Tag: Duke Track

Former Blue Devil Lauren Hoffman qualifies for the 2024 Olympic Games

Lauren Hoffman, a five-year star on the Duke track team, will run the 400-meter hurdles for the Philippines this summer in Paris.

Former Duke track star Lauren Hoffman can call herself an Olympian.

Hoffman qualifies for the 400-meter hurdles with the Philippines on Wednesday, booking her first ticket to the Olympic Games in her illustrious career.

The five-year Duke track star specialized in 400m events during her years in Durham (2017-22). She earned her first two All-ACC First Team nominations in 2019, first as an individual in the 400m during the outdoor season before being part of a 4x400m relay during the indoor season.

Her 2021 season remains one of the most decorated campaigns in recent Duke track history. She made the USTFCCCA All-American First Team squad in the outdoor 4x400m relay and the USTFCCCA All-American Second Team in the 400m hurdles, and she won the ACC silver medal and made the All-ACC First Team squad in the latter event.

Hoffman also earned two All-ACC Second Team nominations in the indoor distance medley relay in 2019 and 2020.

Duke’s Shawn Wilbourn named ACC Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year

After the Blue Devils won their second consecutive ACC Women’s Outdoor Track and Field title, Shawn Wilbourn took home more hardware.

For the third time in four years, Duke’s Shawn Wilbourn was named the ACC Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year.

Wilbourn, who also won the honor in 2021 and 2023, led the Blue Devils to a second straight conference crown in early May. No ACC women’s outdoor team had won the title in consecutive seasons during the 15-team era.

Lauren Tolbert, one of his track stars, earned First Team All-American honors in the 800-meter race this month as well.

Wilbourn joined the Blue Devils coaching staff back in 2008 but spent more than a decade as the school’s associate head coach. After Norm Ogilvie stepped down as the Director of Track & Field back in the summer of 2020, Wilbourn stepped in as the interim coach before taking the position full-time the following year.

No other Duke track and field coach in school history has earned ACC Coach of the Year honors.

Duke track star Lauren Tolbert named First Team All-American in women’s 800-meter

Lauren Tolbert, who already owns the school record in the women’s 800-meter race, earned First Team All-American honors in that event on Saturday.

Duke track star Lauren Tolbert earned First Team All-American honors in the women’s 800-meter race on Saturday.

Tolbert raced in the 800m final at the NCAA Championships over the weekend, finishing in two minutes and 1.95 seconds to earn the national prestige.

Tolbert already left her mark on the school records over the weekend. During qualifying for the final heat on Thursday, she broke a school record with a 2:01.79 in order to reach the final race.

The school record she broke? Her own from two weeks before when she ran a 2:01.98 to qualify for the national championships.

Tolbert, a sophomore from Belmont, North Carolina, ran for the Highland School of Technology in high school.

Tolbert also helped Duke win gold at the ACC Outdoor Championships in the 4x400m relay and took the individual conference title in the 400m. She actually ran faster on her relay leg (50.89 split) than her winning time in the individual event (52.00).

Tolbert is also third on Duke’s all-time 400m record book.

Duke Blue Devils women’s track and field wins second consecutive ACC Outdoor title

The Blue Devils became the first repeat ACC Outdoor Track and Field champions in the 15-team era with the Saturday night win.

For the first time in the 15-team era, there is a repeat ACC Women’s Track and Field Outdoor champion. The Duke Blue Devils won their second straight conference title on Saturday night thanks to a couple of exceptional performances.

The Duke women won gold in three individual events and two team relays across the week.

Gemma Tutton took the top prize in the women’s pole vault, the fifth Blue Devil to ever win the event, with a 4.37-meter leap on Friday.

Tutton helped Duke pull off a first in school history, too, after Simen Guttormsen won the same event in the men’s competition the day before. The Blue Devils had never won both the men’s and women’s pole vault in the same year before.

In individual competition, Skyla Wilson won the 400-meter hurdles in just 56.05 seconds. Lauren Tolbert took home the gold in the 400-meter race before helping Duke take the title in the 4x400m relay. If you want to be impressed, Tolbert’s relay leg (50.89) was more than a second faster than her winning individual performance (52.00).

The Duke women also won the 4x100m relay. Maddy Doane raced on both winning relays, and Halle Bieber joined that squad and won silver in the 200m race.

The Blue Devils now get nearly two weeks off before regionals in the NCAA postseason.

Duke’s Amina Maatoug wins gold at the ACC Indoor Championships in the women’s mile

Amina Maatoug became the second Blue Devil to win gold at the ACC Indoor Championships after her victorious performance in the women’s mile.

Duke junior Amina Maatoug took home a gold medal on Saturday at the ACC Indoor Championships after her winning performance in the women’s mile.

Maatoug needed just 4 minutes and 38.16 seconds to complete the mile run, winning by more than a full second over Florida State sophomore Suus Altorf and Virginia junior Anna Workman.

The time was the fourth-fastest mile in program history, and the Dutch runner was named First Team All-ACC after her victory.

Maatoug, who also competes for the Blue Devils’ cross-country team, also posted the fastest time in the preliminary qualifying run at 4:39.38.

She becomes the second Blue Devil to win gold at the ACC Indoors after Christian Johnson won the men’s weight throw on Thursday.

Duke’s Brianna Smith takes bronze in women’s pentathlon at ACC Indoor Championships

Duke senior Brianna Smith finished with 4,132 points in the women’s pentathlon and podiumed at the ACC Indoor Championships, earning First Team All-ACC honors.

Duke senior Brianna Smith earned First Team All-ACC honors after she finished third in the women’s pentathlon at the ACC Indoor Championships on Thursday.

The pentathlon is made up of five events: 60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, and an 800m run.

Smith compiled 4,132 points across the five events, her best mark of the season, and finished behind Notre Dame’s Jadin O’Brien and Alaina Brady to claim the bronze medal.

The Blue Devil led the event in the high jump (1.79m), and she finished third in both the hurdles (8.74 seconds) and the shot put (12.35m). Smith finished fifth in the long jump and 10th in the 800m race.

The stellar performance resulted in top all-conference marks, the second Duke athlete to earn the honor after Christian Johnson won gold in the men’s weight throw the same day.

The ACC Indoor Championships continue in Boston through Saturday.

Duke’s Christian Johnson wins gold in men’s weight throw at ACC Indoor Championships

Blue Devils graduate student Christian Johnson beat out Clemson’s Daniel Cope by 0.02 meters for the gold medal at the ACC Indoor Championships.

The Blue Devils’ track and field squad are in Boston this week for the ACC Indoor Championships, and one Duke athlete carved out a name for himself on the opening night.

Graduate student Christian Johnson earned the gold medal in men’s weight throw on Thursday night after a 21.73-meter throw.

He narrowly beat out Daniel Cope of Clemson, who finished at 21.71m. Two other Blue Devils finished inside the top seven in the event, including Aimar Palma Simo (fifth, 21.06m) and freshman Christian Toro (seventh, 20.27m).

Johnson’s winning effort also earned him First Team All-ACC honors, as the school shared on social media.

Palma Simo made the Second Team after his fifth-place finish.

The ACC Indoor Championships continue until Saturday.