Men's, women's track and field top performers at Invitational
Men’s Tennis
The 27th-ranked Carnegie Mellon men’s tennis team visited Boardman, Ohio on Saturday, March 25 to take on 10th-ranked Denison University.
Overall, the team struggled to find their footing against the Big Red. In doubles, all three Tartan teams fell to their opponents, first 8-3, then 8-6, and finally 8-2. This put Denison ahead 3-0 before singles. However, the story was similar in singles. Two Tartans were able to force second-set tiebreakers, but ultimately, Denison also swept the Tartans in singles, giving Carnegie Mellon a 9-0 loss.
This loss moved the men’s tennis team to 5-6 on the season, and they will next play the University of Mary Washington at home on Saturday, April 1 with an 11:00 a.m. start.
Women’s Tennis
The Carnegie Mellon women’s tennis team traveled to West Virginia this past Saturday, March 25, to take on Division II West Liberty.
In first doubles, the team of junior Danna Taylor and sophomore Crystal Zhou claimed the first Tartan win with a 6-1 win. The team of sophomore Zoe Angell and first-year Anika Joshi won 6-3 in third doubles, and the team of first-years Manuel Van Cotthem and Divya Venkatarama completed the Tartan sweep 7-5 in second doubles. As such, per Division II rules, the Tartans headed into singles play 1-0.
Many Tartans also claimed points in singles play. In second singles, Zhou gained another Tartan point after defeating her opponent 6-3, 6-3. Van Cotthem followed suit in the third singles spot, winning 6-4, 7-5. In the fourth spot, Venkatarama beat her opponent 6-2, 6-1, giving the Tartans their fourth point of the day. The Tartan’s last point came from Joshi in the sixth spot, where she beat her opponent 6-4, 6-1. Overall, the Tartans claimed victory over the Hilltoppers, 5-2.
This victory has moved the women’s tennis team to 14-3 on the season, and they will next be playing University of Mary Washington when they host them on Saturday, April 1 with an 11:00 a.m. start.
Men’s Track and Field
This past Friday and Saturday, the Carnegie Mellon men’s track and field team hosted a variety of Division I, II, and III institutions for their annual Invitational at Gesling Stadium. Tartans found success on both the track and field.
To start off the running events, senior Elijah Sech and junior David Durdaller placed first and second, respectively, in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Sech finished in 9:18.11 while Durdaller finished in 9:19.04. In the 400-meter hurdles, junior Andrew McGovern claimed first with a time of 53.65. Meanwhile, in the 400-meter race, first-year Gaven Williams took first with a time of 50.59 while junior Austin Weltz finished right behind him in second with a time of 50.62. In the 800-meter run, sophomore Colin McLaughlin placed second with a time of 1:54.99.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Weltz, senior Leland Davies, Williams, and junior Alex Ivanov claimed first, finishing in 3:27.01. In the 1,500-meter run, Ivanov finished second with a time of 3:56.30 with McLaughlin finishing right behind him in third with a time of 3:56.82. In the 3,000-meter run, first-years Ryan Podnar and Thomas Damiani placed second and third, respectively, with times of 9:00.87 and 9:03.93.
In the long jump, senior Alex Halkias took second with a mark of 6.40 meters. In the pole vault, first-year Christian Duckworth and sophomore Casey Potrebic cleared the bar at 4.15 meters; the judges awarded Duckworth second and Potrebic third. In hammer throw, sophomore Cody Breidenbach placed second with a throw of 52.22 meters, while senior Bailey O’Malley placed second in shot put with a mark of 15.25 meters.
The combined efforts of the Tartan’s track and field team helped them to place first in the meet out of 15 with 200.5 points. The team will next be competing in the Dave Labor Invitational on Saturday, April 1 at Slippery Rock University.
Women’s Track and Field
The Carnegie Mellon women’s track and field team hosted a number of Division I, II, and III institutions this past Friday and Saturday at Gesling Stadium for their annual Invitational.
To start the running events, sophomore Norah Czajka claimed third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal-best time of 12:23.98. Senior Samantha Giordani took first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.49 while also placing third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.58. Senior Liz Barre claimed third in the 400-meter run while junior Isabella Rhee took fifth with times of 57.63 and 59.47, respectively. First-year Jacqueline Liu took fifth place in the 800-meter run, crossing the line in 2:19.24.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Rhee, junior Emily Lannen, senior Mona Yuan, and senior Kavya Tummalapalli placed third with a time of 4:11.02. In the 3,000-meter run, first-year Margaret Ann Healy tied for third with a time of 11:00.63 while sophomore Avery Tompkins took fifth with a time of 11:15.76. In the 5,000-meter run, sophomore Alyssa Hoffman took fifth, finishing in 18:11.59.
In the long jump, Barre topped her own school record from last season with a mark of 5.52 meters; her previous record was 5.48 meters. In the pole vault, junior JoJo Huczko placed second after clearing the bar at 3.10. In the shot put, sophomore Katie Monahan achieved a mark of 12.01 meters, earning her fifth.
The combined efforts of the Tartans earned them second in the invitational with a total of 96 team points, just 10 behind first. The team will next be competing in the Dave Labor Invitational at Slippery Rock University on Saturday, April 1.
Softball
On Tuesday, the Carnegie Mellon softball team took on Chatham for a doubleheader; this also marked the first time the two teams have ever played each other.
In game one, a number of Tartans recorded hits while six recorded at least two. Junior Kiera Boucher plated three runs while also scoring three herself; she also doubled twice. First-year Kira Monji was 4-for-4 at the plate, including a double and a triple, while also scoring three runs. First-year Grace Fujino pitched the complete game while only giving up one run. The Tartans topped the Cougars 12-1 in six innings.
In game two, the Tartans also found success. Junior Amanda Smith earned her fifth win of the season when she struck out eight batters and stayed on the mound the complete game. Boucher picked up another three hits in this game, scoring three runs total. Sophomore Faith Lawrence brought two home during the game, once in the first after a triple and the second in the third with a ground out. The Tartans won their second of the day, 5-1.
On Friday, the Tartans headed to Brandeis University to open UAA play for the season in a series of four games against the Judges.
The series opened play on Friday with a doubleheader. In the first game, despite seven Tartans recording a hit, they only scored one thanks to a home run from first-year Koko Sagae in the top of the second. In the bottom of the third, though, Brandeis responded with a two-run homer. No more runs would be scored until the bottom of the sixth, when the Judges brought nine back to the plate. Play spanned six innings; as such, the Tartans fell 11-1 in the first game.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Brandeis opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with one run. The Tartans responded with a run of their own when senior Emily Finger hit a sacrifice fly to bring Sagae home. Despite this, the Judges would go on to score five in the second inning and three more in the fifth, capping the game at five innings. This was the Tartans’ second loss of the day, 9-1.
The third game of the series opened on Saturday. Brandeis put the only runner across home plate in the bottom of the second following a sacrifice fly. In the top of third, the Tartans had a chance to equalize it, but were not able to convert after senior Piper Johnson was caught in a rundown and junior Erika Heffernen was thrown out at home. A scoreless rest of the game gave The Tartans their third loss of the series, 1-0.
The fourth and final game of the series started on Sunday, March 26 at 11:00 a.m. Carnegie Mellon was the first one on the board during the third inning thanks to a three-run homer from junior Kiera Boucher. However, Brandeis responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth and five more in the bottom of the fifth. The Tartans weren’t able to return any and the game concluded after the top of the seventh, 8-3 in favor of the Judges.
The Tartans will be back on the road this week on Tuesday, March 28 for a rescheduled doubleheader with Hiram College at 3:30 p.m.