Track wins first in Western Penn. Championships

Carnegie Mellon’s track and field teams kicked off its outdoor season by hosting the Western Pennsylvania Championships. The men’s team dominated most of the events to win first place with 152 points, while the women’s team had a solid showing to finish eighth with 42 points. On the women’s side, Saint Francis University took first with 157 points.

After his National Division III finals appearance, senior Eric Tang returned to the track with a strong performance. He took fourth place in the 100-meter dash with 11.48 and second place in the triple jump with 13.26 meters. First-year Essien Ohues finished third in the triple jump (13.17 meters) and second in the high jump (1.95 meters). In the 200-meter dash, first-year Casey Piper (22.97) and sophomore Stephen Carney (52.64) finished seventh and ninth, respectively. Junior Craig Hahn took seventh in the 110-meter hurdles with 16.32.

Sophomore Chris Bogie finished first in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.15. Hahn and senior Kiley Williams took third and fifth with times of 56.67 and 57.43, respectively.

Junior Brian Harvey led the team in the 800-meter dash by finishing second with a time of 1:59.92. Senior Scott Fortune (1:55.96) and first-year Nate Bussiere (1:58.50) placed third and fifth, respectively.

The men’s team saw several top runners in the long distance events. In the 1500-meter run, senior Drew Miller came in first with a time of 4:04.08. Behind Miller, first-year Erik Kallenbach finished eighth with a time of 4:12.97. Sophomore Dario Donatelli finished first in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 31:41.9. First-year J.P. Allera (32:03.5) and junior Mike Condon (33:42.3) placed second and eighth, respectively. Junior Ryan Anderson finished second in the 3000-meter run with a time of 9:38.51.

“I’m pretty satisfied with my time,” Anderson said. “I’m about 20 seconds ahead of where I’ve started the last two seasons, despite feeling pretty out of shape,” so I expect good things to come.

In the pole vault, sophomore Chris Bridgman (4.42 meters) and first-year Jin Ho Baek (3.81 meters) took first and fifth, respectively. Senior Mike Reggie led the team in the hammer throw with 47.02 meters, while junior Chris Fornataro took seventh in the discus throw with 40.57 meters. In the relays, the men’s team took third in the 4x100-meter and first in the 4x800-meter with times of 43.69 and 8:00.82, respectively.

For the women’s team, first-year Courtney Baker (1:00.69) continued her indoor season success with a third-place finish in the 400-meter dash. Sophomore Crystal Lee Pow took ninth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:11.24.

In the 800-meter run, senior Ashley Bakelmun led the team with a third-place finish at 2:24.44. Sophomore Diane Mattingly (2:27.84) and first-year Laura McKee (2:28.18) came in sixth and seventh, respectively. The always-reliable 4x400-meter relay team (4:11.11) wrapped up a successful meet with a second-place finish.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a good race, so running well in the opening meet will certainly help my confidence going into the season,” Bakelmun said.

Junior Chrissy Krutz finished fourth in the 1000-meter run with a time of 42.49. Fellow junior Sami Simmons jumped for 10.97 meters to take second in the triple jump. “Overall, I think the team had some great performances,” Krutz said. “We hung in with the Division I teams at the meet, and we did very well against the Division III competition.”

Next weekend, the track and field teams will travel to Washington & Jefferson College.