Duke returns to defend its championships in the men’s 4x8 and DMR at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational Feb. 4-5, this time led by a woman, the middle-distance runner Kate Van Buskirk, a senior from Canada.
A previously little-known runner, Van Buskirk won the 1,000 meters over the weekend at Virginia Tech in 2:41.00, to break the 22-year-old collegiate record held by Teena Colebrook (Cal Poly/SLO). She also ran a 2:04 split on the Duke 4x8 team that ran 8:42.54, a school record and the fastest in the country so far this season by a collegiate team. Van Buskirk is expected to anchor the Blue Devils’ DMR team on Friday evening Feb. 4, and come back the next afternoon in the women’s Championship mile.
Those marks – women’s 1,000 and 4x8 – are two of 20 nation-leading collegians for the current indoor season who will be attending this year’s edition of the big NB meet, which draws the powerhouse teams from throughout the country. The others include:
MEN 60 – 6.61 Horatio Williams (LSU), 400 – 46.77 Marcus Boyd (Baylor), 800 – 1:49.47 Joey Roberts (Texas A&M), 60H – 7.68 Terence Somerville (Cincinnati), 4x400 – 3:06.16 Texas A&M, pole vault – 18-0 ½ Victor Weirich (BYU), long jump – 26-3 ¾ Zedric Thomas (LSU), triple jump – 54-2 ½ Tarik Batchelor (Arkansas), shot put – 67-11 ½ Mason Finley (Kansas), weight throw – 72-3 ¾ Walter Henning (LSU)
WOMEN 200 – 22.95 Jessica Beard (A&M), 400 – 52.97 Beard, 500 – 1:10.93 Shelise Williams (Arkansas), 800 – 2:06.75 Stephanie Brown (Arkansas), 1,000 – 2:41.00 Van Buskirk, mile -- 4:41.14 Sheila Reid (Villanova), 3,000 – 9:14.61 Jackie Areson (Tennessee), 60H – 8.13 Christina Manning (Ohio State), 4x8 – 8:42.54 Duke, DMR – 11:28.16 Texas Tech
Duke’s men won the 4x8 and DMR in 2010, led by the decathlete Curtis Beach, who will be returning for his sophomore season.
The women’s DMR, always a feature race at the meet, is expected to be another nationwide confrontation at the 2011 meet, featuring teams from Texas Tech, Baylor, Brigham Young, Duke, Arkansas, Georgetown, Villanova, Florida and Tennessee. A year ago, Villanova edged Tennessee by .02, as Sheila Reid battled Tennessee’s Phoebe Wright to the wire. Wright went on to be NCAA 800 champion, while Reid was NCAA cross country champion last fall. It will be the first appearance at the NB meet by the Florida Gators.
Jessica Beard of Texas A&M assumed the national lead over the weekend in two events, the 200 and 400, in leading the Aggies to a hard-fought dual-meet victory over visiting LSU. In the 200 she defeated her teammate, Jeneba Tarmoh, and the LSU newcomer Semoy Hackett by .03 each. Hackett, NCAA Div. II national champion last year, has a 200 best of 22.75. Tarmoh won both NB sprint titles in 2010 and was an NCAA finalist in both the 100 and 200. Beard won the NB 400 a year ago over Francena McCorory of Hampton, then lost to McCorory in the NCAA final. She has run 50.56.