GREENSBORO — Ian Shanklin’s run to an individual championship at the ACC track and field championships in Raleigh not only earned him first-team All-ACC but has him on track for NCAA competition over the next month.
The Greensboro native and Page High School alumnus’ time of 29:11.28 in the 10,000 meters on Thursday night ranks No. 10 in N.C. State history. Shanklin earned All-America honors in the 5,000 meters with an 11th-place finish at the 2019 NCAA championships.
The Florida State men won the ACC meet, with North Carolina finishing fifth, Duke and State tying for eighth and Wake Forest getting 12th place.
Duke’s women’s team, whose roster includes Ragsdale graduate Sara Platek of Jamestown, won the program’s first championship, tying with Florida State. State tied for fifth, Carolina placed ninth and Wake Forest was 13th.
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Duke went into the final event, the 4x400 relay, trailing Florida State by seven points and needed a win and for the Seminoles to finish no better than sixth. Duke’s Iman Sule, Elena Brown-Soler, Jenna Crean and Brittany Aveni set a school record and won, the Seminoles finished sixth, and the two programs shared the top spot for league honors.
State’s Shanklin is qualified to run in the 10,000 and 5,000 meters, though a decision about his events hasn’t been made, during the NCAA East regional May 26-29 in Jacksonville, Fla. Duke’s Platek is qualified in the 10,000 after the ACC run was her first at the distance (33:49.69, 13th place) and followed a conservative approach.
The national championship meet will be June 9-12 at the renovated Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Duke’s women’s team championship, coupled with an ACC title from its softball team on the same day, gives the university ACC supremacy in team championships for 2020-21. Duke has won six, with only baseball remaining to be determined.
Eddie Wooten is sports editor of the Winston-Salem Journal and the News & Record in Greensboro.
Have something to say? Email Eddie at eddie.wooten@greensboro.com or ewooten@wsjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EddieWootenNR.
