Women's Track and Field Excels at Westminster Invitational

(NEW WILMINGTON, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's track and field team placed fourth at the Westminster College Invitational on Saturday, April 16. The Tartans won two events to go with four other finishes in the top three to finish first amongst Division III opponents.

Freshman Oly Nwankwo (Homestead, Pa./Stevenson) won the hammer throw after tossing the element a career best 43.16 meters. Sophomore Kiersten Chuc (Cupertino, Calif./Monta Vista) placed third in the event with a toss of 39.18 meters.

Junior Rebecca Fortner (Navarre, Ohio/Fairless) picked up a third-place finish in the high jump, clearing 1.56 meters. Freshman Tessa Allen (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Bishop Montgomery) also cleared 1.56 meters and placed fourth.

Freshman Debarati Bhanja (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) recorded a mark of 5.01 meters in the long jump to place fifth while fellow freshman Autumn Hair (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) leapt a season-best 10.13 meters in the triple jump, placing 12th.

The Tartans brought in a victory in the 800-meter run when freshman Rose Ciriello (Madison, N.J./Madison) crossed the line in a season-best 2:19.09.

The 4x100-meter relay team of junior Jerilyn James (Friendswood, Texas/Clear Brook), sophomore Sarah Cook (Pittsburgh, Pa./Hampton), Hair and Bhanja took third place with a season-best time of 49.35 seconds. Cook later ran the 400-meter dash in a season-best 58.03 to take second place.

Senior Erin Persson (San Antonio, Texas/Saint Mary's Hall) ran the 1,500-meter run and led the Tartans with a sixth-place finish in a career-best 4:59.56.

Running at the Bucknell University Invitational, senior Taylor Maggiacomo (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) recorded a career-best time of 11:55.38 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, placing ninth in her heat.

The Tartans will next be in action at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships on Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24 at Washington University St. Louis, Missouri.