Led by strong performances from senior sprinter Juan Perez and junior hurdler Mia Kilroy, the Case Western Reserve University track and field teams won 11 events at the two-day Bob Kahn Invitational in Oberlin, Ohio on Friday and Saturday.
Perez took the top spot in three events, winning the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and finishing the 4x100-meter relay. He finished the 100-meter dash in 10.86 seconds, the fourth-fastest time in program history, and crossed the finish line in 22.40 seconds in the 200-meter dash. The relay team of Perez, junior sprinter/jumper Keith Cartwright, sophomore sprinter Brett Callow, and senior sprinter Peter Chin won the 4x100-meter event with a time of 43.42 seconds.
Kilroy won the 400-meter hurdles and was on the winning 4x400-meter relay. Her time of 1:05.46 in the 400-meter hurdles is sixth fastest in program history. The relay, consisting of Kilroy, sophomore sprinter/jumper Anna Zinsser, sophomore sprinter Elise Moore, and sophomore distance runner Jessica Kwasny, finished in 4:11.77, the fastest mark by a Spartan relay this season. Kilroy added a third-place finish in the high jump with a mark of 1.43 meters.
In addition to those two wins, the women's team picked up three individual top finishes. Sophomore thrower Adrienne Wachtman placed first in the javelin throw with a mark of 30.57 meters, senior mid-distance runner Jana Fisher finished first in the 5000-meter run in 17:39.58, the seventh-best mark in program history, and sophomore sprinter/jumper Emily Hopkins won the triple jump with a mark of 10.43 meters. Hopkins added a third-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.759 seconds, and she was joined by Moore, Zinsser, and first-year hurdler/jumper Sarah Ozeki for the 4x100-meter relay, which placed third in 52.29 seconds.
Ozeki bested Hopkins in the 100-meter hurdles by 0.007 seconds, finishing in second place with a time of 16.752 seconds. She also earned a runner-up spot in the triple jump, recording a mark of 10.25 meters.
Kwasny and senior distance runner Julia Kocherzat added second-place finishes for CWRU. Kwasny was the runner-up in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01.65, while Kocherzat placed second in the 5000-meter run in 18:41.03. Zinsser took third in the 200-meter dash in 27.23 seconds.
On top of the three wins by Perez, the men's team had first-place finishes in three additional events. First-year distance runner Aidan Nathan was the first to cross the finish line in the 10000-meter run with a time of 31:34.75, the fifth-best mark in program history. The Spartans swept both hurdling events, with junior hurdler Peculiar Nzegbuna winning the 110-meter hurdles in 15.95 seconds and sophomore sprinter/jumper Yusuf Shaaban winning the 400-meter hurdles in 56.95 seconds. Case Western Reserve also finished third in both events as first-year hurdler Utah Strobel finished the 110-meter hurdles in 18.47 seconds and junior hurdler Putu Randy Radiarta finished the 400-meter hurdles in 58.56 seconds.
The Case Western Reserve men's team had five runner-up finishes at the invitational. Callow trailed Perez in the 100-meter dash, finishing with a time of 11.28 seconds. Sophomore distance runner Matthew Smutny took second in the 5000-meter run with a time of 15:45.48, first-year distance runner Nate Gilbert placed second in the 800-meter run in 1:57.69, and first-year distance runner Hans Holst was second to cross the finish line in the 1500-meter run, finishing with a time of 4:05.53. First-year jumper Ian Chiu earned a second-place finish in the long jump with a mark of 6.12 meters, tied for the furthest by a Spartan this season.
Radiarta added a third-place finish in the 100-meter dash in 11.68 seconds. Sophomore mid-distance runner Andrew Baierl placed third in the 400-meter dash in 53.75 seconds, first-year distance runner Luke Kishna had a third-place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase in 10:00.56, and junior jumper Kenny Suen placed third in the triple jump with a mark of 11.74 meters.
A group of Spartans will attempt to earn national qualifying marks at the Bison Outdoor Classic on the campus of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania on Friday, April 15. The next day, Case Western Reserve will compete in the All-Ohio Outdoor Championships in Delaware, Ohio on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University.
