Women’s Track & Field Places Sixth at Outdoor UAAs

Apr. 20 – (CHICAGO, Ill.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women’s track and field team competed at the 2008 University Athletic Association (UAA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20 at Ted Haydon Track hosted by the University of Chicago. The Tartans collected 37.50 points to finish sixth out of the seven teams competing. Washington University of St. Louis won the team title with 259 points.

Sophomore Diane Mattingly (Leonardtown, Md.) collected the lone first place finish for Carnegie Mellon as she won the 400 meters in a school record time of 58.33 seconds. Mattingly was seeded second going into the finals on Sunday. Freshman Courtney Baker (Fairfax, Va./Nashoba Regional) also qualified and finished eighth with a time of 64.17 seconds. Sophomore Crystal Lee Pow (Montclair, N.J.) placed fifth in the 400 meter hurdles in a personal best time of 69.55 seconds and senior Ashley Bakelmun (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) finished sixth in the 800 meters in a time of 2:26.05.

Junior Sami Simmons (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) contributed an eighth place finish in the long jump (4.84 m) and sophomore b added an eighth place finish in the high jump (1.36 m). Freshman Melissa Hwang (Paramus, N.J.) narrowly missed collecting points for the Tartans as she finished ninth in the triple jump (10.36 m). Sophomore Anna Lenhart (Hagerstown, Md.) placed tenth in the pole vault (2.60 m) and ran a personal best in the 5,000 meters of 19:43.69 en route to placing 14th. Junior Chrissy Krutz (Natrona Heights, Pa./Shadyside Academy) placed tenth in the 10,000 meters on Saturday by running a personal record 42:22.61. Freshman Laura McKee (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron) was 12th in the 1,500 meters (5:02.22) and freshman Kim Nederlof (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shadyside Academy) was the top Tartan in the discus (personal best 28.06 m).

The Carnegie Mellon 4x400 meter relay team finished second with a season best time of 4:04.01 and the 4x800 meter relay team placed third in 9:39.86. The Carnegie Mellon 4x100 meter relay team finished in a tie for fifth with a time of 51.84 seconds.