Case Western Reserve University first-year sprinter Gianna Phipps of the women's track and field team and junior infielder Karen Potts of the softball team were named University Athletic Association Athletes of the Week based on their performances last weekend.

Phipps, the conference's Women's Track Athlete of the Week, recorded a top five time in Division III on Saturday at the Wooster Invitational hosted by the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. She won the 400-meter dash in a program and stadium record time of 55.36 seconds, which ranks fifth in the country and second in the University Athletic Association this season. The time was nearly three seconds better than the previous school record in the event and was nearly a second faster than the 19-year-old stadium record from a Division II student-athlete. Phipps also won the 200-meter dash, lowering her own program record with a time of 25.01 seconds. She currently ranks second in the conference and 30th nationally with the mark. This is her first career UAA Athlete of the Week selection.

Phipps helped the Spartans place third out of 13 teams with 108.0 points at the meet. The CWRU track and field teams will compete at a pair of meets next weekend with most of the team traveling to Delaware, Ohio, for the All-Ohio Outdoor Championships on April 10 and 11 and select individuals heading to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania for the Bison Classic on April 11.

Potts, the UAA Softball Hitter of the Week, hit .500 with a 1.200 slugging percentage for the Spartans during their home three-game weekend series at Mather Park in Cleveland with the Emory Eagles. She went five-for-10 at the plate with three of her hits going for extra bases (two home runs and a double). Potts stole a pair of bases, scored four times, drove in two runs and had a .545 on-base percentage for CWRU. She recorded a hit in all three games of the series but saved her best performance for the series finale on Saturday, a 13-10 Spartan victory. Potts went three-for-four in the contest with two home runs and a double, crossed the plate three times, and had two runs batted in. It marked the third two-homer game of her career.

This season, Potts leads the squad with a .359 batting average and 1.121 on-base plus slugging, swatting six home runs with 17 RBI and pacing the team with 28 runs scored and 19 stolen bases. CWRU, which dropped two of the three games, moved to 15-9 overall and 3-3 in UAA play. This is her first UAA Athlete of the Week honor this season and the second honor of her career.

The Spartans will next embark on a six-game road trip, starting with a three-game series against the Violets of New York University. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Friday, April 10 starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Bahoshy Softball Field in the Bronx.

The following CWRU Athletes have been named the UAA Athlete of the Week during the 2025-26 academic year

Apr. 6: Gianna Phipps (Women's Track), Karen Potts (Softball – Hitter)
Mar. 23: Calvin Gelle (Baseball - Hitter), Ayla Grabenbauer (Women's Track), Camryn Mclelland (Softball - Pitcher)
Mar. 16: Tyler Stillson (Baseball - Pitcher), Devanghi Misra (Softball - Pitcher), Rowan Matorin (Men's Tennis)
Mar. 2: Emily Plachta (Women's Basketball), Tyler Stillson (Baseball - Pitcher)
Feb. 23: Ethan Edwards (Men's Basketball), Claire Kozma (Women's Swimming), Tyler Stillson (Baseball - Hitter)
Feb. 16: Hannah Kassaie (Women's Tennis), Art Martinez (Wrestling), Bryce Ware (Men's Tennis)
Feb. 9: Maura Schorr (Women's Basketball), Thomas Wagner (Wrestling)
Feb. 2: Hunter Keane (Wrestling), Jack Rudofsky (Men's Diving)
Jan. 26: Ryan Wells (Men's Diving)
Jan. 20: Thomas Wagner (Wrestling)
Jan. 5: Art Martinez (Wrestling)
Dec. 15: Matthew Ellis (Men's Basketball)
Dec. 8: Art Martinez (Wrestling)
Nov. 24: Art Martinez (Wrestling)
Nov. 3: Ryan Wells (Men's Diving)
Oct. 27: Ellie Palaian (Women's Soccer - Defense), Bradley Winter (Men's Soccer - Defense)
Oct. 13: Kalli Wall (Volleyball), Claire Kozma (Women's Swimming)
Sep. 22: Ellie Palaian (Women's Soccer - Defense), Jacob Slater (Men's Cross Country)
Sep. 8: Maggie Farra (Women's Soccer - Offense), Phillip Washington (Men's Soccer - Defense), Katie Wong (Women's Tennis)
Sep. 2: Jamie Goldfarb (Women's Soccer - Offense), Jacob Slater (Men's Cross Country)