Tartans Place Fifth at UAA Championships; Bhanja Wins 400-Meter Title
(ATLANTA, Ga.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's track and field team finished fifth at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships which concluded Sunday after two days of action at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
In the finals of the 400-meter dash, senior Debarati Bhanja (New Albany, Ohio / New Albany) bettered her own personal record set during the preliminaries on Saturday with a first-place finish in 57.45 seconds. Bhanja also placed fourth in the 200-meter dash in a time of 25.65. Fellow Senior Rose Ciriello (Madison, N.J. / Madison) placed third in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:41.
In the discus throw, freshman Lindy Cornwall (Poway, Calif. / Poway) took second place with a throw of 39.61 meters. Sophomore Alessandra Tully (Chappaqua, N.Y. / Horace Greeley) placed ninth with a throw of 29.65 meters. Senior Alexa Barriero (Middletown, N.J. / Middletown North) placed second in the javelin with a throw of 38.83 meters.
Senior Tessa Allen (Manhattan Beach, Calif. / Bishop Montgomery) placed second in the high jump clearing 1.62 meters. Junior Leah Kendrick (Doylestown, Pa. / Central Bucks East) finished second in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 14.73 while senior Claire Yuan (San Jose, Calif. / Lynbrook) placed eighth in the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.80.
The Tartan's 4x100 meter relay team of Claire Yuan, sophomore Valerie Reiling (San Jose, Calif. / Lynbrook), Leah Kendrick and Debarati Bhanja placed fifth with a time of 49.47. In the 400-meter hurdles junior Joanna Baranowski (Syosset, N.Y. / Syosset) placed seventh in a personal best time of 1:04. After competing in the 10,000-meter on Saturday, junior Abigail Levine placed sixth in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:27
The Tartan's 4x400-meter relay team of Reiling, Baranowski, Ciriello, and Bhanja, took fourth with a season-best time of 3:58.
The Tartans will continue their post-season competition on Saturday, May 4 at the West Virginia Invitational in Morgantown, West Virginia.