Led by a runner-up finish from junior mid-distance runner Joe Jaster in the 5,000-meter run, the Case Western Reserve University men's track and field team placed fifth at the two-day University Athletic Association Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Bushyhead Track in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Spartans earned 64.5 points in the meet. Host Washington University in St. Louis won the conference championship with 207.0 points followed by Carnegie Mellon (202.0 points), Emory (142.5), and Chicago (120.0).
Jaster earned All-UAA honors with the second-place finish in the race, crossing the line at 14:47.14. Junior distance runner Jack Begley finished sixth in the event with a time of 14:54.37. It is the second all-conference honor for Jaster, after he placed second in the 3,000-meter run at the UAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in February.
Senior mid-distance runner Logan Singer broke a 35-year program record in the 1,500-meter run, finishing in 3:52.39. The previous record of 3:54.25 was set by former Spartan Gary Tressler in 1987. Singer placed fifth in the event, earning four points for CWRU. He added an eighth-place finish in the 800-meter run after qualifying for the final on Saturday with a time of 1:52.82.
First-year sprinter Nicolas Lende earned four points for the Spartans with a pair of seventh-place finishes in individual events. He was the seventh runner to cross the line in the finals of the 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash, completing the shorter sprint in 22.80 seconds and the longer race in 50.55 seconds. He qualified for the 200-meter finals with a preliminary time of 22.33 seconds and qualified for the 400-meter finals with a time of 49.99 seconds in the prelims on Saturday. Lende joined sophomore sprinter/jumper Yusuf Shaaban, sophomore sprinter Brett Callow, and junior mid-distance runner Will Dehmler for the 4x400-meter relay, placing fifth with a time of 3:22.86.
Shaaban earned three additional top-seven finishes, two individually and one on a relay. Individually, he placed sixth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.17 seconds and tied for seventh in the high jump with a mark of 1.80 meters. Shaaban was also a member of the sixth place 4x100-meter relay, along with Callow, junior sprinter/jumper Keith Cartwright, and junior hurdler Putu Randy Radiarta, that finished in 43.17 seconds. Junior hurdler/jumper Pierce Boucher placed eighth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58.51 seconds in the final after recording a mark of 57.72 seconds to qualify. Callow earned a point for the Spartans by finishing eighth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.18 seconds in the finals. To qualify, he finished in 11.07 seconds in the Saturday prelims.
In the 110-meter hurdles, junior hurdler Peculiar Nzegbuna scored points for the Spartans with a seventh-place finish in 15.78 seconds. He qualified for the finals with a preliminary time of 15.43 seconds.
The men's team earned two All-UAA selections at the meet as, in addition to Jaster, Begley earned the honor on Saturday in the 10,000-meter run.
The Spartans will be off from competition until Friday, May 13 when the team travels to Berea, Ohio for the Harrison Dillard Twilight hosted by Baldwin Wallace University. The meet will be one of the final chances for CWRU athletes to earn qualifying marks for the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships.
