The Case Western Reserve University men's and women's track and field teams began the 2024 portion of their indoor season with the SPIRE Midwest Open at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, on Saturday.
Competing against student-athletes from all three NCAA Divisions, the Spartans totaled seven top five finishes and 22 top 10 finishes at the meet.
First-year vaulter Holly Schreiber had the best overall finish for a Spartan, placing second in the pole vault by clearing 3.45 meters. Classmate Annie Wank finished third in the event after clearing 3.25 meters with the CWRU vaulters earning the top two places among Division III athletes in the event.
Half of the top 10 finishers in the weight throw event were from Case Western Reserve. Senior thrower Ailean Duffie had the best mark with a heave of 14.78 meters, placing fourth, and sophomore thrower Michelle Lee placed sixth with a throw of 14.32 meters. Senior Adrienne Wachtman, junior Rachel Ginn, and junior Lauren Roskuszka placed eighth, ninth, and 10th, respectively. Wachtman added a ninth-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 11.40 meters.
The final top five finish of the meet was in the mile run with senior runner Grace Jackson placing fifth in 5:11.46. She was the first runner from a Division III school to cross the line in the event. Jackson later joined senior sprinter Anna Zinsser, sophomore sprinter Melanie Taylor, and senior runner Jessica Kwasny for the 4x400-meter relay. The quartet placed seventh with a time of 4:16.72.
Individually, Zinsser finished sixth in the 200-meter dash in 27.14 seconds, and Kwasny placed 10th in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:22.70.
Junior hurdler/jumper Sarah Ozeki placed in the top eight in two events, finishing seventh in the triple jump with a mark of 10.52 meters and eighth in the 60-meter hurdles with a finals time of 9.71 seconds. Senior hurdler/jumper Emily Hopkins placed sixth in the triple jump by bounding 10.55 meters, and sophomore hurdler/sprinter Grace Misiunas finished seventh in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles in 9.70 seconds.
The best finish from a member of the men's track and field team was earned by junior runner Nate Gilbert, who placed third in the mile run with a time of 4:15.85.
The men's 4x400-meter relay of junior Nicolas Lende, senior hurdler/jumper Yusuf Shaaban, first-year sprinter Jeremiah Broughton, and sophomore hurdler/sprinter Josh Bates placed fifth in 3:24.03. Broughton added an eighth-place finish in the 400-meter dash in 50.65 seconds, and Bates placed ninth in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.00.
In the field, junior jumper Andrew Qi bounded 12.72 meters in the triple jump to place fifth, and first-year jumper Tanush Anand cleared 1.85 meters in the high jump to tie for eighth place.
Finally, graduate student sprinter Keith Cartwright had the seventh-fastest time in the prelims of the 60-meter dash, finishing the race in 7.04 seconds.
The track and field teams will next travel to Berea, Ohio, for the Dr. Taraschke Team Challenge hosted by Baldwin Wallace University on Saturday, January 27. Action is slated to begin at 10 a.m.
