The Tartan

By Cole Skuse

Men’s Tennis

On Friday, Feb. 16, the Carnegie Mellon men’s tennis team took on Division II Edinboro University. The Tartans earned their first point from the doubles team of senior Derek Wong and sophomore Akshay Joshi, but the other Tartan doubles fell short, giving the Fighting Scots a 2-1 lead heading into singles play. Senior Nadim Motaghedi went 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in the third spot for the Tartans’ second point, and first-year Raghav Jangbahadur went 7-6 (6), 6-0, 1-0 (12) for the Tartans’ third point. Overall, the Tartans lost 6-3.

Their Tartans’ next match was on Saturday, Feb. 17, when they hosted Division II West Virginia Wesleyan College. It was a very similar story to the previous match, as Wong and Joshi took the first point in the second position, 8-4. Carnegie Mellon was once again behind 1-2 going into singles play, and Motaghedi and Jangbahadur earned single points. Once again, the Tartans fell 6-3, putting them 1-3 in the dual season. 

The Tartans will next be playing Division I Duquesne University on Saturday, Feb. 24, and then will travel to Swarthmore College for two matches on Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2 against Stevens Institute of Technology and Swarthmore, respectively.

Women’s Tennis

On Saturday, Feb. 17, the 10th-ranked Carnegie Mellon women’s tennis team took on 20th-ranked Denison University. The doubles team of second-year Anika Joshi and first-year Elaine Qian scored the Tartans’ sole doubles point after going 8-6. However, the Tartans won five of six in singles play. Junior Sarah Yang went 6-0, 6-2 in the first spot; senior Danna Taylor went 6-2, 6-4 in the second spot; second-year Divya Venkatarama went 6-2, 6-0 in the third spot; third-year Zoe Angell went 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the fourth spot; and Qian rounded out the Tartans’ point in the sixth spot, going 6-1, 6-0. 

The Tartans also took on the College of Wooster and Otterbein University on Sunday, Feb. 18, which will be covered in next week’s issue of The Tartan. The next match for the Carnegie Mellon women’s tennis team is on Saturday, Feb. 24 when they host Case Western Reserve University. 

Men’s Basketball

The Carnegie Mellon men’s basketball team traveled on Sunday, Feb. 11 to take on the 11th-ranked New York University. Carnegie Mellon opened the scoring and took an early 9-2 lead over the Violets. Though NYU tied it up at nine, the Tartans pulled ahead once more to make it 17-9 with 14 minutes left in the first half. The Tartans held an eight-point lead going into the final five minutes of the first half, but a 17-7 run by the Violets put the Tartans behind going into the half, 43-41.

Similar to the start of the game, the Tartans opened the scoring for this half, this time with a 9-0 run, making it 50-43 Tartans. Carnegie Mellon eventually extended this into an 11 point lead, but NYU cut this lead to one, and then tied it at 63-all. The Violets were the first to pull ahead, but Carnegie Mellon countered with a 13-2 run, and led by seven with 2:05 left in the game. With 12 seconds left, the Tartans were up 81-77, but the Violets managed to make it 81-80 Tartans with five seconds left. Senior Jack Stone made two foul shots for the Tartans to close out the game, earning the Tartans the win, 83-80. 

On Friday, Feb, 16, the Tartans hosted the University of Rochester for their second meeting of the season. The Tartans weren’t able to find their momentum early in the first half, trailing by 10 just over five minutes into the game. This slow start carried throughout the period, and they weren’t able to gain an edge over the Yellowjackets in the first half, trailing by four at halftime. However, the Tartans took the lead early in the second half, 39-35. A back-and-forth half ended up with a tied score of 67-all, and the teams headed into overtime. 

Rochester were the first to put points on the board, but the Tartans quickly took over. Sophomore Justin Allen recorded six straight, and a left-corner three from junior Aidan Booher put the Tartans up by seven, 76-69. Rochester would score only one more during overtime as the Tartans continued to dominate, closing the game 87-70 in favor of Carnegie Mellon.

These two games have put the Tartans at 15-8 overall and 7-5 in conference play. They took on Emory University on Sunday, Feb. 18, which will be covered in the next issue of the Tartan. The men’s basketball team’s last game of the season will be on Saturday, Feb. 24, when they travel to Case Western Reserve University for their last regular season game. 

Women’s Basketball

On Sunday, Feb. 11, the Carnegie Mellon women’s basketball team traveled to take on the top-ranked New York University, who has not dropped a game this season. Though the Tartans led 5-0 two minutes into the game, the violets went on a 21-0 run, leading the Tartans 21-5 at the quarter. The Tartans tried to find their way back into the game in the second quarter, and scored 16 to NYU’s 21, putting the Tartans behind 42-21 going into the half. In the third frame, the Tartans kept pace with the Violets, with both teams recording 15 points. The Tartans weren’t able to recover from the deficit in the first half, and ultimately lost 76-54.

For their next game, the team hosted the University of Rochester on Friday, Feb. 16 in Wiegand Gymnasium. While the Yellowjackets were first on the board, the Tartans put up four straight in response — this was the only time the Tartans trailed in the game. By the end of the first quarter, the Tartans led 18-14. The Tartans extended this lead to double digits in the second quarter, when they led 27-16 with just under seven minutes until the half. By the half, the Tartans were leading in a dominant fashion, 46-22.

Coming back from the half, the Tartans continued to dominate. In the third quarter, the Tartans went 10-for-20 and scored 21 points, compared to Rochester’s 15. The last quarter was the lowest-scoring of the game, but the Tartans still outscored the Yellowjackets, winning 78-41 and snapping the Tartans’ nine game losing streak. 

These games put the Tartans at 11-12 for the season overall and 3-9 in conference play. They played Emory University on Sunday, Feb. 18, which will be covered in the next issue of The Tartan. Their last game of the season will be on Saturday, Feb. 24, when they travel to Case Western Reserve University. 

Men’s Track and Field

The Carnegie Mellon men’s track and field team traveled to the Penn State Last Chance Meet on Friday, Feb. 16 and the Mount Union Tune Up at the University of Mount Union on Saturday, Feb. 17. 

A number of Tartans had top performances at the Penn State Last Chance Meet. Senior Thomas Rich took first in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.35. Rich also placed first in the long jump with a mark of 6.70 meters and fourth in the high jump, clearing 2.00 meters. In the mile, three Tartans took fourth through sixth place: third-year Aleksei Seletskiy with a time of 4:13.73, third-year Eamon Brady with a time of 4:14.08, and first-year Christian Brower with a time of 4:18.06. In the 3,000-meter run, senior David Durdaller crossed the line fifth with a time of 8:32.70. Senior Bailey O’Malley placed third in the weight throw with a toss of 16.01 meters and fifth in the shot put with a mark of 14.78 meters. 

Tartans also had top performances at the Mount Union Tune Up. Third-year Seth Williams took first in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:44.59. Senior Pranav Rajbhandari crossed the line first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.54. Second-year Bennett Wong took third in both the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash with times of 7.10 and 23.03, respectively. Third-year Jackson Ellinger took third in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:59.47 while sophomore Saaketh Nandakumar finished fifth with a time of 2:00.09. Second-year Sam Alligood earned first in the weight throw with a mark of 15.24 meters while third-year Nathaniel Deyak took third with a mark of 14.24 meters. First-year Atai Tahasan finished first in the triple jump with a mark of 13.16 meters. In the pole vault, second-year Christian Duckworth cleared 4.59 meters, earning third. 

The Tartans will next be competing in the University Athletic Association Championships at New York University on Saturday, Feb. 24 and Sunday, Feb. 25.

Women’s Track and Field

The Carnegie Mellon women’s track and field team traveled to the Penn State Last Chance Meet on Friday, Feb. 16 and the Mount Union Tune Up at the University of Mount Union on Saturday, Feb. 17. 

At the Penn State Last Chance meet, senior Liz Barre finished first in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.75, fourth in the long jump with a mark of 5.31 meters, and second in the high jump after clearing 1.65 meters. Senior Sophia Zalewski placed fifth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:24.46; right behind her was first-year Maya Ducker with a time of 10:30.63.

Meanwhile, at Mount Union, first-year Kara Mathias took first in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:24.25. In the mile, first-year Alaina Patel took fourth with a time of 5:33.08. Second-year Shanaya Irani took second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.51 and fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.99. 

Third-year Taylor Symonette took fourth in the shot put with a toss of 1.14 meters. In the triple jump, second-year Iniyaa Mohanraj took first with a mark of 10.70 meters and first-year Samantha Lee took third with a mark of 9.74 meters. Mohanraj also took third in the long jump with a mark of 4.85 meters, and Lee took fourth with a jump of 4.84 meters. In the weight throw, third-year Kayla Rountree took fourth with a mark of 13.33 meters. In the pole vault, senior JoJo Huczko took second after clearing 3.37 meters, while first-year Hazel Bounopane earned fifth, also clearing 3.37 meters. 

The Tartans will next be competing in the University Athletic Association Championships at New York University on Saturday, Feb. 24 and Sunday, Feb. 25.