Tartans Take Third Place in Home Invitational

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's cross country team finished third at its home invitational on Saturday at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pa. The race started with clouds above and finished with plenty of sunshine over the five kilometer course.

The Tartans had four of their seven finalists finish in the top 25 as junior Erin Kiekhaefer (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) led the charge finishing eighth overall in a time of 19:03.5 while sophomore Rekha Schnepf (McLean, Va./Thomas Jefferson HS for Sci. & Tech) was second for the Tartans and 17th overall in a time of 19:32.9.

Finishing 24th overall was sophomore Priya Patel (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) in 19:53.2 as senior Catherine Paquette (Bethel, Ohio/Archbishop McNicholas) was right on her heels in 25th place in 19:53.9.

Freshman Rachel McCoy (Blacksburg, Va./Blacksburg) was fifth for the Tartans and finished 32nd overall in a time of 20:07.0.

The final two finishers for the Tartans helped them earn the third-place team showing by finishing 34th and 36th overall and taking points away from the other squads. Junior Hailey Brown (Wellsville, N.Y./Wellsville) was the 34th finisher and crossed the finish line in 20:12.0 with freshman Emily Joyce (Carlisle, Pa. Big Spring) taking 36th place in 20:13.1.

The Tartans will have the next two weekends off as they prepare for the University Athletic Association Championships which will be hosted in Pittsburgh on the team's home course in Schenley Park. The championship is slated to begin at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 2.