This past weekend, the Case Western Reserve University cross country teams both placed sixth out of eight teams at the UAA Championship, which was hosted by Brandeis University, and held in Highland Park in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The Spartans saw strong results, with the men’s and women’s teams scoring 144 and 159 points, respectively. New York University and the University of Chicago claimed the men’s and women’s UAA Championship title with scores of 34 and 38, respectively.

In the women’s 6K, third-year Lauren Iagnemma was CWRU’s top finisher, with a time of 21:38.5. Competing against 72 other runners, Iagnemma recorded the Spartans’ best time of the season and earned her first career All-UAA First Team honor.

“The UAA Championship is always really competitive because there’s just a lot of really, really fast girls in the conference. Being able to go and compete against other fast runners is just a really exciting thing that we get to do as a team in the UAA. Overall, it was a really fun trip that I got to spend time with my team, and we all got to hang out and just do our best on the course on that day,” Iagnemma commented. “Overall, it was a fun race. It was definitely a tough one. It was a little bit hillier than some of the stuff that we’ve run this year, which is fine because all cross country courses are different. It’s always going to be a challenge wherever you’re running. But yeah, it was definitely a good race.”​

The rest of the Spartan scorers were third-years Ashley Novak (18th overall, 22:02.0), Arianna Holbrook (40th overall, 23:07.9) and Julia Hluck (46th overall, 23:27.0) and second-year Pimada Phongsuriya (49th, 23:49.4).

As one of the team captains, Iagnemma discussed the pride in watching her teammates cross the finish line.

“It’s a really exciting thing because of just how close our team is. Running is an individual sport, but the team aspect is really, really important because we’re there to support each other, and we’re there to run for each other. I’m really proud of what my team has done this year. Getting to be able to be a part of that group and see the growth the girls on my team have put in, and the men’s team, since we practice together and we get to work closely together. Being able to see everyone have that chance to race, and put everything out there is extremely satisfying. I just hope that they enjoy it as much as I do, getting to be a part of that team and getting to watch them,” she said.

In the men’s 8K, fourth-year Aidan Nathan was the 12th runner to cross the finish line and the first for the Spartans, completing the course in 24:45.8. With the top 14th finish, Nathan earned his first All-UAA honors with second-team acclaim.

Following Nathan’s finish, the second Spartan—and 23rd runner overall to cross the finish line—was first-year Donovan Crowley with a time of 25:12.6.

Crowley shared his mindset going into the race.

“My goal was kind of just to complete the course because looking at the course, this was probably the most difficult course to run on because you had to do three loops. And every single time at the end of each loop, there was this hill that was really steep that kind of would destroy your momentum. I knew that a lot of people would kind of [fade] because of that hill. It’s just kind of a mental block to get over, more than a physical block,” he said. “I got out hard along with the rest of my teammates, and I kind of just stuck it out with the top group, and it worked well.”

Besides being the second scorer for CWRU, Crowley was also the first first-year to finish the course, earning him the title of UAA Rookie of the Year. Crowley is the third Spartan to achieve this honor, following Jack Begley in 2019 and Aaron Johnston-Peck in 2003.

“I’m honored. It’s very cool. I’m honestly just trying not to think about it too much. I like the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, where he hired somebody to whisper in his ear … ‘you’re just a man.’ This is not the end, I hope to also do well in regionals,” he said. “I just want to work on what I’m trying to do, and continue to do the best that I can do, and continue to improve. I’m very honored to be in that list of people because those are two exceptional, [they] are like legends. I met Jack Begley at the Alumni meet, and what he’s done is very impressive. I guess I’ll try to follow in his footsteps but kind of make it my own.”

After Crowley, second-year Jacob Slater and first-year Adam Esa crossed the finish line side by side, taking 35th and 36th with a time of 25:40.6. This was a career best for Esa and a season record for Slater. Following the pair, graduate student Stephen Henry placed 38th overall after crossing the line at the 25:48.1 mark.

Overall, the Spartans recorded three personal records and five season records.

This upcoming weekend, the Spartans will send a contingent of athletes to Wooster, Ohio, for the Wooster Twilight 5K Challenge, while the top runners will prepare for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The NCAA Regional race will take place in Shelbyville, Indiana, on Nov. 16.

“It would be awesome if our team qualified for the national meet. That’s the goal every year. I know that this year specifically, we were kind of really, really shooting for that. Just like with anything, people, like teams, can come out of nowhere, kids can come out of nowhere.” Iagnemma said. “I think that if we have a really good day, we have a really good shot at making it. So, I’m excited for that. I’m excited for the regional meet, and that chance to show the region what we’ve got.”