This past weekend the Case Western Reserve University men’s cross country team competed at the Knight Invite at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team finished third out of 24 teams, an impressive accomplishment for the team considering the formidable competition. Finishing first for the Spartans was fourth-year David Hall, with a time of 25:43.2. Hall finished 18th overall and was later awarded the coveted UAA Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week for his remarkable performance. This is Hall’s first UAA Athlete of the Week Honor award and the program’s first since Sam Merriman in 2015. Also, scoring for the Spartans was second-year runner Spencer Weigand (25:44.9), and first-year runners Jack Begley (25:47.4), Robert St. Clair (26:14.9) and Joe Jaster (26:24.3). Other top finishers include third-year Yoshmar Pinal-Alfaro, who finished 75th, second-year Logan Singer, who finished 86th and third-years Eric Rachita and Dmytro Blundell who finished 98th and 120th, respectively.

Placing highly at the same course where the regional competition is to be held bodes well for the Spartan’s postseason prospects. With such a young group in the top five, it seems as though CWRU Men’s XC is developing into a program that will compete at the national level for years to come.

For the second week in a row, second-year Jana Fisher of the Women’s XC team led the Spartans as they competed, securing 14th overall with a time of 22:37.5. Close behind was first-year runner Stephanie Wroblewski with a time of 22:49.4. Wroblewski finished 24th in the crowd of 200 runners. Next to finish was third-year Kiera Olson (23:12.4), followed by second-year Susanna Henry (23:21.4) and first-year Melissa Phung (23:25.6). Also competing in the varsity race were third-year runners Grace Kemerer and Olivia Battistoni, who finished 64th and 71st with times of 23:38.3 and 23:53.4. Finishing right behind Battistoni was fourth-year Vanessa Pasadyn, placing 73rd. The women’s cross country team placed fifth overall, taking down John Carroll for the second time and all but cementing their place in next week’s regional rankings, which come out Sept. 18.

Both the men and women’s teams will be competing at the Allegheny XC Classic hosted by Allegheny College this Saturday. The men’s race will begin at 10:00 a.m. and the women’s at 10:45 a.m.