in the event. The graduate student maneuvered her way to the front of the pack and produced a blazing run of 4:19.68 to claim the win, shaving nearly six seconds off her previous best.

In his first race of the outdoor season, graduate student Nick Dahl produced a historic performance in the men's 1500m Invite. Dahl finished second among the field, running his way into the Duke record books as he clocked 3:39.10. His mark ranks second all-time in program history, just 0.10 off the school record.

Moorea Mitchell continued her stellar outdoor season as she improved upon her Duke hammer throw mark for the third time. On her second attempt, Mitchell flung her instrument 56.80m (186-4 feet) for a new personal best. The mark was good for fourth among the field and moved the sophomore into third all-time in program lore.

Classmate Brianna Smith placed third in the women's heptathlon with a personal best of 5,211, beating her previous best by 62 points. Smith's performances on day two featured a fifth-place finish in the long jump of 5.61m (18-5 feet), before concluding the day with a personal-best run of 2:24.89 in the 800m.

Michael Bennett finished the decathlon in fifth as he totaled 6,464 points. The freshman kicked off day two with a stellar run of 15.03 seconds in the 110m hurdles to win the event and establish a new PR, then finished as runner-up in the final event of the day, the 1500m, via a 4:40.30 finish.

Senior Chris Theodore rounded out the night with a top-five placement in his section of the men's 5000m. Theodore clocked a personal best of 14:11.43 to finish fourth, shaving 13 seconds off his previous time in the event. On the women's side, classmate Clara Savchik sliced 21 seconds off her previous 5000m time for a new season best of 16:40.57.

To see the full results from day two, click HERE.

Up Next:
The Blue Devils close the Duke Invitational with another action-packed slate. Duke field events get going at 9:30 a.m., with the women's discus while men's 4x100m relay kicks off the track events at 12 p.m.

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

#GoDuke