Athletes Travel North to Compete at Allegheny's Gator Invitational

(MEADVILLE, Pa.) – Multiple athletes from the Carnegie Mellon University men's track and field team took to competition at the 6th Annual Gator Invitational in hopes of improving on their season-best performances. The meet was hosted by Allegheny College.

Freshman Thomas Vandenberg (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck) ran the 800-meter run in a season-best time of 1:52.14 finishing fourth while sophomore Mike Standish (Washington, Pa./Trinity) finished 18th in 1:58.15. Freshman Elliot Watson (Lebanon, Ohio/Miami Valley School) also ran the 800-meter run and finished 27th in 2:00.67.

Freshman Michael McDermott (Seekonk, Mass./La Salle Academy) competed in the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.10 meters to finish fifth. Senior Ryan Kissell (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe) also had a fourth-place finish when he lept to 6.78 meters in the long jump and later finished third in the triple jump with a mark of 13.55 meters, a season best. McDermott finished 14th in the long jump with a distance of 5.72 meters.

Sophomore Zacharay Erra-Hernandez (Las Cruces, N.M./Onate) used the meet to tune-up for the NCAA Championships. He placed fourth in the shot put with a mark of 15.70 meters and placed seventh in the discus throw with a mark of 46.48 meters.

In the hammer throw, sophomore Nathan Cheek (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) finished 10th with a mark o 48.70 meters while senior Alex Hernandez (Pemberville, Ohio/Eastwood) placed 13th with a mark of 47.21 meters.