Led by its strong junior class, including Lauren Iagnemma who earned her second-straight All-America honor, the Case Western Reserve University women's cross country team recorded another successful campaign in 2024.
Iagnemma once again led the way for the Spartans in 2024, becoming just the third runner in program history to claim multiple All-America honors, joining former Spartans Justine Jeroski (2008, 2009, 2010) and Esther Erb (2006, 2007). Iagnemma finished 36th overall out of 290 total runners at the NCAA Division III Championship in Terre Haute, Indiana in November, crossing the finish line in a time of 21:43.6, her second-fastest time of the campaign. It was the 10th All-America honor in the program's history.
It was the 21st straight year that the CWRU cross country program has been represented by at least one men's or women's runner at the National Championship meet.
Iagnemma earned an individual spot in the NCAA Championship field following a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Championships in Shelbyville, Indiana, as she claimed All-Region honors and helped lead the team to a ninth-place finish out of 39 teams at the meet. Junior Ashley Novak also earned All-Region acclaim for the second time in her career, placing 15th overall at the event. Rounding out the team's scorers were junior Arianna Holbrook (61st), junior Julia Hluck (80th), and first-year Becca Liaw (91st).
CWRU placed sixth at the University Athletic Association in Boston as Iagnemma earned all-conference acclaim for the second straight year. Her time of 21:38.5 was the fastest by a Spartan during the season and was good for a sixth-place finish out of 72 runners as she became the first CWRU women's cross country runner to earn All-UAA First-Team honors since Jana Fisher in 2021. Novak followed with a career-best 6K time of 22:02.0 to place 18th overall, while Holbrook (45th), Hluck (52nd), and sophomore Pimada Phongsuriya (57th) completed the team's list of scorers.
The Spartans continued to improve throughout the 2024 campaign. The team started the season ranked 10th in the Great Lakes Region preseason poll, and rose to as high as seventh for the final two regular-season polls, matching the team's highest regional ranking since the start of the 2023 campaign, before ending the year ranked ninth in the region, matching their finish at the regional championship meet.
Novak paced the Spartans through the early part of the season, leading CWRU in each of the team's first three races. Novak was the top finisher overall out of 25 runners in the 4K race at the Sudeck Invitational, marking the second-straight time she has won the individual championship at the meet, as CWRU suffered a 24-36 setback to John Carroll at the event. The following week, Novak was sixth out of 238 finishers at the Grizzly Invitational, helping CWRU to a fourth-place finish out of 21 teams and earning UAA Athlete of the Week honors for the first time in her career. Novak also helped the Spartans finish third among Division III programs at the All-Ohio Invitational, placing seventh overall out of 314 competitors and third among the 150 Division III runners.
Following the All-Ohio Invitational, Head Coach Kathy Lanese Yohann was awarded the Marv Frye Award for distinguished service for the sport of cross country in Ohio. Lanese Yohann, who completed her 24th season at CWRU this year, became the first woman to ever win the award.
Other highlights for the Spartans during the season include a fourth-place finish out of 17 teams at the Ohio Wesleyan Invitational, led by Holbrook's 13th-place finish out of 176 runners, and a seventh-place finish out of 29 teams at the Mike Woods Invitational, with Iagnemma placing sixth out of 372 runners. Iagnemma's time of 21:38.5 at the meet was the fastest 6K mark by a Spartan runner in 2024.
In addition to the team's athletic success, six members of the team - sophomore Angie Getz, Hluck, Iagnemma, senior Mandy Lam, Novak, and senior Alyssa Storm - received UAA Fall All-Academic honors for their academic achievements.
The Spartans earned the following individual honors during the 2024 season:
