UAA Champs! Tartans Cruise to Indoor Title, Win Four Events on Second Day

UAA Champs! Tartans Cruise to Indoor Title, Win Four Events on Second Day

(CLEVELAND, Ohio) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's track and field team left little to doubt on Sunday, February 24 when it won its first-ever University Athletic Association (UAA) Indoor Team Championship by 52 points, tallying 139 total team points. The 2013 championships were held on the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Tartans claimed three individual UAA titles and the 1,600-meter relay title on Sunday while sweeping the top three spots in the shot put. Junior Zachary Erra-Hernandez (Las Cruces, N.M./Onate) became a two-time UAA Champion in the shot put, winning the event with a mark of 15.48 meters. Junior Nathan Cheek (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) and sophomore Gino Pilato (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area) completed the sweep earning All-UAA with throws of 14.73 meters and 14.48 meters, respectively. Cheek's toss of 14.73 meters was a career-best.

In the 55-meter hurdles, senior Daniel Ching (Trout Valley, Ill./The Culver Academies) crossed in a career-best time of 7.74 seconds to claim the UAA title.  Freshman Ben Neiman's (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L. Vandermeulen) time of 8.28 earned All-UAA with a third-place finish while freshman Zach Dell (Hampstead, Md./North Carroll) also picked up team points in the event finishing sixth with a time of 8.89.

Sophomore Thomas Vandenberg (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck) was the third Tartan to record a UAA title on Sunday when he crossed with a time of 1:57.89 in the 800-meter run. Fellow sophomore Douglas O'Connell (Rye, N.Y./Fordham Prep) finished less than two seconds behind Vandenberg to earn All-UAA. His time of 1:59.10 placed him second.

Junior Josh Newby (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) placed third in the mile run with a time of 4:21.88 while senior Noel Titus (Bronx, N.Y./Choate Rosemary Hall) recorded a career-best time of 6.53 seconds in the 55-meter dash preliminaries on Saturday before earning team points for the Tartans with a fourth-place finish on Sunday in 6.62 seconds.
    
Sophomore Mike McDermott (Seekonk, Mass./La Salle Academy) earned his third All-UAA performance of the weekend with a third-place showing in the pole vault, clearing 4.33m. Senior Daniel Cardenas Rivero (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) also earned points for the Tartans with a sixth-place finish in the pole vault, clearing 4.18m. Later, freshman Max Reinertsen (Esko, Minn./Esko) jumped to a season-best distance of 12.80 meters in the triple jump to claim fourth-place honors.

Junior Kenneth Murphy (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) finished the 3,000-meter run in a career-best 8:39.89 to earn All-UAA with a third-place showing in the last individual event of the championships before the 1,600-meter relay cruised to the top spot.

Junior Mike Standish (Washington, Pa./Trinity), O'Connell, Vandenberg and Titus won the 4x400 in over two seconds with a title grabbing time of 3:23.68.