By Cole Skuse and Haley Williams
Men’s Track and Field
The Carnegie Mellon men’s track and field team traveled to Muskie Meet #3 in New Concord, Ohio this past Saturday, Jan. 27 at Muskingum University.
In the 3,000-meter run, first-year Christian Brower placed first with a time of 8:46.55 while junior Seth Williams and first-year Nathan Massie tied for third with a time of 8:52.21. In the mile run, first-year Matthew Short took second with a time of 4:16.84; juniors Colin McLaughlin and Eamon Brady took third and fifth with times of 4:20.77 and 4:23.17, respectively. In the 1,000-meter run, first-year Markos Koukoularis finished fifth with a time of 2:38.99. First-year Matthew Yu finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.93.
Meanwhile in the 800-meter run, the Tartans claimed the podium. Senior Andrew McGovern took the top spot with a time of 1:55.18 and classmate Leland Davies finished behind him in second with a time of 1:58.02. Junior Sean Dutton took third with a time of 1:58.93 and sophomore Saaketh Nandakumar crossed the line fourth with a time of 2:01.69.
The 4×400-meter relay of sophomore Jeremy Ocloo, Dutton, Davies, and McGovern rounded out the track events for the Tartans and took first place with a time of 3:27.93.
On the field, the Tartans had an equally strong showing. In the high jump, junior Sebastian Sanso took third after clearing 1.92 meters. In the pole vault, first-year Ryan Handron placed second after clearing 4.51 meters while first-year Soloman Glavach took fourth after clearing 4.36 meters. In the triple jump, junior Luke Blackwell took third with a mark of 13.32 meters. Senior Bailey O’Malley took second place in the shot put with a mark of 15.09 meters while junior Cody Breidenback took third in the weight throw with a distance of 15.48 meters.
The combined effort of the men’s track and field team earned them first with a total score of 153.5 points. For their next team event, the Tartans will be traveling to Case Western Reserve University for the Battle for the Obelisk on Saturday, Feb. 3.
On Friday, Jan. 26, senior Thomas Rich traveled to the Bucknell Open and Multi to compete in the heptathlon. Rich took first in the shot put, high jump, and 60-meter hurdles; second in the long jump; and third in the 60-meter dash, pole vault, and 1,000-meter run. Out of 12 competitors, Rich finished in first with a total of 4,991 points, beating second place by almost 400 points. This set a Carnegie Mellon school record and beat his previous school record of 4,359 from 2022 by more than 600 points.
Women’s Track and Field
On Saturday, Jan. 27, the Carnegie Mellon women’s track and field team headed to Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio for Muskie Meet #3.
In the 3,000-meter race, first-year Ananya Devpura finished first with a time of 11:00.34 while classmate Alaina Patel took fourth with a time of 11:15.78. In the mile run, sophomore Orit Shiang took first with a time of 5:08.70, sophomore Margaret Ann Healt finished second with a time of 5:11.96, and sophomore Jacqueline Liu took fifth with a time of 5:20.75.
In the 800-meter run, senior Isabella Rhee crossed the finish line first with a time of 2:21.36, and senior Emily Lannen crossed third with a time of 2:23.77. The 4×400-meter relay team consisting of junior Sunny Tang, Lannen, junior Rhythm Satav, and Rhee took second with a time of 4:12.50.
On the field, senior JoJo Huczko took fourth in the pole vault after clearing 3.26 meters. Sophomore Zoe King took fourth in the long jump with a mark of 5.04 meters. In the triple jump, junior Jocelyn Kiefel took first with a mark of 10.86 meters while sophomore Iniyaa Mohanraj took fifth with a mark of 10.10 meters.
The overall effort of the women’s track and field team helped the Tartans to earn second place overall with a score of 115 points. The team will next be competing in the Battle for the Obelisk on Saturday, Feb. 3 at Case Western Reserve University.
On Friday, Jan. 26, graduate student Liz Barre traveled to Bucknell University to compete in the Bucknell Open and Multi. There, the 2023 NCAA Heptathlon Champion competed in the pentathlon and won with a score of 3,628 points. Barre took first in the 60-meter hurdles, high jump, and long jump; second in the shot put; and third in the 800-meter run. Barre currently holds the Carnegie Mellon pentathlon record with a score of 3,837 points, which she set last season.
Men’s Basketball
On Saturday, Jan. 26, the Carnegie Mellon men’s basketball team traveled to St. Louis to take on the 22nd-ranked Washington University in St. Louis Bears for an in-conference game.
WashU started strong and pulled ahead of the Tartans 10-4 just four minutes into the first quarter, but the Tartans pulled ahead after scoring nine straight, and took a 13-10 lead over the Bears. However, WashU managed to score eight points to the Tartans’ two over the next few minutes, taking back the lead 20-18. The teams would continue to battle it out throughout the rest of the half, with WashU eventually maintaining the lead. At the end of the first half, the Tartans were behind 42-47.
WashU had a strong start going into the second half as well, scoring nine points early and making it 56-45. The Tartans wouldn’t let the Bears off so easily, and put 11 points on the board in a row right before 10 minutes left in the second half. Both teams continued to fight, and the Tartans pulled back ahead to an 81-80 lead with 3:42 left in the contest. The Bears, however, outscored the Tartans in the rest of the game, and the Tartans fell 87-95.
This loss moved the Tartans to 11-6 overall this season and 3-3 in conference play. They played University of Chicago on Sunday, Jan. 28, and that game will be covered in the next issue of The Tartan. The Tartans will be looking for revenge in their next game, when they host WashU in Wiegand gym at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2.
Women’s Basketball
On Saturday, Jan. 26, the Carnegie Mellon women’s basketball team traveled to St. Louis to take on Washington University in St. Louis Bears for an in-conference game.
WashU came out strong in the first five minutes of the game, but the Tartans were hot on their heels, scoring 10 points to the Bears’ 12. Over the next three minutes, the Tartans would tie, then fall behind, then tie, then fall behind, then tie once more before WashU finally gained a more meaningful lead, ending the quarter at 16-22, Bears.
In the second quarter, the Tartans scored five unanswered points in the first three minutes, narrowing WashU’s lead to just one point. The Bears were not having this, and put nine more points on the board in the next three minutes. By the end of the quarter, the Tartans had scored 11 more points to the Bears’ five, but it wasn’t quite enough; the Tartans still trailed 32-36 at the end of the first half.
The third quarter was more of the same, with the Tartans keeping the game close but never managing to regain the lead; after five minutes, their deficit had widened to nine points. Despite putting another 12 points on the board in the second half of the period, WashU once again outshot the Tartans, finishing the period with a ten point lead, 65-55.
In the final ten minutes of the game, the Tartans continued to fight, but the Bears never let their lead drop below seven points. Despite managing to keep it close for most of the game, the Tartans ultimately fell to the Bears, 81-90.
This loss moved the Tartans to 10-7 overall this season and 2-4 in conference play. They played University of Chicago on Sunday, Jan. 28, and that game will be covered in the next issue of The Tartan. The Tartans will be looking for revenge in their next game, when they host WashU in Wiegand gym at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2.
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