Allen and Bhanja Receive Weekly Honors

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – A pair of Carnegie Mellon University women's track and field freshmen were honored with weekly accolades following their performance at the Tartans Mini Invitational on Friday and Saturday, March 25-26. Tessa Allen (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Bishop Montgomery) was named University Athletic Association (UAA) Athlete of the Week for field events while Debarati Bhanja (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) garnered Corvias Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III South Rookie Athlete of the Week.

Allen won two events and set a new school record in the high jump when she cleared the bar at 1.59 meters to top a record held for 18 years. She currently ranks first in the UAA in the event and 13th in the nation. The freshman also won the triple jump with a mark of 10.40 meters.     

Bhanja was part of the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays that won in times of 50.21 and 4:01.36 while she placed second in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes with best times of 13.32 and 26.14. She also placed first in the long jump as she tied the school record with a mark of 5.47 meters. The jump ranks her first in the UAA and fifth in the nation.

The Tartans' next competition will be back at Gesling Stadium on April 2 when they host their annual Quad Meet beginning at 10:00 a.m.