Dave Baxter ran his way to fifth on the Dukes\' all-time 1,000 chart.
HARRISONBURG, Va. (1/31/05) – Sophomore Dave Baxter (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) placed fifth among a field of 30 in the 1,000-meter race and was one of three James Madison team members to qualify for the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships this past weekend in the Penn State National Open.Baxter was clocked in two minutes and 25.93 seconds and emerged fifth on the Dukes' all-time chart. He squeezed in between for Dukes Russ Coleman (2:25.55 in 1998) and Ben Cooke (2:26.33 in 2001). The record was set Feb. 4, 1995 when Matt Holthaus turned in a time of 2:20.83 at the George Mason University Patriot Games. The IC4A qualifying time is 2:29.86.
The other Dukes who earned a ticket to the IC4A championships were sophomores C.W. Moran (Potomac Falls, Va./Potomac Falls) and Brian Buckland (Centreville, Va./Westfield), both in the 5,000-meter run. Moran placed ninth among 34 entries with a time of 14:41.15. Buckland was close behind in 14:42.36, good for 10th place.
Additionally, juniors Allen Carr (Yorktown, Va./York) and Nick Noe (Charlottesville, Va./Albemarle) each registered career-best performances in their respective events. Carr placed 16th in the 3,000 with a time of 8:30.53 that is less than two seconds from the IC4A qualifying mark of 8:28.80. Noe finished 24th in the 5,000 in 15:09.02. His previous best of 15:17.57 came nearly two months ago.
The Dukes were tentatively scheduled to compete in this coming weekend's U.S. Armory Invitational, but will not be making the trip to New York. JMU will next compete on Feb. 19 in the George Mason Invitational in Fairfax. The IC4A Championships are slated for March 4-6 in Boston.