Case Women's XC Wins Oberlin's Inter-Regional as Men's Team Takes Sixth

OBERLIN, Ohio – The Case Western Reserve University women's cross country team had two of the top-four finishers and placed first overall, while the men's squad took sixth at the third annual Inter-Regional Rumble on the campus of Oberlin College on Saturday, October 16.  

For the females, junior Natalia Cabrera (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights) and senior Justine Jeroski (Murrysville, PA/Franklin) had standout performances, taking two of the top-four spots in the 6K race. Cabrera ran in second position for the Spartans with her time of 21:52.3, while Jeroski took fourth in 22:00.2.

Three more seniors in Bettina Kaphingst (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter), Andrea Fischione (Export, PA/Franklin) and Cindy Spahn (Wildwood, MO/Ursuline) also stepped up for Case as all five of the Spartan scorers placed in the top-30. Kaphingst finished third for the team and 20th overall in a time of 22:52.5, while Fischione placed 27th in 22:56.8 and Spahn took 30th in 23:03.8.

Case finished well ahead of runner-up Rhodes College (117) and also outpaced Grove City College (160), Elizabethtown College (167) and Carnegie Mellon (179). Oberlin's Joanna Johnson took medalist honors with a winning time of 21:17.1.

On the men's side, Case placed sixth on the strength of a 199 team score. All five Spartan scorers finished in the top-60 in a 284 runner field.

Finishing the 8K course first for Case was sophomore Chris Kelly (Twinsburg, OH/Twinsburg), who placed 14th overall in 25:34. A trio of seniors in David Carter (Wadsworth, OH/Wadsworth), Robert Ontko (Houston, TX/Strake) and Bobby Voight (Galloway, OH/Hilliard Darby) represented the next three scorers. Carter turned in a time of 25:54.8 to finish 30th overall, while Ontko too 41st in 26:05.6 and Voight placed 55th in 26:19.3. Junior Ethan Teare rounded out the scoring for Case with his 59th place time of 26:22.6.

Allegheny College (PA) won the event with 66 points, as Ben Sathre of the University of St. Thomas claimed medalist honors in a course-record time of 24:45.0.

Next up for the Spartan harriers will be the University Athletic Association Championships on Saturday, October 30 on the campus of New York University.