Blue Devils Register Seven Top Five Program Marks to Open 2025

Friday, January 17

Chapel Hill, N.C.

Duke University

UNC Dick Taylor Challenge

TJ Clayton competes in the 60m dash at the UNC Carolina Challenge

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Register Seven Top Five Program Marks to Open 2025

1/19/2025 12:35:00 AM | Track & Field

VT Invite Final Results (PDF)UNC Carolina Challenge Final Results (PDF)

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Duke track and field put on a stellar showing in its first meet of the New Year, headlined by the Blue Devils setting seven top-five program marks combined, including two school records, at the Virginia Tech Invitational and UNC Dick Taylor Carolina Challenge, respectively. Overall, the Blue Devils turned in eight event wins, 20 podium finishes and 36 top-five placements.

VIRGINIA TECH INVITE:

Duke put on a strong showcase in Blacksburg with four event wins and 14 finishes in the top five of their respective events.
Duke's tandem of junior Lauren Tolbert and freshman Braelyn Baker put on a stellar display of running in the women's 300m en route to revising the Duke record books.
The pair claimed the top-two spots among the field behind personal best performances, with Tolbert clocking 37.67 seconds to launch herself atop the program charts while Baker dashed 37.80 seconds to slot herself No. 2 all-time at Duke.
Over in the men's race, graduate student Anish Rajamanickam and freshman Joseph Taylor ran their way into the program lore via strong races of their own.
Taylor took over the No. 3 spot on the program charts courtesy of a personal best 34.13 seconds and Rajamanickam moved into No. 5 all-time following a collegiate best 34.49 seconds.
Baker tallied her second dub of the weekend – this one in the women's 200m – behind a dash of 24.04 seconds, while the women's 400m saw graduate student Kyla Krawczyk turn in a season best of 55.42 seconds en route to victory.
Rookie Aden Bandukwala ran his 800m in 1:51.22 to tally the final Blue Devil victory of the weekend.
To see the full meet results, click HERE.

UNC CAROLINA CHALLENGE:

The Duke throws unit spearheaded the efforts in Chapel Hill, picking up a pair of top-five program marks in the men's weight throw and shot put to headline a phenomenal weekend that featured a quartet of first-place finishes and 22 top-five placements.
Graduate student Christian Johnson picked up where he left off before the holiday break, opening up the New Year with another standout performance.
Stepping into the cage for his sixth attempt, Johnson flung the weight 27.57m (74-0.75 feet) to lock down the win, smashing his own school record in the process. Johnson's PR was nearly 13 feet further than the event runner-up, and currently checks in at No. 9 in the NCAA and No. 2 in the ACC.
Not to be outdone, TJ Clayton did some record breaking of his own with the graduate student moving into a tie with former Blue Devil Donovan Spearman for the top spot on the Duke charts behind a spectacular showing in the men's 60m.
After matching his previous best in the prelims to advance to the next round, Clayton turned it up a notch in the final, dashing 6.69 seconds en route to securing the first place finish
Classmate Eric Bottern parlayed the best throw of his career into a third-place finish in the men's shot put. Bottern delivered his best throw on the final attempt of the competition, posting a mark of 17.93m (58-10 feet) to seat himself No. 3 all-time in program lore.
The Blue Devils rounded out the meet with victories in the men's long jump and women's pole vault behind the efforts of senior Max Forte and sophomore Gemma Tutton.
Forte's second attempt was his best of the competition, flying out to 7.33m (24-0.75 feet). Tutton cleared each height on her initial attempt before bowing out with a final clearance of 4.11m (13-5.75 feet).
Full results from the meet are available HERE.

UP NEXT:
Duke returns to Blacksburg for the Virginia Tech Hokie Challenge Jan. 24-25.

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