Tartans Finish Sixth at UAA Championships

(ATLANTA, Ga.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's track and field team finished sixth at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Track and Field Championships which concluded Sunday, April 26 after two days of action at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

In the finals of the 400-meter dash, freshman Sarah Cook (Pittsburgh, Pa./Hampton) bettered her own school record set during the preliminaries on Saturday with a third-place finish in 57.22 seconds to earn All-UAA third-team honors.

Also earning All-UAA honors was senior Erin Kiekhaefer (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto). Kiekhaefer finished the 1,500-meter run in second-place with a career-best time of 4:39.84. Senior Sara Kelly (Madison, Wis./West) also ran in the race, finishing ninth in 4:49.88.

Junior Rekha Schnepf (McLean, Va./Thomas Jefferson HS for Sci & Tech) placed fifth in the 5,000-meter run on Sunday with a career-best finishing time of 18:22.57. Junior Sophie Lohmann (Bergisch Gladbach, Germany) also competed in the distance event and placed sixth in 18:33.64.

Another All-UAA and school-record performance was had by the 4x100-meter relay team. Freshman Jerilyn James (Friendswood, Texas/Clear Brook), Cook, sophomore Ariel Tian (Acton, Mass./Acton Boxborough Regional) and senior Sasha Spalding (Springhill, Fla./Springstead) placed third in 49.23 seconds.

Sophomore Rebecca Fortner (Navarre, Ohio/Fairless) cleared 1.57 meters in the high jump to place fifth while freshman Kiersten Chuc (Cupertino, Calif./Monta Vista) took sixth in the discus throw with a mark of 33.10 meters.