WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Duke track and field opened its 2023 indoor season in style on Saturday as the Blue Devils won eight events, set 10 top-five program marks and registered 36 top-five placements across the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off and Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES

• Representing Duke as the lone Blue Devil entry at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, Mass., sophomore Amina Maatoug carried the momentum from a sensational cross country season into her first track meet as a Blue Devil.
• Competing amid a loaded women's 3,000m field, Maatoug clocked 8:55.62 to place seventh, shattering the Duke school record in the process. The Leiden, Netherlands product unseated Shannon Rowbury's 15-year-old mark (9:02.73) by nearly seven seconds.
• Back at the JDL Fast Track where the rest of the Duke squad was competing, the Blue Devils' stellar day of competition was highlighted by the establishment of nine top-five program marks along with four new meet and facility records between the women's 60m dash, long jump, 600m and weight throw, as well as the men's long jump and weight throw.
• Senior Halle Bieber inserted herself into the top-five of the Duke women's indoor 60m charts, taking second behind a time of 7.48 seconds – No. 2 all-time in school lore.
• Graduate student Arianna Gragg, sophomore Megan McGinnis and freshman Lauren Tolbert rewrote the Duke record books, after turning in phenomenal races in the 600m event.
• Tolbert took first with a time of 1:28.74c, McGinnis was second after finishing in 1:29.86c, while Gragg clocked 1:30.51c to place third.
• These respective times rank second, third and fifth all-time in Duke lore. The trio's times were also meet records, with Tolbert and McGinnis' finishes marking JDL Fast Track facility records as well.
• Graduate students Jide Akinjisola and Myles Schreck kickstarted their Duke careers with strong performances in the men's weight throw as the pair etched their names into the Duke record books.
• Akinjisola's toss of 60-9.25 feet (18.52m) was good for third place in the event and No. 3 all-time at Duke. Schreck took fourth on a throw of 56-4.50 feet (17.18m), which ranks fifth in Duke lore.
• On the women's side, Jordyn Shubrick and Zoe Waddell carved out their spots on the all-time Duke list.
• Shubrick came through clutch on her final attempt, tossing her weight 60-3.25 feet (18.37m) to finish as runner-up and move into No. 4 on the Duke charts.
• Waddell registered the fifth-farthest indoor weight throw in school lore, after recording a throw of 56-3.25 feet (17.15m) to place fourth.
• Max Forte got his sophomore campaign off to a hot start via a personal-best performance. Forte jumped 23-9.00 feet (7.24m) to place fourth overall, slotting himself into the No. 5 spot on the Duke long jump charts.
• Freshman Gianna Locci shined in her Duke debut, grabbing her first collegiate win, while setting the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off meet record in the process. Locci's third and fourth jumps were her best attempts as she flew out to 19-8.00 feet (5.99m) to take first overall.
• The women's pole vault unit of Brynn King, Allison Nieders, Charlotte Read and Paige Sommers turned in a solid performance as a group, with the quartet garnering the top-four spots in the standings.
• King garnered first place with a height of 13-5.25 feet (4.10m), clearing all three heights on her first attempt.
• Sommers (second) and Nieders (third) also registered heights of 13-5.25 feet (4.10m). Both individuals cleared their final heights on the third attempt - Sommers received the slight edge over Nieders, who needed two attempts to clear the second height.
• Read placed fourth on a clearance of 11-11.75 feet (3.65m).
• On the men's side, the Duke duo of Tyler Hrbek and Jonathan Horn staked claim to the top two-spots.
• Hrbeck tallied the win via a height of 16-0.75 feet (4.90m), with Horn posting a clearance of 14-5.25 feet (4.40m) to finish runner-up.
• Duke's other wins came via the women's high jump, women's 60m hurdles, women's 4x400m relay and women's weight throw.
• Chinenye Agina took first in the high jump with a height of 5-8.50 feet (1.74m), while Moorea Mitchell notched 61.0-25 feet (18.60m) on her first attempt to win the weight throw.
• On the track, freshman Falon Spearman clocked 8.65 seconds in the 60m hurdles and the 4x400m relay of Kiara Ekeigwe, Maddy Dietz, Johrdyn Tarpeh and Amarachi Onuoha finished in 3:56.01 to win their respective events.
• The full Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off meet results can be found here.

 
 
QUOTES
"I couldn't be happier with how our teams performed today. We had fun, we competed hard and we learned a lot about ourselves at the end of our preparation phase of the season. We will now turn our attention towards finals and the winter break but also continue to prepare for the meat of the indoor season, which ramps up in January" – Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Shawn Wilbourn
 
 
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