CMU Sports: women's basketball remains undefeated, indoor track teams open seasons

Men’s Basketball

The Carnegie Mellon men’s basketball team took on #13 Middlebury at home this past Saturday, Dec. 3.

Despite keeping it close in the first four minutes of play, Middlebury quickly took off with a 13-2 run in seven minutes. This had the Panthers leading the Tartans 21-10 with just over nine minutes left in the first half. However, the Tartans got a 12-2 run of their own and brought it back to a close game with Middlebury just in the lead, 23-22, with 4:10 left in the first half. By the end of the first half, Carnegie Mellon had overtaken their opponent and had a 33-32 lead going into halftime.

The second half was just as close. Midway through the second half, the Tartans had the lead 51-48. However, Middlebury took the lead back with six more points, giving them a 54-51 edge. Though the Tartans were able to tie the game at 54 not long after, Middlebury scored seven more in the last five minutes. No more Tartan points meant a 61-54 loss for the previously undefeated Tartans.

The Tartans had a chance to redeem themselves on the second day of the 2022 UAA/NESCAC Challenge when they took on Rochester University on Sunday, Dec. 4.

After a bit of a sluggish beginning of the first half for the Tartans where the Polar Bears held a 26-9 lead, Carnegie Mellon closed the half not far behind, 39-37. Some back-and-forth play ensued in the second half until a string of baskets from Carnegie Mellon gave them a 58-47 with 9:12 left in play. The Tartans would continue to dominate the board for the rest of the game, giving them a 79-66 win.

The Tartans are now 6-1 on the season and will be traveling to Geneva College on Dec. 7 for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

Women’s Basketball

On Dec. 3, the Carnegie Mellon women’s basketball team welcomed Waynesburg University at home.

The Tartans took a very early lead, holding Waynesburg to only five points in the first quarter. As the clock struck zero for the first time, the Tartans had a 28-5 lead. This included 15 points from sophomore Catherine Or, who went six-of-seven on the quarter. While Waynesburg was able to record 14 points in the second quarter, Carnegie Mellon still recorded 19. Another 23 in the third quarter from the Tartans extended their lead to 70-36. Another 21 points in the last quarter propelled the Tartans to their seventh win of the season, 91-48. The Yellow Jackets have yet to record a win this season.

Notably, Or led the Tartans with 27 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Or and first-year Savannah Gibbs both had a career best number of three-pointers. First-year Ava Black recorded a team-high six rebounds while first-year Ellen Angwin led the Tartan bench with eight points and four rebounds.

Men’s Track and Field

The Carnegie Mellon men’s indoor track and field team opened their season with three separate meets spanning two days. On Friday, members of the team competed at the Youngstown State University Icebreaker. Others competed on Saturday at the Ninth Annual Spartan Holiday Lidlifter at Case Western Reserve University. Additionally, a member of the team traveled to compete in the Bucknell University Bison Opener on Friday and Saturday.

At Youngstown, junior David Durdaller took first in the 5,000-meter run with a personal best of 14:43.69. In the weight throw, sophomore Cody Breidenbach took third with a mark of 16.58 meters. In the 800-meter run, junior Andrew McGovern recorded a fourth-place finish and a personal best time of 1:54.75. Sophomore Aleksei Seletskiy earned fourth place in the mile run with a time of 4:20.50.

The Tartans also had a strong showing at Case Western. First-year Chritian Duckworth took first in the pole vault with a height of 4.25 meters. Senior Bailey O’Malley claimed third in shot put with a toss of 13.54 meters. Sophomore Micah Nowlin took second place in the 60-meter hurdles while junior Austin Weltz took third in the 400-meter race with a time of 51.87.

Sophomore Casey Potrebic traveled to Bucknell to compete under the Tartan name. He took fifth in the heptathlon with a personal-best score of 4,088 points. He also won the shot put with a career-best throw of 11.88 meters. He recorded another personal best when he cleared the bar at 4.25 meters, taking second in pole vault.

The Tartans will next be competing in the Youngstown State University Invitational on Friday, Jan. 20 and the Spire Midwest Open on Saturday, Jan. 21

Women’s Track and Field

The Carnegie Mellon women’s indoor track and field team also opened their season with three separate meets spanning two days. On Friday, members of the team competed at the Youngstown State University Icebreaker. Others competed on Saturday at the Ninth Annual Spartan Holiday Lidlifter at Case Western Reserve University. Additionally, two members competed in the Bucknell University Bison Opener on Friday and Saturday.

Two school records were broken at the Youngstown meet. Senior Samantha Giordani broke the 2018 school record in the 400-meter race with a 57.22 third place finish. She also broke her own record in the 200-meter dash with a second place finish, timed at 24.78. In the 5,000-meter run, sophomore Norah Czajka recorded a personal best time of 19:54.27 and a ninth place finish.

A number of Tartans performed well at the Case Western Reserve meet. First-year Jacqueline Liu took first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:26.96. A personal best mark of 14.91 meters in the weight throw earned senior Ola Owodunni second, while a mark of 11.41 meters earned sophomore Katie Monahan third in shot put. Sophomore Allison Silva took third in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 9.71. In the 60-meter dash, first-year Amanda Rodriguez Asad took third with a time of 8.24. Sophomore Lauren May and junior Carina Sanborn took second and third in the 3,000-meter, recording times of 11:07.94 and 11:52.16, respectively.

At Bucknell, senior Liz Barre finished third in the pentathlon with 3,367 points. She took second in the high jump and 60-meter hurdles, along with breaking the school record in the high jump with a height of 1.67. She was previously tied for the record with her 1.66 jump last season. Barre also took second in the shot put during the pentathlon with a personal-best toss of 10.28. Additionally, first-year Zoe King took part in the pentathlon, earning tenth with a total score of 2,142 points.

The Tartans will next be taking part in the Youngstown State University Collegiate Invitational on Friday, Jan. 20 and the Spire Midwest Open on Saturday, Jan. 21.