JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Senior distance runner Madison Granger and the women's 4x400 team of redshirt senior Teddi Maslowski, junior Madeline Kopp, freshman MacKenzie Kerr and sophomore Maddy Price punched their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Saturday, highlighting Duke's final day at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Fla.
Granger, who claimed her spot in Eugene in the women's 1,500, and the 4x400 relay will be joined at the national meet by graduate student Shaun Thompson (men's 10,000), seniors Anima Banks (women's 800) and Megan Clark (women's pole vault) and sophomore Madison Heath (women's pole vault). In addition to the 4x400, Maslowski will also compete in the heptathlon.
“With nine athletes qualified, we're going to make some noise out there,” head coach Norm Ogilvie said. “Anima is certainly a favorite in the 800 and Megan will be a favorite in the pole vault, so we can score big points in those two events. I think we have a legitimate shot to score in a bunch of others. It'll be a fun trip to Eugene … Our guys really stepped up under the big lights. It tells a lot about our team that they won't wilt under pressure.”
After running a 4:20.86 in Thursday's prelims of the women's 1,500 to advance to today's quarterfinals, Granger answered with a 4:20.49 performance to place fifth in her heat, automatically clinching a trip to Eugene. The qualification for the 2016 outdoor national meet is the first of Granger's career, with her previous highest placing at regionals being a 17th-place showing in 2015.
"I'm so honored to be able to represent Duke at Hayward Field in two weeks,” Granger said. “It has been a rocky year, including months of battling injury, so to have punched my ticket to Eugene today is such a surreal feeling. I've grown so much as an athlete in my time in Duke's program, from the slowest incoming freshmen four years ago to top 24 in the nation. I am so grateful and feel very blessed and very excited."
The women's 4x400 team earned its bid to Eugene with a 3:33.39 clocking, the third-fastest time in school history, to finish fourth in heat three and 10th overall to claim an at-large spot. Maslowski and Kopp set the tone early, combining for a 1:47.74 split over the first two legs, followed by Kerr running a 53.80 on the third leg. Serving as the anchor leg, Price sealed it with a blistering 51.86 over the final 400 meters. This will be the second time in the last three years Duke will send a women's 4x400 squad to nationals, qualifying in 2014 before falling two spots short in 2015. Maslowski and Kopp were both on the 2014 squad that finished 17th overall.
Maslowski raced earlier in the day individually, as well, running a season-best 13.43 in the quarterfinals of the women's 100-meter hurdles to place 19th overall.
In Saturday's field events, the Blue Devils were represented by a pair of throwers. Redshirt senior Stephen Boals used a throw of 56-10.75 (17.34m) to place 28th overall in the men's shot put, while redshirt junior Urina Harrell finished 39th in the women's shot put with a heave of 48-0.50 (14.64m).
The qualified Blue Devils will conclude the outdoor season in Eugene at the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 8-11. All four days of the event will be televised either on ESPN or ESPN2.
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