Three Tartans Qualify for NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships

(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) – Three Carnegie Mellon University men's and women's track and field athletes have qualified for the 2018 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships to be hosted by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on May 24-26. Seniors Jacob Schofel (Livingston, N.J. / Livingston) and Sarah Cook (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Hampton), along with sophomore Michelle Karabin (Ruffs Dale, Pa. / Greensburg Central Catholic) made the field and will represent the Tartans.

Schofel will be returning to the championship meet after qualifying for the second straight year in the hammer throw. His best throw of the year came at the Allegheny College Gator Invitational on Friday, May 11 when he tossed a career-best mark of 56.99 meters. His mark is currently 14th on the list of qualifiers for the NCAA meet.

Cook will compete in the 800-meter run after qualifying with a personal-best time of 2:11.87 at the Great Lakes Final Qualifying Meet hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University on Thursday, May 17. Her time is seeded 11th out of 22 qualifiers. Cook is the second Tartan to qualify for NCAAs in the 800-meter run, following Courtney Baker's run in 2010.

Karabin tied the school record in the pole vault at the Great Lakes Final Qualifying Meet when she cleared 3.77 meters. She is tied for 13th on the list and has the 10th highest mark. Karabin is the second pole vaulter in Carnegie Mellon history to make the NCAA meet as Grace Yee competed last year.

Karabin will be the first to compete as the women's pole vault is scheduled for Thursday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time. Cook will take to the track in the preliminaries of the 800-meter run on Friday at 5:15 p.m. with the top nine finishers qualifying for the finals on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The men's hammer throw will start with preliminaries on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. with finals to follow.

For each men's individual event contested, including the decathlon, the top 20 declared student- athletes were accepted into the competition. For each women's individual event contested, including the heptathlon, the top 22 declared student-athletes were accepted into the competition.