Tartans Tied for Third After First Day of UAA Indoor Championships

(NEW YORK, N.Y.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's track and field team are currently third at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Indoor Championships thanks to three top-three finishes and seven top-six finishes. Sunday looks bright for the Tartans who have six runners in the finals of five events.

Junior Evan Gates (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) earned four points for the Tartans with a fourth-place finish in the 5,000-meter run, finishing in 14:58.36 as the distance medley relay team of sophomore Josh Newby (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto), freshman Thomas Vandenberg (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck), sophomore Mike Standish (Washington, Pa./Trinity) and senior Rob Morhard (Eagleville, Pa./Methacton) earned All-UAA with a third-place finish in 10:14.39.

Also placing in the top three, and earning All-UAA, for the Tartans was freshman Michael McDermott (Seekonk, Mass./La Salle Academy) in the high jump. McDermott finished third at 1.95 meters while senior Ryan Kissell (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe) was sixth, earning one point, clearing 1.80 meters. Kissell earned a second-team All-UAA honor by finishing second in the long jump with a mark of 6.79 meters.

The last points of the night came in the weight throw as sophomore Nathan Cheek (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) finished fourth with a mark of 15.69 meters and junior Patrick Robinson (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) finished fifth with a mark of 15.41 meters.

Junior Noel Titus (Bronx, N.Y./Choate Rosemary Hall) qualified for both the 60-meter dash final and the 200-meter dash final with preliminary times of 7.21 and 22.65. Junior Ben Nealy (Egg Harbor Twp., N.J./Egg Harbor Twp.) qualified for the 400-meter dash final with a preliminary time of 51.33.

Vandenberg qualified first for the 800-meter run with a preliminary time of 1:55.76 while Standish had the third best qualifying time in the 800-meter run at 1:56.70.

Junior Daniel Ching (Trout Valley, Ill./The Culver Academies) qualified third for the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.49 seconds, setting a new school record.

Competition resumes Sunday, February 26 at 10:15 a.m. with the field events.