From Carnegie Mellon University/Washington University Athletics
The Carnegie Mellon University men's cross country team earned its second consecutive University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship on Saturday, sharing the title with Washington University, which won its 10th UAA championship.
Junior David O'Gara of the Bears ran a season-best time of 24:44.48 to lead the men's race. O'Gara edged Brandeis' Ryan Stender by two seconds to claim the individual running title and the first spot on the All-UAA first team. Sophomore Kyle Cepeda (ninth) and senior Sawyer Kelly (10th) earned second team All-UAA honors.
Seven members of the Tartans finished in the top 18 to earn 58 points, the same total as the Bears.
The Tartans were led by junior Ryan Auld (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) who finished fifth overall in a time of 25:02.58 along the 8k course at McIntosh Reserve Park hosted by Emory University. Senior Ryan Archer (Pittsburgh, Pa./Vincentian Academy) was next to finish the race for the Tartans when he did in 25:08.84 for 11th place.
Senior Curtis Watro led a group of four Tartans to finish one after another in 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th place. Watro crossed the finish line in 25:15.26. Sophomore Jared Moore finished in 25:16.13, freshman Edward Goebel was next in 25:16.93 and sophomore Paul Fleming was the fourth in 25:17.93.
Sophomore Aadi Mhatre (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) was the seventh Tartan to finish the race as he was one place and less than two seconds behind Fleming for 18th place in 25:19.47.
Auld earned All-UAA First Team for his place while Archer, Watro and Moore garnered second-team honors. Goebel was the first freshman to finish the race and earned UAA Rookie of the Year. His honor marks the second consecutive Rookie of the Year honor for the Tartans as sophomore William Mitchell, who finished Saturday's race 23rd overall, was last year's honoree.
Carnegie Mellon head coach Tim Connelly and assistant coach Adam Colorito were named UAA Men's Coaching Staff of the Year. The honor was the second consecutive for Connelly.