Led by two top three finishes from junior thrower Adrienne Wachtman, including a conference championship and school record, the Case Western Reserve University women's track and field team placed fifth at the 2023 University Athletic Association Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Stagg Field and Haydon Track on the campus of the University of Chicago in Chicago.
Wachtman defended her title in the javelin throw with a school record heave of 41.71 meters. She bested the previous record of 41.04 meters set by Jenna Pansky in 2012. This year marked the third consecutive UAA title by Case Western Reserve in the event, with former Spartan Shannon Carroll claiming the championship in 2019 (there were no UAA Outdoor Championships in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic). Wachtman added a third place finish in the discus throw to earn her third-career All-UAA honors. She recorded a mark of 38.55 meters to become the first Spartan in four years to place in the top three in the event. First-year thrower Michelle Lee also earned a point for CWRU in the javelin throw, placing eighth with a mark of 28.91 meters.
Overall, the Spartans placed fifth out of seven teams in the conference standings with 57.5 points. WashU won the UAA Championship with 253.5 points, followed by Chicago (228.5 points), Emory (135.5), and Carnegie Mellon (89).
Senior jumper Mia Vargo also earned her third career All-UAA honors on the second day of the championship, placing third in the high jump by clearing 1.57 meters. Last year, she tied for second in the event, and she placed second in the high jump at the 2020 UAA Indoor Championships.
Overall, six Spartans totaled seven All-UAA honors in four events at the 2023 Outdoor Championships. In addition to Wachtman and Vargo, senior runner Danielle Sarno, sophomore runner Marquis Globokar, junior runner Grace Jackson, and first-year runner Lauren Iagnemma placed third in the 4x800-meter relay on Saturday.
Senior hurdler Mia Kilroy earned a fifth place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, recording a finals time of 1:07.65 in the event. The 4x100-meter relay of junior sprinter/jumper Anna Zinsser, first-year runner Melanie Taylor, first-year hurdler/sprinter Gabby Alphonse, and first-year hurdler/jumper Grace Misiunas also placed fifth, finishing the relay in 50.79 seconds.
Taylor and Sarno were joined by junior runner Jessica Kwasny and senior runner Melissa Phung-Rojas for the 4x400-meter relay, with the Spartans taking sixth place in 4:06.77. Individually, Sarno finished sixth in the 400-meter dash with a finals time of 1:00.95, and Phung-Rojas was the eighth runner to cross the line in the finals of the 800-meter run at 2:19.10. In the 100-meter hurdles, Misiunas placed seventh with a finals time of 15.41 seconds.
The Spartans will next head to Ashland, Ohio, next weekend for the Ashland Alumni Open on Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29.
