Men’s Track and Field Victorious at Western PA Championships

Mar. 29 – (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men’s track and field team opened their outdoor season with the team title at the Western Pennsylvania Track and Field Championships on the campus of Carnegie Mellon. The Tartans placed first out of 15 teams with 151 points at the two day event. Division II California University of Pennsylvania placed second with 114 points.

With temperatures in the low 40s and sunny skies on Saturday, the Tartans collected a handful of first place finishes. Senior Drew Miller (West Chester, Pa./Westchester East) won the 1500 meters in 4:04.08, sophomore Chris Bogie (Darien, Conn.) won the 400 meter hurdles in 56.15 seconds, and sophomore Chris Bridgman (Casselberry, Fla./Lyman) tied for first in the pole vault with a vault of 4.42 meters, tying the school record. Sophomore Dario Donatelli (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) won the 10,000 meters on Friday afternoon with a meet record time of 31:41.9 and the men’s 4x800 meter relay team consisting of freshman Nate Bussiere (Canton, Conn.), senior Scott Fortune (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel), sophomore Dan Burrows (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton), and junior Brian Harvey (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) placed first with a time of 8:00.82 on Saturday.

Freshman J.P. Allera (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) placed second behind Donatelli in the 10,000 meters with a personal best time of 32:03.5, and Harvey and Fortune battled it out in the 800 meters with Harvey placing second (1:55.92) just ahead of Fortune (1:55.96). Junior Ryan Anderson (Orchard Park, N.Y.) finished second in the 3000 meter steeplechase (9:38.51), freshman Essien Ohues (Alpharetta, Ga./Chaptahoochee) finished tied for second in the high jump (1.95 m), and senior Eric Tang (Alhambra, Calif./Dunn School) and Ohues placed second and third in the triple jump (13.26 m and 13.17 m, respectively).

Senior Mike Reggie (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) took third in the hammer on Friday with a throw of 47.02 meters and junior Chris Fornataro (Ellwood City, Pa./Riverside) threw the discus 40.57 meters to place seventh overall. Junior Craig Hahn (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) and senior Kiley Williams (Washington, D.C./Randolph-Macon) complemented Bogie’s first place finish in the 400 meter hurdles with third and fifth place finishes, with Hahn running 56.67 seconds and Williams clocking in at 57.43 seconds. Hahn was the top Tartan in the 110 meter high hurdles as he made the finals and placed seventh (16.32 seconds).

Tang was the fastest Tartan in the 100 meter dash, placing fourth (11.48 seconds). Bussiere added a fifth place finish in the 800 meters with a personal best of 1:58.50. Freshman Casey Piper (Butler, Pa.) was the top Tartan in the 200 meter dash as he placed seventh (22.97 seconds). Freshman Mike Tomovich (New Paris, Pa./Chestnut Ridge) finished tops on the team and tied for sixth overall in the long jump with a jump of 6.24 meters.

The Carnegie Mellon 4x100 meter relay team placed third with a time of 43.69 seconds and in the last race of the day the Carnegie Mellon 4x400 meter relay team consisting of sophomore Stephen Carney (Burrell, Pa.), Burrows, freshman Erik Kallenbach (Powell, Ohio/Olentagy), and Bogie placed fifth with a time of 3:32.20.

The Carnegie Mellon men’s outdoor track and field team will be in action again next weekend, April 4 and 5, when they travel to Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pa.