Tartans Bring Home the Obelisk; Freshman Justin Kiefel Breaks Indoor School Record in the Triple Jump

(CLEVELAND, Ohio) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's track and field team defeated Case Western Reserve University in the Battle for the Obelisk with dual meet scoring of 88-48 points. With a combined total of 157 points the men and women brought home the obelisk for the third consecutive season.

"Today was a tremendous team performance. We had numerous individual victories, but the team aspect was incredible. Wins on both sides show the strength of the entire team especially with the second women's win," said head coach Gary Aldrich. "It was a good first step into season and ultimately towards a quality team performance at the UAA meet."

Making his collegiate debut, freshman Justin Kiefel (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown STEM Academy) broke the indoor school record in the triple jump with a jump of 14.02 meters. The Tartans swept the event with junior Fred Dauphin (Brockton, Mass. / Cardinal Spellman) placing second in 13.98 meters and sophomore Matt Sloan (Harmony, Pa. / Seneca Valley) scoring third in 12.99. Kiefel also placed second in the long jump, while fellow freshman Varun Narayan (Princeton N.J. / Princeton) placed first in the long jump with 7.03 meters.

Tying for first place in the high jump, senior Reed Farber (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) and Sloan cleared a height of 1.90 meters. "I think everyone did what they were supposed to do today. Once we got going the energy created momentum for the rest of the meet," said Farber.

Sophomore Marvin Bennett Jr. (Baltimore, Md. / Phillips Exeter Academy) scored two first-place finishes, winning the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.06 and the 200-meter dash in a time of 22.88.

Placing first and second in the shot put, sophomores Bram Miller (Colgate, Wis. / Kettle Moraine Lutheran) and Logan Stahl (Oil City, Pa. / Oil City) threw 15.35 meters and 13.11 meters, respectively. The Tartan men swept the 3000-meter run led by junior Hunter Hartshorne (Ithaca, N.Y. / Ithaca) who ran to a first-place finish in 8:42. Junior Liam Walsh (Gaithersburg, Md. / Quince Orchard) placed first in the mile run in a time of 4:22.

Senior Will Mitchell (Chatham, N.J. / Chatham) placed first in the 5000-meter run in a time of 15:17. The Tartan distance medley relay team of senior Andrew Harter (Saratoga, Calif. /Saratoga), freshman Heoseph Desir (Montville, N.J. / Montville Township) sophomore Arthur Dzieniszewski (Old Bridge, N.J. / Old Bridge), and freshman Graham Everden (Chandler, Ariz. / Chandler) won against the Spartans in a time of 10:31.

The Tartans will compete again on Saturday, February 2 at the Bob Shannon Invitational at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.