Duke Track and Field 2025 ACC Champs!

Good to see Duke Track & Field showing some life.

The current performers are challenging and beating school records that go back to the 1970's.
 
This was the Mt. San Antonio College relays in Torrance CA. The only Duke winner was in women's javelin. Lots of teams in the competition.

Penn Relays are next.
 
Mt. SAC is a pretty big deal, and there was also a HUGE win for Lauren Tolbert in the women's 400m. Time was 51.72, which ranks 17th in the country this year. She's also currently 13th in the 800.

Then there's the big one to watch -- Maxwell Forte, who has posted the second-best decathlon score in Duke history. The first is Curtis Beach, so that's saying something. He's also No. 2 nationally after Mt. SAC and he's 14th in the long jump. Another decathlete, Michael Bennett, is 13th nationally. Forte was 4th at Mt. SAC but posted the top college score -- they include some non-collegians in the meet as well.

The school record-setters above:
6th, men's 4x400: Joseph Taylor, TJ Clayton, Andres Langston, Liam O'Hara (see above; 3:04.73, 25th nationally)
8th, men's 110h: Michael Scherk (13.69, 35th nationally)
9th: men's 4x100m: Liam O'Hara, Callum Robinson, Jeremiah Lauzon, TJ Clayton (39.98, 88th nationally)

Another school record from earlier in the meet:
2nd, women's 4x100: Mia Edim, Abby Geiser, Meredith Sims, Braelyn Baker (43.42, 11th nationally)

Here's how you can get all Duke results from Mt. SAC:
https://tf.tfrrs.org/results/89926/f/65th_Annual_Mt_SAC_Relays?team_hnd=1217
(that's women -- it's easy to switch to men)

Other top-fives at Mt. SAC:
2nd, women's 4x400: Aliya Garozzo, Lauren Tolbert, Braelyn Baker, Megan McGinnis (3:30.46, 18th nationally but see below)
3rd, women's 200, Abby Geiser (23.62)
4th, women's 200, Megan McGinnis (23.70)
5th, women's javelin: Julia Magliaro (53.51m, 15th nationally)
1st in non-invitational section, men's 400: Joseph Taylor (46.11, 42nd nationally -- only a freshman)

And here's how other Duke athletes rank in the top 20 right now from previous meets:
https://tf.tfrrs.org/lists/5018/2025_NCAA_Division_I_Outdoor_Qualifying_List?gender=f

6th, women's 400h: Aliya Garozzo (55.77, Duke Invitational)
8th, women's 4x400: swap Jackson for Garozzo (3:28.82, Jim Click Shootout - what a name!)
9th, men's hammer: Christian Toro (70.13m, Duke Invitational - also finished 8th at Mt. SAC at 67.05m)
11th, pole vault: Gemma Tutton (4.42, Duke Invitational)

In last year's NCAA championship, Duke scored 1 point in women's competition (Tolbert, 8th, women's 800) and 5.5 in men's (senior pole vaulter Simen Guttormsen, tied for third). Tolbert was the only non-senior who made it to nationals. (She's now a junior.)

This year, Forte should almost certainly score. Garozzo and both women's relays have a good shot, as does Toro.

So there's a chance the men and women could each end up in the top 25. Last year, 11 points was good enough for 25th in the women's meet; 12.5 was needed in men's. Duke's women tied for 21st with 12 points in the 2022 championships, and if I'm reading this correctly, that was their third-best performance ever: https://www.ustfccca.org/team-ranki...-and-rankings-week-by-week?tm=439&pritype=469

The women are ranked 13th nationally! https://www.ustfccca.org/team-rankings-polls-central/polls-rankings-hub?coll=16103

Closer to home (but including a couple of California schools, which will make the competition tougher), Duke has 30 athletes and 4 relay teams in the top eight of their respective events in the ACC. The women are ranked 2nd behind Clemson. The men are ranked 6th in the ACC behind FSU, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Cal and Louisville: https://www.ustfccca.org/team-rankings-polls-central/polls-rankings-hub?coll=16097

Finally, the women are ranked first as a squad in the women's 400 and 400 hurdles: https://www.ustfccca.org/team-ranki...ing_wp_cron=1745158359.2852079868316650390625

Wow, it's easy to get stuck in a rabbit hole with track and field stats!
 
Big win for the Duke Women, victorious in 4x400 Penn Relays "Championship of America"

The Penn Relays - April 24-26, 2025

pennrelaysonline.com pennrelaysonline.com

Coming off the break pole, Texas A&M was the early leader, steps ahead of Duke and TCU. The group remained close going into the second exchange. Texas A&M did not have a smooth handoff, the delay of which allowed Duke and TCU to move to the front. At the bell, Duke was a step ahead of TCU, while Texas A&M managed to regain some ground. Duke began the kick on the final curve, during which time TCU dropped their baton and not finish the race. Duke powered to the win (their second ever win in the event) while Texas A&M rebounded to finish as the runner-up.

1451.png

Duke
*Aliya Garozzo, Julia Jackson, Megan McGinnis, Lauren Tolbert
3:27.77
1:45.12
-
Pl: 2
2:37.21
52.09
Pl: 1 1
3:27.77
50.57
Pl: 1​

 
roywhite said:
Big win for the Duke Women, victorious in 4x400 Penn Relays "Championship of America"

The Penn Relays - April 24-26, 2025

pennrelaysonline.com pennrelaysonline.com

Coming off the break pole, Texas A&M was the early leader, steps ahead of Duke and TCU. The group remained close going into the second exchange. Texas A&M did not have a smooth handoff, the delay of which allowed Duke and TCU to move to the front. At the bell, Duke was a step ahead of TCU, while Texas A&M managed to regain some ground. Duke began the kick on the final curve, during which time TCU dropped their baton and not finish the race. Duke powered to the win (their second ever win in the event) while Texas A&M rebounded to finish as the runner-up.

1451.png

Duke​

*Aliya Garozzo, Julia Jackson, Megan McGinnis, Lauren Tolbert​

3:27.77​

1:45.12​

-​

Pl: 2​

2:37.21​

52.09​

Pl: 1 1​

3:27.77​

50.57​

Pl: 1​

Click to expand...
My son ran in the high school 4x400 heats at Penn Relays on Thursday. They won their heat as the anchor ran down two teams in the last 50 meters, but were not a serious contender for the Championships.

Great job by the women and my son would love to run for Duke if he can improve his time a bit!
 
roywhite said:
Big win for the Duke Women, victorious in 4x400 Penn Relays "Championship of America"

The Penn Relays - April 24-26, 2025

pennrelaysonline.com pennrelaysonline.com

Coming off the break pole, Texas A&M was the early leader, steps ahead of Duke and TCU. The group remained close going into the second exchange. Texas A&M did not have a smooth handoff, the delay of which allowed Duke and TCU to move to the front. At the bell, Duke was a step ahead of TCU, while Texas A&M managed to regain some ground. Duke began the kick on the final curve, during which time TCU dropped their baton and not finish the race. Duke powered to the win (their second ever win in the event) while Texas A&M rebounded to finish as the runner-up.

1451.png

Duke​

*Aliya Garozzo, Julia Jackson, Megan McGinnis, Lauren Tolbert​

3:27.77​

1:45.12​

-​

Pl: 2​

2:37.21​

52.09​

Pl: 1 1​

3:27.77​

50.57​

Pl: 1​

Click to expand...

Wow! That's huge.
 
phaedrus said:
The coaches used to be pretty open to walk ons if they were decent athletes and willing to do the work. Not sure how it works now.
Click to expand...
I’d think a large portion of the team was walk-ons. Not a ton of scholarships — at least, not full ones.

Probably a lot of “recruited walk-ons,” though.

But one great thing about track and field is that it’s not particularly subjective. I’m sure a really good scout can identify potential that could be unlocked with proper form and training, but the bottom line is that if you show up and run a 10.3 100, they’ll find room for you. (Though they’ll also wonder why they didn’t already know about you.)
 
King of Defense said:
I’d think a large portion of the team was walk-ons. Not a ton of scholarships — at least, not full ones.

Probably a lot of “recruited walk-ons,” though.

But one great thing about track and field is that it’s not particularly subjective. I’m sure a really good scout can identify potential that could be unlocked with proper form and training, but the bottom line is that if you show up and run a 10.3 100, they’ll find room for you. (Though they’ll also wonder why they didn’t already know about you.)
Click to expand...
Yeah, in the non revenue sports world (at least the part I was in) “walk on” meant not recruited. The majority of the teams are recruited non-scholarship athletes.
 
DoubleBlue said:
Another Duke School Record. To convert, the rule of thumb is to add 17 seconds, so this 3:38 in the 1500m is equivalent to a 3:55 mile.
https://twitter.com/x/status/1919381008710844505
Click to expand...
That previous record was established in 1972 by the late, great Bob Wheeler, who represented the USA in the 1972 Olympic 1500 meters.

Among many other honors, Bob was a member of the Penn Relays Hall of Fame, for wins in both high school and at Duke.
 
I heard a possibly apocryphal story at running camp as a teenager ...

Apparently, there was a runner from Southern Cal with a bit of an attitude, strutting around in his singlet with "USC" on the front. He walked up to a Duke guy and said, "D-U-K-E? What does that spell?" The Duke guy: "It spells Duke, and we beat you guys from the University of South Carolina all the time."

The flustered USC guy lost to the Duke guy.

No idea whether this story holds water.
 
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