CMU sports roundup: men's basketball remains undefeated at home
Men’s Track and Field
The Carnegie Mellon men’s track and field team traveled to Case Western Reserve University on Saturday, Feb. 4 for the 14th Annual "Battle for the Obelisk" against the Spartans.
Junior Thomas Rich topped the school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.44, topping the previous record of 8.49 that was set in 2012. Junior Andrew McGovern took first for the Tartans in the 800-meter run, finishing with a time of 1:53.12. In the 200-meter dash, senior Alex Halkias also took first, crossing the line in 22.70. In the mile run, sophomore Colin McLaughlin won with a time of 4:20.89. For the longer distance events, senior Elijah Sech placed first in the 3,000-meter run, crossing the line in 8:29.66, while junior David Durdaller got the win in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:44.67.
In the high jump, Rich tied with sophomores Sebastian Sanso and Ethan Higgs for first place, all three clearing a height of 1.90 meters. Rich also took first for the Tartans in the long jump, where he won with a distance of 6.85 meters. In the triple jump, sophomore Luke Blackwell took first with a mark of 13.43 meters. Sophomore Cody Breidenbach claimed first in the weight throw with a distance of 18.75 meters while senior Bailey O’Malley took first in shot put with a throw of 15.48 meters.
These victories helped the Tartans to claim victory over the Spartans 95-41. The team will next be competing at the Roanoke Invitational Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 11.
Women’s Track and Field
The Carnegie Mellon women’s track and field team headed to Case Western Reserve University this past Saturday, Feb. 4, to compete in the 14th Annual Battle for the Obelisk against the Spartans.
Senior Samantha Giodani took first in the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes with times of 7.75 and 35.70, respectively. Her 60-meter dash broke her previous school record of 7.77, which she set last weekend. Senior Liz Barre claimed first in the 60-meter hurdles, crossing the line in 9.06. In the 400-meter run, junior Isabella Rhee crossed the line first with a time of 1:01.34. In the 800-meter run, senior Kavya Tummalapalli took first, finishing in 2:23.28. In the longer distance events, first-year Margaret Ann Healy claimed first in the mile with a time of 5:33.17, graduate student Kristen Seballos took first in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:56.18, and sophomore Alyssa Hoffman took first in 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:28.56.
Barre also took first in two other events: the long jump, with a mark of 5.37 meters and the high jump, where she cleared the bar at 1.65 meters. In the shot put, sophomore Katie Monahan took first with a mark of 12.16 meters.
These victories gave the team an 81-55 victory. Combined with the men’s team, the Tartans triumphed 176-96 over the Spartans, marking their sixth straight Obelisk title. Overall, the Tartans lead the series 10-4. The women’s track and field team will next be competing on Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Roanoke Invitational Challenge.
Men’s Basketball
To start off their weekend, the Tartans hosted the New York University Violets in Wiegand Gymnasium on Friday, Feb. 3 for their seventh home game of the season.
After opening with a back-and-forth during the first half, the Tartans managed to take a somewhat sizable lead, 25-16, with 7:20 left in the first half. However, back-to-back triples from the Violets quickly closed this gap and gave them the lead, 28-27, with just over four minutes left in the first half. The Tartans didn’t give up and were able to retake the lead before the end of the half, 34-30.
Despite their four-point lead coming into the second half, the Tartans once again fell behind after the Violets claimed eight of the next 10 points. Despite this, the Tartans retook the lead not long after, thanks to a three-pointer from senior Josh Berry. After a small back-and-forth with NYU, Carnegie Mellon took the lead and ran with it for the rest of the game. By the time the scoreboard hit zero, Tartans had a wide lead and won the game, 80-62.
This victory helped the Tartans remain undefeated at home and advanced their overall record to 13-6 and conference record to 5-3.
On Sunday, Feb. 5, the Tartans hosted Brandeis University as they looked to extend their home win streak by another game.
Early in the game, the Tartans took a commanding 17-5 with 13:30 still on the clock in the first half. However, the Judges would quickly make a run back, making in 19-15 still in favor of Carnegie Mellon. The Tartans ran it back, though, giving them a 38-25 lead at the half. During the first half, notably, the Tartans made 17 of 19 free throws, compared to two of eight for the Judges.
Though the Tartans scored two early in the second half, an 18-3 run by Brandeis tied it up at 43 with 15 minutes left in play. Not long after, Brandeis took the lead thanks to a three-pointer until the Tartans tied it up at 65 with 3:42 left in the game. Brandeis tried to pull ahead once again, but two more successful free throws tied it up once again. Despite the repeated tying, the Tartans were able to pull ahead during the last minute-and-a-half. This gave them a 78-73 win over Brandeis.
The men’s basketball team now sits at 14-6 overall and a conference record of 6-3. Their next game will be at home on Friday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. when they host current #20 Emory University.
Women’s Basketball
Looking to recover from their previous defeat against New York University, the women’s basketball team hosted the seventh-ranked Violets on Friday, Feb. 3 in Wiegand Gymnasium.
Despite the Tartans hitting three of their first four shots and taking an early 8-2 lead, the Violets also held their own and scored the next eight points. A majority of the quarter was spent going back and forth between the two teams until the Violets pulled out ahead at the end, leaving the scoreboard reading 23-16 as the clock hit zero. An early two points in the second quarter from sophomore Catherine Or cut NYU’s lead to five, but an 11-3 run extended that lead back to 34-21 with just over half the quarter left. The Tartans weren’t able to match NYU on the quarter, making the score 39-28 going into the half.
Unfortunately, the Tartans were not able to get going during the third quarter. The Violets extended their lead by scoring 28 to Carnegie Mellon’s five, making it 67-33 as the third quarter came to a close. The fourth quarter, however, marked the only quarter that the Tartans were able to outscore the Violets, 17-15. This wasn’t nearly enough. As the game came to a close, NYU claimed victory over Carnegie Mellon, 82-50.
Looking to recover from this loss, the Tartans hosted the Brandeis Judges on Sunday, Feb. 5 at Wiegand Gymnasium.
In the first quarter, the Tartans kept things close, trailing behind the Judges 20-17 when the clock hit zero for the first time. However, a strong second quarter put the Tartans ahead. Shooting 44.4 percent compared to their 27.3 percent in the first quarter, the Tartans were able to score 21 to the Judges’ ten in the second quarter. As both teams headed off the court, the board read 38-30 in favor of Carnegie Mellon.
The Tartans absolutely dominated in the third quarter. The Judges were only able to get the ball in the net three times compared to the Tartans’ 10, which put the Tartans ahead 63-38 at the end of the third quarter. The Tartans kept up their shooting in the fourth quarter, but were matched by Brandeis this time. The Tartans maintained a double-digit lead the entire quarter and were still far ahead at the end of the game, 85-61.
This loss and win have advanced the team to an overall record of 11-9, with a 2-7 conference record. The Tartans will remain at home this week, playing Emory University on Friday, Feb. 10 for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.