Tartan Men Open Indoor Season at Marietta

(MARIETTA, Ohio) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's track and field team opened the indoor season with a meet at Marietta College amongst teams from Division II and Division III schools. The Tartans had five top-three finishes on both the track and in the field.

Freshman Thomas Vandenberg (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck) won the 800-meter run in 1:59.52 as sophomore Mike Standish (Washington, Pa./Trinity) placed third in 2:01.47.

The Tartans also got a first-place finish from senior Rob Morhard (Eagleville, Pa./Methacton) in the 3,000-meter run when he crossed the finish line in 9:04.70. Senior Kyle Andrews (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) placed second in the event in 9:11.57.

Sophomore Adam Cantini (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville) picked up the Tartans fifth top-three finish on the track when he crossed the finish line third in the 5,000-meter run in 16:21.99.

Junior Noel Titus (Bronx, N.Y./Choate Rosemary Hall) finished eighth in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.88 seconds after qualifying for the finals in 6.84 seconds. He later finished sixth in the 200-meter dash in 24.18 seconds.

Junior Daniel Ching (Trout Valley, Ill./The Culver Academies) placed 11th in the 400-meter dash in 55.79 seconds as sophomore Robert Cross (Westport, Conn./Staples) was 12th in 56.62 seconds. Freshman Ben Walker (Purcellville, Va./Loudoun Valley) placed eighth in the 500-meter dash in 1:14.43. Ching later took second in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.16 seconds while Cross finished sixth in 8.88 seconds.

The Tartans 4x400-meter relay team of junior Ben Nealy (Egg Harbor Twp., N.J./Egg Harbor Twp.), Vandenberg, Walker and Standish placed fourth in 3:38.19.

In field events, freshman Michael McDermott (Seekonk, Mass./La Salle Academy) won the high jump with a mark of 1.87 meters as senior Ryan Kissell (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe) placed fourth with a mark of 1.72 meters in the high jump and fourth in the long jump with a distance of 6.22 meters. In the pole vault, junior Dan Cardenas Rivero (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) tied for third with a mark of 3.95 meters.

Sophomore Zachary Erra-Hernandez (Las Cruces, N.M./Onate) took second place in the shot put with a distance of 13.89 meters with freshman Gino Pilato (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area) placing third with a mark of 13.73 meters. Sophomore Nathan Cheek (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) placed second in the weight throw with a mark of 14.78 meters with junior Patrick Robinson (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) taking fifth with a mark of 13.63 meters.

The Tartans will next compete at Edinboro University on Saturday, January 21.