Tartans Win Battle for the Obelisk, Take Top Spot in 15 Events

(CLEVELAND, Ohio) — The Carnegie Mellon University women's track and field team won the 13th Annual Battle for the Obelisk versus Case Western Reserve University for the third consecutive time. The women won the meet 87-51 over the Spartans and in a combined men's and women's score of 172-100 marking the fifth straight Obelisk title for the Tartans. The Cardinal and Gray now lead the series 9-4.

The women won 15 events and swept the top three spots in one. The sweep came in the shot put where freshman Taylor Symonette (Westport, Conn. / Staples) placed first with a throw of 10.52 meters. Freshmen Katie Monahan (Cranberry Twp., Pa. / Seneca Valley) and Kayla Rountree (New Haven, Conn. / James Hillhouse) placed second and third, respectively, with throws of 10.49 and 9.74 meters. The weigh throw was won by junior Ola Owodunni (Philadelphia, Pa. / Central), as she tossed the element 13.60 meters.

Junior Liz Barre (Ithaca, N.Y. / Taft) won four events on the afternoon. She won the long jump (4.89 meters), high jump (1.60 meters) and 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.35. The junior was joined by graduate student Valerie Reiling (Concord, Mass. / Concord Carlisle Regional), junior Samantha Giordani (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Ambridge) and sophomore Isabella Rhee (Midland, Mich. / H.H. Dow) to win the 4x400-meter relay in 4:17.83.

Giordani recorded two additional victories. The junior crossed in 7.94 in the 60-meter dash and 26.16 in the 200-meter dash.

The Tartans also won the distance medley relay. The team of senior Taylor Jacobs (Bozeman, Mont./ The Taft School), sophomore Emily Lannen (Reston, Va. / South Lakes), junior Kavya Tummalapalli (Plainsboro, N.J. / West Windsor-Plainsboro High School) and senior Kristen Seballos (Cleveland, Ohio / Padua Franciscan) crossed in 12:47.40.

Jacobs and Seballos each collected another win for the Tartans. Jacobs won the mile run in 5:12.08 while Seballos crossed in 10:15.83 to win the 3,000-meter run.

Graduate student Michelle Murray (Greenlawn, N.Y. / Harborfields) won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:15.10 and sophomore Isabella Rhee (Midland, Mich. / H.H. Dow placed first in the 400-meter run with a time of 1:01.82.

Freshman Jocelyn Kiefel (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown West) won the triple jump for the second straight meet with a jump of 10.53 meters. The pole vault was won by junior JoJo Huczko (Murrysville, Pa. / Franklin Regional) after she cleared the bar at 3.20 meters.

The Tartans will compete at the Roanoke Invitational Challenge on Saturday, February 12.