Tartan Women Soar to Third Place at UAA Championships

(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's cross country team soared to third place at the University Athletic Association Championships hosted by the University of Rochester on Saturday, October 27 finishing with 103 points and three runners in the top 14.

Senior Emily Wobb (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine Richland) earned her fourth All-Association honor when she finished the 6k race in seventh place in 22:37.3. Following Wobb with All-Association places was junior Elise Hall (Hillsboro, Mo./Hillsboro Senior) and sophomore Halley Bayer (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny). Hall, who was running in her first UAA race, finished 10th in 22:42.1 while Bayer placed 11th overall in 22:42.4, dropping three minutes off her time from last year.

Freshman Rekha Schnepf (McLean, Va./Thomas Jefferson HS for Sci. & Tech) was the fourth Tartan to finish the race and did so in 35th place in 23:28.3. Finishing fifth for the Tartans in 44th place was senior Eva Humphrey (Asheville, N.C./Asheville) in 23:37.3.

Junior Catherine Paquette (Bethel, Ohio/Archbishop McNicholas) was 54th overall in 24:07.1 while freshman Taylor Maggiacomo (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) was 56th in 24:08.7.

Freshmen Erin Persson (San Antonio, Texas/Saint Mary's Hall) and Sophia Greene (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) rounded out the Tartans finishes in 62nd and 69th places. Their times were 24:43.0 and 25:16.6.

"This was a very good race for the team and our best finish in a number of years," said head coach Dario Donatelli. "Finishing this well in one of the most competitive conferences has us looking forward to a great race at the Mideast Regional in the next few weeks."

The Tartans third-place finish was the best since the 1998 season when the Tartans won the UAA Championship and had four runners earn All-Association honors.