DURHAM, N.C.—Junior middle distance runner Dan Watcke (Hinsdale, Ill.) passed five runners in the final 200 meters and recorded an outdoor personal best of 1:46.40 in the 800 meters at the Duke Twilight on Sunday evening. He posted a top 25 national time this season in a strong race to prepare himself for upcoming postseason competition. Watcke was one of four Wildcats who were in action at Morris Williams Stadium on Sunday night. The evening was highlighted by his finish in the 800 meters and by a season best time in the 1500 meters from graduate student Devon Comber (Ambler, Pa.).
 
Watcke was in vintage form in the fast heat of the 800 meters and began to make his kick with 250 meters to go. He had started out near the back of the pack but moved to the outside going into the turn off the back straightaway and steadily picked up ground from there. He slid into a tight spot back towards the rail going into the final turn but then powered down the last straightaway in lane two and picked off the last of the five runners he passed right at the finish line, holding off that athlete from Michigan by a mere four thousandths of a second.
 
The mark of 1:46.40 is the second-fastest that Watcke has recorded in a collegiate race and is a new outdoor personal best. He moved into 11^th place in the East region and 23^rd nationally as well as rising to second on this year's BIG EAST performance list. The conference championships take place in two weeks, with competition at the NCAA East Preliminary slated for later in the month.
 
Comber led a trio of Villanova runners in the 1500 meters with a season best time of 3:43.34. It is the fastest that Comber has run since last April when he recorded his lifetime PR of 3:39.70 at a race in Virginia. Sophomore Ben Thomas (Sydney, Australia) and graduate student Sean Donoghue (Dublin, Ireland) posted times of 3:44.74 and 3:48.53, respectively, on Sunday night.