The Case Western Reserve University men's and women's track and field teams hosted the Ed Finnigan Greater Cleveland Colleges Invite inside the Veale Center in Cleveland on Friday night in their final tune-up before the conference championships.
The Spartans won five events at the meet with the women's team taking four and the men's team claiming one. CWRU placed first and second in the weight throw with senior Lauren Roskuszka recording the best mark of 15.61 meters and junior Michelle Lee having the second-best mark of 15.57 meters. Case Western Reserve also took the top two spots in the 60-meter dash. Sophomore Sarah Ball won the final with a time of 8.01 seconds, and first-year Riley Friedman was the runner-up in 8.17 seconds.
The team also earned first-place finishes in the triple jump with senior Jordan Su bounding 10.44 meters and the 500-meter run with junior Melanie Taylor crossing the line at 1:18.51. Taylor set a school record in the event, besting the previous mark of 1:19.95Â ran by Olivia Newman in 2018. For the men's team, first-year Artin Fazeli tied for first in the pole vault after clearing 4.35 meters. Junior Anthony DeCarlo and senior Quaylen Lamarre cleared the same height in more attempts, tying for third in the event.
A pair of Spartans reached the finals of the 60-meter hurdles. Junior Grace Misiunas placed second in 9.29 seconds and Ball was third in 9.34 seconds. Friedman added a runner-up finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.83 seconds. Four CWRU runners placed in the top three in distance events. In the 800-meter run, junior Arianna Holbrook finished second with a time of 2:21.00, and first-year Julia Walko crossed the line next at 2:27.96. First-year Ciara Ledford was the second finisher in the 5000-meter run in 20:18.37, and junior Ayla Grabenbauer took third in the 3000-meter run with a time of 11:01.80.
Wrapping up the podium finishes for Case Western Reserve were first-year Siena Kannenberg, who placed second in the 400-meter dash in 1:02.61, and first-year Eyoha Teshome, who was third in the high jump by clearing 1.47 meters.
Four members of the CWRU men's track and field team placed in the top three in three distance events. In the longest event of the day, the 5000-meter run, junior Solomon Greene was the runner-up in 15:47.52, and sophomore Owen Schessler followed in 16:25.46. First-year Adam Esa took second in the 3000-meter run with a time of 8:55.72, and first-year Brendan Bradish finished the mile run in 4:24.96 to place second.
Junior Josh Bates placed second in a pair of sprinting events. Individually, he was the runner-up in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.67 seconds. Bates was joined by senior Jack Xia, first-year Madhan Manikandaswamy, and junior Aaron Brula for the 4x400-meter relay, placing second in 3:34.53.
Junior Bryce Hodge reached the finals of the 60-meter hurdles taking second with a time of 8.32 seconds. Also on the short track, first-year Marvin Sze placed third in the 60-meter dash in 7.06 seconds.
Rounding out the team's third-place finishes were sophomore Praveen Sureshkumar (800-meter run, 1:59.98) and junior Connor Evans (triple jump, 12.76 meters).
The Spartans will next head to Chicago for the 2025 University Athletic Association Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by the University of Chicago at the Ted Haydon Track from March 1-2.
Spartan Notes
- Ball recorded the second-fastest time in program history in the 60-meter dash and fourth-fastest time in the 60-meter hurdles
- Hodge ranks second in program history in the 60-meter hurdles with his finals time from the meet
- In the 200-meter dash, Friedman is now tied for third on the program's all-time leaderboard
- With his time in the final, Sze ranks fourth in program history in the 60-meter dash
- Grabenbauer finished the 1000-meter run in 3:09.00, the fourth-best time in the event in program history
