Women’s Track & Field Wins Second Consecutive Home Mini Invite

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's track and field team hosted its annual Mini Invitational on Saturday, March 25. The Tartans won the event after scoring 292 points with Waynesburg University taking second with 101 points.

On Friday night, junior Kiersten Chuc (Cupertino, Calif./Monta Vista) threw a career-best distance of 45.91 meters in the hammer throw to win the event. Sophomore Alexa Barriero (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North) took second in the event after tossing the hammer 36.86 meters, a career-best. Barriero placed third in the javelin on Saturday with a throw of 33.05 meters. Chuc then placed third in the discus with another career-best toss of 34.90 meters on Saturday.

Freshman Leah Kendrick (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) led the Tartan sweep in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.74. Senior Summer Farber (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) finished second with a time of 16.82 and freshman Emily Wu (Greenwich, Conn.) placed third after crossing in 17.14.

In the 400-meter hurdles, freshman Keegan Barone (Chicago, Ill./Latin School of Chicago) placed second while Kendrick finished third with times of 1:13.22 and 1:13.65.

The second sweep for the Cardinal and Gray came in the 800-meter race with sophomore Rose Ciriello (Madison, N.J./Madison) leading the way with a time of 2:21.29. Senior Ariel Tian (Acton, Mass./Acton Boxborough Regional) finished second with a time of 2:23.66 while freshman Kate Reilly (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Prep) placed third after crossing in 2:23.83.

Junior Sarah Cook (Pittsburgh, Pa./Hampton) set a new meet record in the 400-meter run with a time 57.55 to win the event.

Graduate student Erin Persson (San Antonio, Texas/Saint Mary's Hall) won the 1,500-metr run with a career-best and meet record time of 4:47.97 while freshman Rachel Reolfi (North Canton, Ohio/Canton Central Catholic) finished second after crossing in 4:57.92.

In the 5,000-meter race, junior Aparna Alavilli (Hanover , N.H.) won the race with a time of 18:12.68.

Sophomore Debarati Bhanja (New Albany, Ohio) and senior Jerilyn James (Friendswood, Texas/Clear Brook) earned first and second place points for the Tartans in the 200-meter race. Bhanja crossed in 27.33 with James finishing in 27.46.

The 4x100-meter relay team of sophomores Claire Yuan (San Jose, Calif./Lynbrook), Autumn Hair (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) and Bhanja along with James placed second with a time of 51.88. Yaun and James finished second and third in the 100-meter dash with times of 13.26 and 13.37.

Also, turning in a first place in the relays was the 4x400-meter team of Bhanja, Ciriello, Tian and Cook with a time of 4:09.24.  

In the long jump, Hair and Bhanja finished first and second in the long jump with leaps of 5.08 and 4.97 meters, respectively. Hair won the triple jump with a career-best leap of 10.40 meters and Farber placed second with a mark of 10.19 meters.

The Tartans also turned in a first and second place showing in the pole vault when senior Grace Yee (San Francisco, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding) cleared a school record height of 3.68 meters and freshman Michelle Karabin (Ruffs Dale, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) cleared 3.38 meters.

Seniors Rebecca Fortner (Navarre, Ohio/Fairless) and Emily Swanson (Atkinson, N.H./Timberlane Regional) tied for first in the high jump after clearing 1.51 meters. It marked a personal-best for Swanson.

The Tartans will host the Carnegie Mellon Quad on Saturday, April 1 with field events set to start at 10:00 a.m.