Four Event Wins Highlight Day as Tartans Place Second at UAA Championships

(NEW YORK, N.Y.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's track and field team placed second at the University Athletic Assocation (UAA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by New York University. The Tartans won four events and placed third in four events on the second day while scoring 177 team points.

Individual champions included sophomore Thomas Vandenberg (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck) in the 800-meter run, junior Zachary Erra-Hernandez (Las Cruces, N.M./Onate) in the discus, sophomore Mike McDermott (Seekonk, Mass./La Salle Academy) in the high jump and the 4x400-meter relay team of sophomore Douglas O'Connell (Rye, N.Y./Fordham Prep), freshman Marc-Daniel Julien (Skokie, Ill./Niles West), senior Noel Titus (Bronx, N.Y./Choate Rosemary Hall) and Vandenberg.

Vandenberg's time of 1:52.77 in the 800-meter run was a season best and currently has him 14th in the nation. Erra-Hernandez won his second event of the championship as he threw the discus 44.69m while McDermott cleared a season-best 1.98m in the high jump.

The 4x400-meter relay team crossed the line in 3:19.29 for the win and earn the Tartans' second relay title of the meet.

Sophomore Gino Pilato (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area) picked up his second third-place finish of the meet when he threw the discus 43.79m as freshman Ben Neiman (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L. Vandermeulen) ran the 110-meter hurdles in a career-best time of 15.72 to place third. Junior Mike Standish (Washington, Pa./Trinity) placed third in the 400-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 56.72.

The Tartans' fourth third-place finish came from freshman Paul Hamerski (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) in the javelin when he threw for a career mark of 52.36m. Also scoring points in the javelin was junior Nathan Cheek (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) with a fourth-place mark of 50.56m and junior David Markowitz (Stamford, Conn./Westhill) with a sixth-place mark of 49.40m.def

Titus picked up two fifth-place finishes in the 100- and 200-meter dashes as freshman Brandon Hoane (Mount Kisco, N.Y./Horace Greeley) placed seventh in the triple jump with a mark of 12.56m.

Junior Josh Newby (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) placed fourth in the 5,000-meter run in 14:49.59 while senior Ben Nealy (Egg Harbor Twp., N.J./Egg Harbor Twp.) placed fifth in the 400-meter dash in 51.08 and Julien placed fifth in the 1,500-meter run in 3:58.93.

The Tartans will next compete at the Gator Invitational hosted by Allegheny College on Friday, May 10.