Blue Devils Register Five School Records During Split Weekend

Friday, February 14

Clemson, S.C.

Duke University

Clemson Tiger Paw

Christian Johnson competes in weight throw

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Register Five School Records During Split Weekend

2/16/2025 12:12:00 AM | Track & Field

Clemson Tiger Paw (PDF)Darius Dixon Invite (PDF)BU Valentine Invite (PDF)

CLEMSON, S.C. – Duke track and field kept its strong indoor season going during a split weekend for the team as the Blue Devils knocked off five more school records, posted 11 top-five program marks and 18 podium finishes.

The Blue Devils, who competed at the BU Valentine Invitational (Boston, Massachusetts), Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational (Clemson, S.C.) and Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational (Lynchburg, Virginia) this weekend, produced school records in the men's and women's 4x400m, women's 800m, men's pole vault and men's weight throw.

CLEMSON TIGER PAW INVITATIONAL:

The Blue Devils delivered their stoutest performance of the weekend at the Tiger Paw Invite, setting four program records courtesy of standout showings by graduate student Christian Johnson, junior Lauren Tolbert and the men's and women's 4x400m relays.
Johnson opened the weekend in the men's weight throw invite on Friday and set the tone for the weekend with a runner-up finish. The graduate student came through with his furthest throw on the second attempt, launching the weight 22.80m (74-8.75 feet) for the second-place finish while improving his own Duke record in the process.
Competing in the women's 800m, Tolbert turned in another phenomenal race en route to claiming her fourth school record of the indoor season. The junior shaved nearly two seconds off her previous time and clocked a personal best of 2:02.75, jumping two spots up the leaderboard to unseat the previous mark set by Amina Banks (2:03.41) in 2016.
Duke's women's quartet of Braelyn Baker, Aliya Garozzo, Tolbert and Megan McGinnis parlayed their fastest time of the season into the top spot on the Duke charts, clocking 3:32.02 to shatter previous best set in 2015.
In the men's race, the contingent of Joseph Taylor, Andres Langston, Guinness Brown and Michael Bennett slotted themselves into the No. 1 spot in program lore and unseated the previous four-year-old mark courtesy of a season-best time of 3:10.28.
The Blue Devils capped the two-day meet at Clemson with top-five program marks in the men's 60m hurdles and the women's 200m and 400m.
Baker continued her breakout freshman campaign as the rookie kept the party going with two more revisions to the program record books via personal best performances. She finished runner-up in the women's 200m (purple) behind a dash of 23.38 seconds – No. 2 all-time at Duke – while the 400m race saw Baker move to No. 4 all-time after sprinting 52.94 seconds.
Bennett also took part in the 60m hurdles, matching his personal best and own No. 4 program mark with a time of 8.11 seconds.
To view the full results, click HERE.

DARIUS DIXON MEMORIAL INVITATIONAL:

One week after setting the school record in his first meet of the season, graduate student Simen Guttormsen one-upped that performance at the Darius Dixon Invite with another sensational showing in the men's indoor pole vault.
After passing on the first four heights, Guttormsen took on the bar at 5.32 meters, clearing it on his second attempt. The veteran passed on the ensuing height, then cleared the next two on the initial jump. Guttormsen finished with a final clearance of 5.62m (18-5.25 feet) to lock down the first of four event wins for Duke while improving his own school record in the process.
The Blue Devils also posted first-place finishes in the women's 60m hurdles, 200m and 4x400m.
Graduate student Birgen Nelson competed in the hurdles and sprinted her way to victory via a time of 8.26 seconds – just .03 off tying her personal best. Freshman Emily Royce also put on a stellar display of running in the women's 200m open with the rookie picking up the second win of her career after crossing the finish line in 24.62 seconds.
Duke commanded the women's 4x400m relay from the jump and turned a strong performance into the No. 1 spot atop the 32-team field. The Blue Devil foursome of Kyla Krawczyk, Royce, Amber Wimbish and Meredith Sims clocked 3:44.17 – two seconds faster than the runner-up.
Graduate student Liam O'Hara and sophomore Michael Scherk also notched top-five program marks, rounding out the group of top performers in Lynchburg.
Scherk represented the Blue Devils in the men's 60m hurdles and parlayed a personal best of 7.97 seconds into a spot in the semifinal round, improving his No. 2 all-time program mark in the process. The sophomore went on to finish runner-up in the event behind a time of 8.01 seconds in the final.
O'Hara inserted himself into No. 5 all-time at Duke after dashing 21.66 seconds in the men's 200m open – good for third among the competition field.
Complete results from the meet are available HERE.

BU VALENTINE INVITATIONAL:

Iris Downes headlined the group of athletes competing in Boston as the sophomore turned in a fourth-place finish while improving her position on the Duke 1,000m charts. Downes ran a collegiate best 2:45.39, trimming almost a second off her previous best while jumping two spots up to No. 2 all-time.
Full results from the BU Valentine Invitational can be viewed HERE.

UP NEXT:
Duke features a split squad to close out the indoor regular season. The Blue Devils are set to compete next weekend at the BU Terrier DMR Challenge (Feb. 21) and the Virginia Tech Challenge (Feb. 21-22).

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