Mellinger, Tomkinson Set Duke Invitational Meet Records

DURHAM – Graduate student Ezra Mellinger and senior Charlotte Tomkinson headlined another tremendous day of competition for Duke track and field at the Duke Invitational on Friday as the pair posted victories in the men’s long jump and women’s 1500m, respectively, en route to dismounting the meet records in those events.
 
In addition to Mellinger and Tomkinson’s performances, the Blue Devils also registered four top-five program marks while securing wins in the men’s 800m invite, men’s long jump and women’s high jump.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES

• Mellinger registered the first meet record of the day for Duke en route to tallying one of the Blue Devils’ five event wins.
• Competing in the men’s long jump, Mellinger produced his best leap of the competition on his fifth attempt and flew out to 7.50m (24-7.25 feet) – a distance that matched the graduate student’s own meet record set in 2022.
• Tomkinson helped the Blue Devils close out the nightcap on a high note, notching the fifth event win of the day – this one in the women’s 1500m invite – while besting the previous meet record set by Samantha Tran in 2023 by nearly three seconds.
• Tomkinson parlayed the best performance of her career into the top time in her section and the event overall, cementing herself atop the 35-person field. She clocked a time of 4:15.68, nearly two seconds faster than the event runner-up.
• A quartet of Blue Devils in Austin Gabay, Lauren Tolbert, Ryan Wilson and Beck Wittstadt also had strong outings Friday with each carving out their respective spots in the Duke record books.
• Wittstadt took part in the men’s 800m invite and raced his way to a first-place finish via a personal-best time of 1:47.45 – good for No. 2 all-time in program lore.
• On the women’s side, Tolbert delivered a strong performance matching her personal best and No. 4 all-time Duke mark of 2:03.17.
• Gabay and Wilson inserted themselves into the No. 3 and No. 4 spots on the Duke outdoor 1500m list behind personal and seasonal best performances, respectively. Gabay finished his race in 3:40.73 for fifth place, while Wilson took sixth after turning in a time of 3:41.36.
• Duke’s other two victories came via the women’s high jump and women’s 200m.
• Addie Renner represented the Blue Devils in the high jump and claimed the victory behind a clearance of…