Duke Weight Throw Records Shattered on Opening Day of Doc Hale Invite

Friday, February 2

Blacksburg, Va.

All Day

Duke University

Day One at Doc Hale Invitational

Christian Johnson and Aimar Palma Simo smile with coach Angelo Posillico after setting the school weight throw record

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Weight Throw Records Shattered on Opening Day of Doc Hale Invite

2/2/2024 11:55:00 PM | Track & Field

Day 1 Results (PDF)

BLACKSBURG, Va. – It was another record-setting day for Duke track and field on Friday as the Blue Devils saw program records in the men's and women's weight throw shattered and six top-five program set on the first day of the Doc Hale Invitational.

The Blue Devils had two individuals – Christian Johnson and Aimar Palma Simo – tie for the program record in the men's weight throw via stellar showings while in the women's event, it was Zoe Waddell who delivered an outstanding performance to take the school record down.

TOP PERFORMANCES

Graduate students Christian Johnson and Aimar Palma Simo got the record-breaking party started for Duke, with the duo parlaying career-best performances in the men's weight throw into first and second place finishes, respectively, while shattering the program record in the process.
Both individuals registered throws of 21.34m (70-0.25 feet) to position themselves atop the Duke charts, with Johnson edging out Palma Simo for the win after notching measurements on all six of his attempts.
Johnson bested his own school record set at the JDL Mondo Invite while Palma Simo improved on his previous best by over two feet to move into a tie for first all-time.
Not to be outdone, the Duke women also saw its program record in the weight throw fall via the efforts of graduate student Zoe Waddell.
Waddell came through with her best throw on the third attempt, flinging her weight 19.78m (64-10.75 feet) for a PR and fourth-place finish. The Bozeman, Mont., product's mark catapulted herself four spots up the program charts into the top overall slot and surpassed her previous best by more than five feet.
Senior Moorea Mitchell also turned in a strong performance in the women's weigh throw, producing a career-best toss of 19.47m (63-10.50 feet) to improve her No. 3 all-time Duke mark.
Ezra Mellinger had stellar showings in both events he took part in on Friday en route to posting a pair of top-five Duke records.
Mellinger made his third jump the charm as he flew out to personal best of 7.66m (25-1.75) to grab the dub in the men's long jump – tied for No. 3 on the program charts. The graduate student also set a PR of 6.72 in the prelims of the men's 60m to slot himself second all-time at Duke.
In addition to the top-five program marks registered on the day, sophomore Julia Jackson turned in a solid outing in the women's 400m dash clocking a time of 53.90 seconds to finish runner-up.
Following the first four events of the men's heptathlon, Max Forte sits in third place with 3,202 points.
Forte's best performances of the afternoon came via the long jump and 60m dash in which he placed first and third, respectively. The junior turned in a PR of 7.10 seconds in the 60m race, then leapt 7.39m (24-3 feet) in the long jump.
To check out the complete results from Day 1, click here.

UP NEXT
The men's pole vault (9:30 a.m.) gets the Saturday slate going, with the final events of the heptathlon set to resume at 10:30 a.m. On the track, the Blue Devils open the afternoon slate at 2:00 p.m. in the men's 800m.

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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