The Case Western Reserve University track and field team wrapped up its regular season at the Mount Union Last Chance Meet on Thursday, and will now turn its attention toward the announcement of the NCAA Championship field later in the week.
Competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the first time in his career, senior Joe Jaster won the event with a time of 9:28.63, while graduate student Anthony Hart finished second with a time of 9:43.85.
First-year Josh Bates placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.59 seconds and junior Yusuf Shaaban added a seventh-place finish in the event with a time of 55.85 seconds. Shaaban also finished sixth in the high jump with a mark of 1.88 meters.
In the 100-meter dash, junior Brett Callow finished sixth with a time of 10.90 seconds, and graduate student Juan Perez was ninth with a time of 10.94 seconds. Senior Logan Singer added a fifth-place finish in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:55.01, and the 4x100-meter relay team placed third with a mark of 41.92 seconds.
For the women, senior Melissa Phung-Rojas was seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.88 seconds, and junior Adrienne Wachtman finished ninth in the javelin throw with a distance of 33.17 meters.
The Spartans will now await the announcement of the selections for the 2023 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which are set to be posted to NCAA.com by 8:00 p.m. on Friday, May 19. The top 22 declared student-athletes and top-16 relays will each be admitted to the meet.
CWRU athletes currently in a strong position to qualify include senior Jack Begley who is 13th nationally in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 29:41.72 and Wachtman who is 18th in the javelin throw with a distance of 41.71 meters, while Jaster has an outside chance to qualify in the 5,000-meter run, currently ranking 26th with a time of 14:16.35, as does Singer, who is 26th in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:48.10.
Selected athletes will compete at the NCAA Championships at the Polisseni Track & Field Complex in Rochester, New York from May 25 – 27.
