Tartans Win UAA Track & Field Championship by 1.5 Points

Apr. 22 – (ATLANTA, Ga.) – The Carnegie Mellon men's outdoor track and field team won the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships with 168 points. The two-day event was hosted by Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and the Tartans held on Sunday to edge the host by 1.5 points.

The Tartans held a 6.5 point advantage over Emory going into the 4x400 meter relay, the final event of the championships. Emory won the event (giving them 10 points), however the Tartans' team consisting of senior Davey Quinn (Glen Ellyn, Ill./St. Francis Prep), sophomore Carlton Reeves (Attleboro, Mass./Moses Brown), junior Scott Fortune (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel), and senior Russel Verbofsky (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) finished in fourth (3:24.31), good for five points, maintaining their place atop the leader board.

The Tartans took home four individual titles on the second day, giving them eight total, as many athletes put forth their best performances of the season in Atlanta. Senior Nick Bannister (Sugar Land, Texas/Stephen F. Austin) won the 110 meter high hurdles in 14.97 seconds, freshman James Hulley (Northampton, Mass.) won the discus with a distance of 42.54 meters, senior Eric Tang (Los Angeles, Calif./Dunn) won the triple jump with a season best of 13.81 m, and sophomore Brian Harvey (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) won the 1500 meters with a personal best time of 3:51.35.

Tang added a second place finish in the 100 meter dash thanks to a season best time of 10.99 seconds. Sophomore Craig Hahn (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) finished second in the 400 meter hurdles with a personal record time of 56.31 seconds. Quinn took third place in the 800 meter dash (1:55.62), as well as fifth in the 1500 meters (3:57.76). Harvey followed up his 1500 meter performance with a sixth place finish in the 5000 meters (15:06.16).

Verbofsky contributed points for the Tartans in both the 200 meter dash and the 400 meters as he finished third in the 200 with a season best time of 22.25 and fifth in the 400 with a season best time of 49.75. Senior Jeff Polack (Medina, Ohio) placed fourth with a season best time of 57.02 seconds in the 400 meter high hurdles, and junior Chris Uhrinek (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) placed sixth in the javelin with a season best distance of 48.77 meters. Sophomore Colin Marks (Washington Crossing, Md./Council Rock North) finished eighth in the high jump with a height of 1.77 meters.

The Tartans also took third in the 4x100 meter relay, with their team consisting of Bannister, Tang, Polack, and Verbofsky crossing the line in 43.00 seconds.