Women’s Cross Country Starts Season at Duquesne Duals

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon women's cross country team kicked off the season with a strong performance at the 2018 Duquesne Duals Invitational at Shenley Park on Saturday morning. The women finished third overall on the 5k course fielding a finish of six runners within the top 30.

"Today our team stepped up and competed," said head coach Tim Connelly. "I'm happy with many of our performances today."

Sophomore Parvathi Meyyappan (Cupertino, Calif. / Monta Vista) led the Tartans against a field of Division I and the Tartans. "Today our spread was much smaller than last year for our top-5 runners which I'm very proud of," said the sophomore. Meyyappan finished eighth overall in a time of 19:11 closely followed in ninth place by junior Emmalyn Lindsey (Eugene, Ore. / South Eugene) in a time of 19:17.

Freshman Kristen Seballos (Cleveland, Ohio / Padua Franciscan) made her collegiate debut at the Duquesne Duals placing 17th overall and third for the Tartans in a time of 19:34. "I've been waiting for this moment to compete collegiately since last October when I had my last high school race," said Seballos. "The hills in Pittsburgh have prepared me for this course so I was very mentally prepared going into today."

Junior Valerie Collins (Wellesley, Mass. / Wellesley) was fourth for the Tartans finishing 22nd overall in a time of 19:49. Senior Rose Ciriello (Madison, N.J. / Madison) made her cross country debut finishing fifth for the Cardinal and Gray and 26th overall in a time of 20:04. Ciriello has been a standout mid-distance runner on the Carnegie Mellon women's track and field team since her first year as a Tartan.

Senior Wade Lacey (Albany, N.Y. / The Albany Academies) finished sixth for the Tartans and 27th overall in a time of 20:04. "I'm very excited to be back and to contribute to this year's competition," said Lacey who recently returned from a long series of injuries.

The Tartans will compete on September 15th at the Allegheny Invitational which will be held in Meadville, Pennsylvania.