Senior runner Melissa Phung-Rojas broke the Case Western Reserve University record in the indoor 800-meter run at the Grand Valley State University Friday Big Meet at the Kelly Family Sports Center in Allendale, Michigan.

Phung-Rojas broke the school record in the event with a time of 2:18.56, the 46th-best mark in Division III this season, besting the previous record of 2:18.60 run by Vanessa Passadyn in 2018. Phung-Rojas finished 27th in the race and was the second finisher among Division III runners.

Also putting up top marks among Division III runners this season were senior runner Jack Begley, sophomore runner Aidan Nathan, and senior runner Joe Jaster. Begley and Nathan, competing in the 5,000-meter run, recorded the 20th- and 31st-fastest times, respectively, in the country this season. Begley crossed the line at 14:29.76, and Nathan recorded a time of 14:42.04. In the 3,000-meter run, Jaster logged the 32nd-best time in the country with a mark of 8:23.05, finishing third among Division III runners at GVSU.

Senior runner Will Dehmler and first-year hurdler/sprinter Josh Bates placed their names in the top five in program history in their events. Dehmler finished the 800-meter run in 1:56.37, the fourth-fastest mark in school history, and Bates is now second in program history in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.55 seconds.

Members of the CWRU men's and women's track and field teams also competed against Oberlin College on Friday night at the Kahn Track and Shults Field in Oberlin, Ohio. Five Spartans won events, with senior runner Chloe Relf taking first place in two events. Relf was the first finisher in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes, crossing the line at 29.65 in the shorter race and 1:04.46 in the longer race.

For the men's team, sophomore sprinters Jack Xia and William DeYoung placed first in the 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash. Xia finished the 200-meter dash in 24.88 seconds, and DeYoung won the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.79 seconds. In the 800-meter run, first-year runner Akash Mallady placed first with a time of 2:08.78, and in the pole vault, sophomore jumper Joshua Berman cleared a season-best mark of 3.65 meters to take first place.

Tomorrow, the Spartans will compete for the Indoor All-Ohio Championship at The Steemer on the campus of Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, with action slated to begin at 12 p.m. In addition, the men's distance medley relay will run at GVSU in Saturday's Big Meet at approximately 11 a.m.