From Carnegie Mellon University Athletics

The Carnegie Mellon University women's track and field team fell short in its bid to retain the title in the Seventh Annual Battle of the Obelisk against Case Western Reserve University on Saturday, January 31. The Tartans fell 81-55 in the women's standings despite five first-place finishes.

Senior Sasha Spalding (Springhill, Fla./Springstead) won the long jump with a leap of 5.27 meters, took the crown in the shot put with a mark of 10.86 meters and won the 200-meter dash in 26.63. Spalding aslo finished second in the 55-meter dash in a career-best 7.63 seconds.

Junior Lauren Maturo (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) earned a third-place finish in the shot put with a heave of 10.42 meters and sophomore Grace Yee (San Francisco, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding) cleared 2.90 meters in the pole vault to take third place.

Sophomore Rebecca Fortner (Navarre, Ohio/Fairless) took second in the high jump, clearing 1.55 meters, and finished third in the 55-meter hurdles in 9.35 seconds.

Senior Sara Kelly (Madison, Wis./West) won the mile run in 5:32.95 while freshman Sarah Cook(Pittsburgh, Pa./Hampton) won the 400-meter dash in 1:01.03 ahead of sophomore Ariel Tian(Acton, Mass./Acton Boxborough Regional) in second place in 1:04.42. Cook also finished second in the 200-meter dash in 27.71.

Senior Erin Kiekhaefer (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) placed second in the 800-meter run in 2:26.76 as junior Sophie Lohmann (Bergisch Gladbach, Germany) was second in the 5,000-meter run in 19:14.86. Junior Kira Ragazzo (Frederick, Md./Urbana) was third in the 5,000-meter run in 19:15.07 while junior Zofia Tillman (Westminster, Colo./Standley Lake) placed second in the 3,000-meter run in 10:47.34 after finishing fourth in the 5,000-meter run (19:23.80).