The Case Western Reserve University men's cross country team competed in its first 8K race of the season on Saturday morning, turning in a strong showing with a third-place finish out of 21 teams at the Grizzly Invitational at Blue River Park in Shelbyville, Indiana.

The Spartans finished with a total of 111 points, placing behind only first-place Trine (83 points) and second-place Rose-Hulman (97 points). Rounding out the top-five teams were Ohio Northern (123) and Centre (157).

Senior Aidan Nathan was the team's top finisher for the second time in as many meets this season, placing third out of 325 competitors in the race. He crossed the finish line in a time of 25:30.58.

The next three Spartan finishers placed closely together, led by senior Nate Gilbert who was 24th overall with a time of 26:11.83. First-year Donovan Crowley and sophomore Finn Bonner then placed back-to-back, with Crowley crossing the line 26th in a time of 26:17.42 and Bonner 27th in a time of 26:18.82. Senior Michael Lombardi was the Spartans' final scorer with a 37th-place finish in a time of 26:37.51.

Rounding out the team's top seven were sophomores Owen Schessler (45th, 26:49.15) and Seth Tivakaran (49th, 26:54.79). Other finishers for CWRU at the Grizzly Invitational included first-years Brendan Bradish (63rd, 27:11.86) and Lucas Siepser (73rd, 27:20.14) and sophomore Angel Zeferino (90th, 27:36.36).

CWRU will be off from intercollegiate competition next weekend as the squad hosts its annual Alumni Meet at the University Farm in Hunting Valley, Ohio on Saturday, September 14 at 10:00 a.m. The Spartans will pick up their intercollegiate schedule on Friday, September 20 with the All-Ohio Invitational in Cedarville, Ohio.

Spartan Notes

• Saturday's race provided CWRU a preview of the course for the 2024 NCAA DIII Great Lakes Regional Meet, scheduled for November 16 at Blue River Park.

• Four Spartan runners were competing in their first collegiate 8K race at the Grizzly Invitational - Crowley, Schessler, Bradish, and Siepser.

• CWRU's top five finishers were mostly unchanged from the Sudeck Invitational last week, with Nathan, Bonner, and Crowley each scoring for the second-straight meet. Gilbert and Lombardi each scored for the Spartans for the first time this year.