The Case Western Reserve University women's and men's cross country teams kicked off their 2025 season at the Bill Sudeck Invitational on Friday afternoon, with each team defeating John Carroll University by a 15-50 score at the University Farm in Hunting Valley, Ohio.

The women's 4K and the men's 6K meet records each fell on Friday. In the women's race, first-year Halina Tompkins made the quick adjustment to college racing in her CWRU debut, crossing the finish line in a time of 14:42.39 to best the previous course record time of 14:43.6 set by Albion's Cassie Vince in 2017. For the men, junior Jacob Slater completed the course in a time of 18:59.45 to win the race and break the previous meet record of 19:04.6 set by John Carroll's Barrett Schaetzle in 2022.

Women's Race

• Tompkins was the first of seven-straight Spartans and 20 total runners to cross the finish line in the race. She was followed by senior Lauren Iagnemma, who placed second with a time of 14:55.56, a 32-second improvement on her time from last year when she placed third at the event.

• Completing the team's scorers were senior Arianna Holbrook, who was third with a time of 15:06.06, senior Ayla Grabenbauer, who was fourth in a time of 15:14.30, and first-year Francesca Taracila, who placed fifth in her collegiate debut with a time of 15:16.68.

• First-year Aditi Mikundhan, who was sixth with a time of 15:18.67, and first-year Reid Smith, who was seventh with a time of 15:19.72, rounded out the top-seven for the Spartans on Friday.

• Other CWRU runners in action on Friday included sophomore Cecilia Postma (11th, 15:44.64), sophomore Julia Walko (13th, 15:47.58), sophomore Becca Liaw (14th, 15:48.39), first-year Elena Von Handorf (15th, 15:50.47), first-year Maya DiPasquale (16th, 16:10.79), and first-year Kasey Thomas (19th, 16:34.18).

• The John Carroll women entered the meet as the fifth-ranked team in the Great Lakes Region.

Men's Race

• Slater, who improved on his previous course-best time by over 35 seconds, led the field of 35 runners in the men's race and was the first of seven-straight Spartans to cross the finish line. He was neck-and-neck down the stretch with teammate and sophomore Donovan Crowley, who was second overall with a time of 18:59.58, a 55-second improvement on his time at last year's meet.

• Sophomore Brendan Bradish broke out with a time of 19:09.90 for a third-place finish, while senior Michael Lombardi was fourth with a mark of 19:17.17. Completing the top five for CWRU was first-year Kian Schneeweis, who tallied a time of 19:20.21 in his first collegiate race.

• A pair of sophomores rounded out the top seven for CWRU with Lucas Siepser crossing the line in sixth place with a mark of 19:23.56 and Adam Esa placing seventh with a mark of 19:32.97.

• Additional Spartans who competed for the men on Friday included senior Solomon Greene (ninth, 19:34.70), senior Matias Facchinato-Sitja (10th, 19:43.76), first-year Devin Montileone (11th, 19:44.77), junior Owen Schessler (12th, 19:45.29), first-year Jay Woodhouse (14th, 19:57.14), first-year Tyler Ginther (15th, 19:57.84), first-year Caleb Guarino (16th, 19:58.73), first-year Jacob Porter (17th, 20:06.53), first-year Chance Krenzer (18th, 20:07.50), first-year Lowell Copps (21st, 20:21.83), first-year Thijs Doot (22nd, 20:28.05), sophomore Adam Joseph (23rd, 20:31.98), sophomore George Wood-Leness (25th, 20:39.52), sophomore Paul Salah (26th, 20:44.41), sophomore Will Larson (27th, 20:46.37), junior Praveen Sureshkumar (28th, 20:53.71), first-year Jack Andrews (29th, 21:04.50), sophomore Eli Stodard (30th, 21:04.66), senior Nathan Webb (32nd, 21:18.90), junior Angel Zeferino (33rd, 21:20.85), and first-year Austin Schneidler (34th, 21:34.80). 

• The results were a win against the Blue Streaks, who entered the meet ranked second in the Great Lakes Region and 28th in Division III.

Spartan Notes

• The Sudeck Classic is run in honor of the legendary late former CWRU head cross country and track & field coach Bill Sudeck.  During his 46-year career at the Case Institute of Technology and Case Western Reserve University, he led his cross country teams to 12 conference titles, leaving behind a legacy of success for the program

• The CWRU men and women each entered the weekend ranked sixth in the Great Lakes Region in the USTFCCCA preseason polls, which were released earlier in the week.

• The Spartan men have now won the Sudeck Invitational each of the last two years and have claimed the championship in five of the last six meets. The Spartans have had the top finisher in the men's race at the Sudeck Invitational in seven of the last 10 years.

• The CWRU women won the meet for the first time since 2022. This was the third-consecutive Sudeck Invitational that a Spartan woman has been the top overall finisher after Ashley Novak won the meet in both 2022 and 2024. Tompkins was the first first-year runner to win the race since Novak in 2022.

Up Next

The Spartans will be off from intercollegiate competition for the next two weeks. CWRU will host its annual Alumni Meet on Saturday, September 13 at the University Farm, before taking part in a pair of meets the following weekend. The Spartans will be at the All-Ohio Classic on Friday, September 19, with the team's top runners headed to the Pre-National Meet in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on Saturday, September 20.