Three to Represent Carnegie Mellon at NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships

(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) – Carnegie Mellon University will once again be represented on the national stage as three track and field athletes have earned the right to compete at the 2015 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships. This year's championships will be May 21-23 at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.

Representing the Tartans will be seniors Thomas Vandenberg (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck), George Degen (Madison, Wis./West) and Erin Kiekhaefer (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto). All three also competed at the 2015 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Vandenberg will be competing in the 800-meter run and is making his second appearance at the outdoor championships. Last spring he finished ninth in the event and is seeking his first All-America performance on the outdoor track. He is currently third in the nation with a career-best and school record time of 1:50.05. Vandenberg has three All-America honors to his name on the indoor track, two coming this winter in the 400-meter dash and 800-meter run.

Degen owns the school record in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 30:13.03 set earlier this season at the Bucknell University Bison Outdoor Classic. He will be making his first appearance at the outdoor championships while he finished 10th in the 3,000-meter run at the indoor championships this year. Degen's time in the 10k is currently sixth in the nation.

Kiekhaefer vaulted into the top 15 in the nation in the 1,500-meter run on Friday at the North Central College Gregory Final Qualifier. The senior knocked three seconds off her previous best and school-record time to finish in 4:32.28. This will be Kiekhaefer's second national championship appearance as she placed ninth in the mile at the indoor championships this past March.