Tartan track teams compete at UAAs

Last weekend, the Carnegie Mellon track and field teams traveled to Brandeis University to compete in the long-anticipated University Athletic Association (UAA) indoor championships. The men’s team placed third with 88 points, behind Washington University and Emory University.

The women’s team finished sixth out of seven teams, with 22 points, improving on their last-place finish last year.

On the men’s side, senior Nicholas Bannister set another school record, winning the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.72. Junior Kiley Williams followed to finish in third place with a time of 8.05. Senior sprinter Russel Verbofsky finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.18.

In the distance events, sophomore Brian Harvey (4:13.36) led the team with a second-place finish in the one-mile run. Behind Harvey, senior Geoff Misek (4:24.73) and junior Drew Miller (4:26.78) placed eighth and 13th, respectively. In the 800-meter run, senior Davey Quinn finished third with a time of 1:55.31.

“Although I am frustrated that I was unable to pull off the win in the mile, it will provide extra motivation at nationals next weekend in Indiana,” Harvey said.

Sophomore Breck Fresen came in 10th in the 3000-meter run with a time of 9:04.90 and 12th in the 5000-meter run with a time of 15:35.00. First-year Dario Donatelli finished behind Fresen in the 5000-meter run in 14th place with a time of 15:39.31.

In the field events, senior Eric Tang won the triple jump (13.45 meters) and came in second in the long jump (6.67 meters). Sophomore Joel Palko (13.19 meters) and junior Eric Couphos (12.49 meters) finished third and 10th in the triple jump, respectively. Palko also came in seventh place in the long jump (6.09 meters). In the high jump, sophomore Colin Marks grabbed ninth place with a jump of 1.70 meters.

“Most of us who competed performed very well,” Tang said. “A lot of school records were broken during the meet; however, some of our top athletes were injured and couldn’t come to the meet, and I think that’s one thing that hurt us a lot as a team.”

First-year James Hulley won the shot put with a throw of 14.12 meters. Junior Michael Reggie (13.99 meters) and senior Rory Kaclik (11.89 meters) finished fourth and 12th, respectively. Reggie also came in third in the weight throw (14.94 meters), followed by Kaclik (12.93 meters) who finished in 10th place.

The men’s distance medley ‘A’ team finished second with a time of 10:15.23 while the men’s 4x400-meter relay ‘A’ team placed fourth with a time of 3:27.80.

For the women’s team, sophomore Jessica Meng broke the school record in high jump with a jump of 1.66 meters. Meng also came in fourth in the triple jump (10.42 meters) and 12th in the long jump (4.71 meters).

In the pole vault, senior Heidi Grothaus took seventh place with a vault of 2.71 meters, while first-year Anna Lenhart finished eighth with a vault of 2.56 meters.

Senior Becky Metler led the team in the throwing events, coming in fourth in the shot put (13.15 meters) and ninth in the weight throw (11.09 meters). Behind Metler, junior Adriane Soehner came in sixth in the weight throw (12.81 meters) and 11th in the shot put (10.71 meters). Senior Lizza McGregor finished ninth in the weight throw (12.42 meters).

In the distance events, sophomore Carolyn Clayton came in 13th in the one-mile run with a time of 5:34.08. Senior Jerri Castillo followed to finish in 14th place with a time of 5:37.91.
Sophomore Emily Giacomarra finished 10th in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 9.7. The women’s 4x400-meter relay ‘A’ team finished third with a time of 4:08.79 while the distance medley relay ‘A’ team came in sixth place with a time of 13:06.54.

Some of the Tartans will travel to Indiana on Friday to compete at the NCAA championships.