Case Western Reserve University first-year sprinter Gianna Phipps accumulated three All-University Athletic Association awards for the Spartan women's track and field team at the 2026 UAA Indoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Brandeis University at the Gosman Athletic Center in Waltham, Massachusetts, Sunday.
Phipps won the 400-meter dash, placed third in the 200-meter dash, and was the anchor leg of the third-place 4x400-meter relay. She became the second CWRU conference champion at the meet this year, joining senior thrower Michelle Lee (weight throw) atop the podium.
Case Western Reserve also set four program records on Sunday in the 200-meter dash (Phipps), 60-meter hurdles (senior hurdler Grace Misiunas), 800-meter run (senior runner Arianna Holbrook), and 4x400-meter relay (first-year sprinter Elizabeth Crossan, first-year sprinter Samaria Benochi, senior runner Melanie Taylor, and Phipps).
UAA Champion
- Phipps
- 400-meter dash, 56.91 seconds
All-UAA
- Phipps
- 200-meter dash, third, 25.47 seconds
- Program record, bests her previous record of 25.48 seconds
- 4x400-meter relay, third, 3:59.96
- Program record, beats previous record of 4:00.86
- Misiunas
- 60-meter hurdles, second, 8.99 seconds
- Program record, bests her previous record of 9.09 seconds
- Crossan
- 4x400-meter relay, third, 3:59.96
- Benochi
- 4x400-meter relay, third, 3:59.96
- Taylor
- 4x400-meter relay, third, 3:59.96
Top Eight Finishers
- Holbrook
- Fourth, 800-meter run, 2:16.18
- Program record, bests her previous record of 2:17.20
- First-year Esther Umezurike-Chukwu
- Eighth, 60-meter dash, 8.10 seconds
- First-year Gianna Lacey
- Tied for eighth, high jump, 1.54 meters
- Taylor
- Eighth, 400-meter dash, 1:00.72
Spartan Notes
- Misiunas is the first Spartan ever to run the 60-meter hurdles in under nine seconds
- She is the first Spartan to earn All-UAA honors in the event since Nataija Brown placed third in 2012 and recorded the best finish by a CWRU athlete since the event was lengthened from 55 meters 14 years ago
- Phipps is the first-ever member of the CWRU women's track and field team to win the UAA title or earn All-UAA honors in the 400-meter dash
- She also became the first Spartan to receive All-UAA honors in the 200-meter dash since Galina Nikolskaya placed third in 2003 and only the third CWRU student-athlete all-time to place in the top three (Lisa Encarnacion, 1992)
- CWRU placed in the top three in the 4x400-meter relay for the first time since 1992 when the Spartans finished second and just the second time in program history
Final Team Standings
- WashU, 186.50 points
- Chicago, 129.50 points
- Emory, 110.25 points
- Brandeis, 57.25 points
- Carnegie Mellon, 51.00 points
- CWRU, 50.25 points
- NYU, 35.25 points
Up Next
The Spartans will have one final opportunity to record qualifying marks for the 2026 NCAA Division III Women's Track and Field Championships with the Polar Bear Last Chance Meet hosted by Ohio Northern University on Saturday, March 7. Student-athletes with top 20 times or marks in an individual event or relays with top 12 times in an event will be selected to the national championship.
