Junior mid-distance runner Joe Jaster, senior sprinter Juan Perez, and junior distance runner Jack Begley each earned All-University Athletic Association honors to pace the Case Western Reserve University track and field teams on the final day of the 2022 UAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Veale Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
Overall, the Spartan men's team placed fifth in the conference with 56 points, while the women's team finished sixth with 28.5 points. Washington University in St. Louis won both the men's and the women's team championships.
Perez finished second in the 60-meter dash in 7.01 seconds, just thousandths of a second away from claiming the UAA title. It is his first All-UAA Indoor honor and second All-UAA honor overall, after placing third in the 4x400-meter outdoor relay in 2019. He is the first Spartan to earn All-UAA honors in the 60-meter dash since at least the 2010-11 season.
Jaster and Begley finished second and third in the 3000-meter run to earn All-UAA honors. Jaster finished in 8:25.47, 2.53 seconds behind the winner, while Begley finished 0.10 seconds behind him in 8:25.57. It is the first All-UAA honor for Jaster and the second for Begley, after he finished third in the 5000-meter run on Saturday. The last Spartan to earn All-UAA in the 3000-meter run was Sam Merriman in 2018.
Senior mid-distance runner Logan Singer set the school record in the one-mile run, finishing in 4:11.59. He broke his own record of 4:13.03 set at the 2020 UAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Singer finished fourth in the event, just 0.03 seconds from earning All-UAA honors.
The 4x400-meter relay of sophomore distance runner Michael Smoluk, sophomore sprinter/jumper Yusuf Shaaban, junior mid-distance runner Will Dehmler, and first-year sprinter Nicolas Lende placed sixth with a time of 3:27.78, the best time by a Spartan relay in the event this season.
First-year jumper Andrew Qi and junior hurdler Peculiar Nzegbuna each added a top-eight finish for the Spartans. Qi placed seventh in the triple jump with a mark of 12.72 meters, and Nzegbuna placed eighth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.84 seconds.
For the women's team, junior jumper Mia Vargo placed fourth and junior hurdler Mia Kilroy placed fifth in the high jump. Vargo recorded a mark of 1.57 meters, while Kilroy recorded a jump of 1.47 meters.
Sophomore sprinter/jumper Emily Hopkins recorded a top-five finish, placing fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 11.11 meters. The jump is the longest by a Spartan this season. First-year hurdler/jumper Sarah Ozeki recorded a mark of 11.06 meters in the event, placing sixth.
Other Spartans earning sixth place finishes were sophomore distance runner Jessica Kwasny and the 4x400-meter relay. Kwasny placed sixth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:20.89. The relay, consisting of Kilroy, sophomore sprinter/jumper Anna Zinsser, junior mid-distance runner Melissa Phung, and sophomore sprinter Elise Moore, finished in 4:16.24, the fastest time by a Spartan relay this season in the event.
The CWRU track and field teams will have one final meet to qualify for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, the Polar Bear Last Chance Meet hosted by Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio on Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5.
