By: Ben Prantl
CHARLOTTE – Duquesne University's men's and women's track and field teams began their outdoor campaign this weekend at the 49er Classic in Charlotte. Senior David Williams and sophomore Mia Pierce each claimed the top spot in their respective events, with Williams winning the 400-meter race and Pierce taking first in the discus throw. Freshman Nadia Constantakis set a school record in the pole vault.
RESULTS
Williams, a Mechanicsburg, Pa., native, clocked 47.88 seconds, just 0.27 seconds shy of his personal best, which ranks third in Duquesne history. Pierce, from Uniontown, Pa., notched a mark of 45.56 meters (149-6), just 0.27 meters short of her fifth-place distance in program history.
TOP-FIVE FINISHES
Williams and Pierce headlined a total of 16 top-five finishes for the Dukes. Freshmen Nadia Constantakis and Rose Kuchera built on their indoor season success, with Constantakis taking down the program's pole vault record and finishing second in the meet, and Kuchera placing second in the long jump and third in the triple jump.
Constantakis made her outdoor debut and cleared a school-record 3.71 meters (12-2) in the pole vault, good for second place at the meet. This winter, she set the Duquesne indoor pole vault record twice.
Kuchera recorded a long jump distance of 5.83 meters (19-1.5), the fifth-best mark in Duquesne history and the second-best by a freshman since Tacquaya Tobias set the program record in 2017. Kuchera also placed third in the triple jump with a mark of 11.75 meters (38-6.75), finishing as the highest-ranked freshman in the event.
Senior Ian Baughman made an immediate impact in his first meet with Duquesne. The Washington & Jefferson transfer recorded a 52.93-second time in the 400-meter hurdles, the second-fastest in program history, finishing second in the event.
Freshman Louie Liberatore placed fourth in the javelin in his collegiate debut. The Canonsburg, Pa., native threw 56.44 meters (185-2), the second-best mark in Duquesne history. Fellow freshman Greg Tindle recorded a distance of 51.37 meters (168-6), tying for fifth in program history with teammate Roman Lisicky, and was eighth at the meet.
Sophomore Vincent Rupp cleared 1.96 meters (6-5) in the high jump, placing fourth overall. He finished just 0.05 meters behind his personal best, which ranks second in school history.
Senior Mara Whalen took second in the 1,500 meters with a personal-best time of 4:30.53, the third-best in program history. Whalen continues her strong senior season after closing indoor with a fifth-place run in the 800 meters at the ECAC Indoor Championships.
Sophomore Anna Rorrer placed third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.49 seconds. The Woodridge, Ohio, native also finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:03.80.
Senior Amy Allen, who was named to the Atlantic 10 Indoor All-Academic Team this season, took third in the 400 meters with a time of 56.28 seconds.
Junior Eva Leatherman recorded a personal-best 1:03.46 in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing fifth.
Megan Penrod placed fifth in the javelin with a throw of 38.48 meters (126-3). She holds the second-best mark in Duquesne history. Pierce joined her in the event, finishing seventh with a mark of 36.62 meters (120-2).
Junior Madelyn Moretti, the 2024 A-10 Outdoor Championships Co-Most Outstanding Field Performer and Duquesne shot put record holder, placed fourth in the shot put with a mark of 14.39 meters (47-2.5).
Duquesne's women's 4x800-meter relay team (Delaney Line, Reagan Ryen, Cydney Blahovec, Mara Whalen) placed second with a time of 9:29.40, while the men's 4x800 team (Ben Colli, Gio Mastromonaco, Sam Freedman, Belal Abdelrahman) finished third in 7:54.63.
NOTABLES
- Men's Team
- Dion Burroughs placed seventh in Group B of the high jump (1.81m / 5-11.25).
- First year Jacob Bonnar took seventh in the 3000m with a 9:06.50.
- Sophomore Spencer Edey was seventh in the triple jump with a career-best 14.52m (47-7.75).
- Christian Cupp recorded a personal best in the 400m (50.71).
- Nick Payne achieved a hammer throw mark of 42.02m (137-10).
- 14 Dukes made their outdoor debuts with the team; Cody Mankowski, Landon Lacey, Mikey Bill, Sam Freedman, Belal Abdelrahman, Gio Mastromonaco, Josh Wagner, Colm Matheney, Colm McGroarty, Conor Richardson, Liberatore, Tindle, Baughman and Bonnar.
- Women's Team
UP NEXT
Duquesne will compete at the Carnegie Mellon University Invitational on Saturday, March 29 in Pittsburgh.
FOLLOW THE DUKES
Follow Duquesne Track and Field all season online at GoDuquesne.com, as well as on X, Instagram, and Facebook (@DuqXCTF).
