The Case Western Reserve University men's track and field teams set three school records on Saturday at two different indoor meets.
The distance medley relay of senior runner Logan Singer, first-year hurdler/sprinter Josh Bates, sophomore runner Nate Gilbert, and senior runner Joe Jaster set the program record at the Grand Valley State University Saturday Big Meet at the Kelly Family Sports Center in Allendale, Michigan, and the 4x200-meter relay of senior sprinter/jumper Keith Cartwright, junior sprinter Brett Callow, sophomore sprinter Nicolas Lende, and graduate student sprinter Juan Perez set the program record at the All-Ohio Division III Indoor Championships at The Steemer on the campus of Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.
The DMR finished in 9:57.61, placing ninth at the meet and second among Division III teams. The quartet broke the previous record of 10:08.40 set by Singer, Lende, and senior runners Will Dehmler and Parker Straight last season at the Tufts National Qualifier. The time is currently 13th-fastest in the country during the 2022-23 season.
In addition, Perez matched the school record in the 60-meter dash, placing second in the finals with a time of 6.96 seconds, tying Ben Zelkin's mark from 2017. Perez ran the fourth-fastest time in the prelims, finishing in 7.07 seconds. Later in the day, he placed fifth in the 200-meter dash, crossing the line at 22.59 seconds.
The 4x200-meter relay finished in third place with a time of 1:30.08, besting the previous record of 1:30.76 set by former Spartans Jonathan Freeman, Nathaniel Wahner, Josh Malone, and Adrian Cannon at the All-Ohio Indoor Championships in 2015.
Overall, the CWRU women's track and field team placed third at the All-Ohio Indoor Championships with 80 points, and the Spartan men's team placed fifth with 50.5 points. The University of Mount Union was first in both the women's standings with 145.5 points and the men's standings with 226.5 points.
Two Case Western Reserve student-athletes won events at the meet: senior runner Julia Kocherzat and junior hurdler/jumper Emily Hopkins. Kocherzat took first in the 5,000-meter run when she crossed the line at 18:26.69, and Hopkins recorded the best mark in the triple jump, bounding 11.19 meters. Kocherzat was also the seventh to cross the line in the mile run, recording a time of 5:29.92.
The 4x400-meter relay of first-year sprinter Hannah Driscoll, senior hurdler Mia Kilroy, first-year runner Melanie Taylor, and junior sprinter Elise Moore placed second with a time of 4:11.76 to earn All-Ohio relay honors. Individually, Moore added an eighth place finish in the 400-meter dash, recording a time of 1:02.56.
Junior runner Jessica Kwasny earned a pair of All-Ohio finishes, placing second in the 800-meter run and third in the mile run. She finished the shorter race in 2:22.02 and the longer race in 5:17.32. First-year runner Julia Hluck earned points for CWRU with a sixth place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:26.65.
Junior thrower Adrienne Wachtman placed second in the shot put with a heave of 11.77 meters to earn All-Ohio honors, and first-year runner Ashley Novak earned All-Ohio honors in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:38.62, finishing third in the event. Senior runner Catherine Phillips contributed a fifth place finish in the 3,000-meter run by finishing in 10:45.34.
Earning points for the Spartans in two events was first-year hurdler/jumper Grace Misiunas. She placed fourth in the 60-meter hurdles with a finals time of 9.34 seconds, 0.04 seconds faster than her time in the prelims. She added an eighth place finish in the 200-meter dash, completing the sprint in 27.43 seconds. Adding a fourth place finish was senior vaulter Victoria Zhao, who cleared 3.42 meters in the pole vault to pick up five points for CWRU.
Three additional Spartans contributed points with eighth place finishes: first-year thrower Michelle Lee (weight throw, 13.59 meters), sophomore hurdler/jumper Sarah Ozeki (long jump, 4.78 meters), and senior jumper Mia Vargo (high jump, 1.48 meters).
Four members of the CWRU men's team placed fourth at the All-Ohio Championships. Senior runner Liam O'Reilly took fourth in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:24.72. Fellow senior runner Jacob Conard placed two spots behind him with a time of 15:58.88. In the pole vault, sophomore vaulter Quaylen Lamarre tied for fourth by clearing 4.43 meters, and first-year vaulter Anthony DeCarlo placed seventh with a mark of 4.13 meters.
First-year hurdler/sprinter Bryce Hodge qualified for the finals of the 60-meter hurdles with the fifth-fastest prelim time, 8.64 seconds, then finished fourth in the event with a finals time of 8.58 seconds. Finally, in the 800-meter run, senior runner Bryden Moxley was the fourth to cross the line, recording a time of 1:57.74 in the event.
Two Spartans earned points in the mile run, with first-year runner Matias Facchinato-Sitja placing fifth in 4:22.81, and graduate student runner Anthony Hart placing eighth in 4:25.50. The final individual top eight performance was by junior runner Stephen Henry, who took seventh in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:58.40.
Additionally, the 4x400-meter relay of Moxley, Lende, senior sprinter/hurdler Pierce Boucher, and first-year sprinter Aaron Brula placed eighth with a time of 3:30.96.
The Spartans will host their final home meet of the 2022-23 season, the Ed Finnigan Greater Cleveland Colleges Invite, on Friday, February 17 at the Veale Center. Action is slated to begin at 4 p.m.
