Tartans Punch Ticket to NCAA Championships

(NEWVILLE, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's cross country team finished the 2012 Mideast Regional in second place behind Haverford College at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pa. hosted by Dickinson College. With the second-place team finish, Carnegie Mellon automatically advances to the Division III NCAA Championships next weekend.

Haverford won the race with a score of 63 points, as the Tartans totaled 93 points.

Senior Evan Gates (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) finished 6th overall in a time of 25:30.1 while junior Josh Newby (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) wasn't far behind in 8th with a time of 25:31.3. Sophomore George Degen (Madison, Wis./West) and junior Ken Murphy (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) crossed in 18th and 19th, respectively.  Degen had a time of 26:01.3 and Murphy finished in 26:03.6.

Senior Graham Shorr (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep CDS) finished fifth for the Tartans and 41st overall to finish the team scoring with a time of 26:37.4.

Gates, Newby, Degan and Murphy each earned All-Region recognition by finishing in the top 35.

The team will now run for a national championship on Saturday, November 17, at Rose Hulman Inst. of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.