The Spartans fell to their rival, the Tartans, at the 9th annual Battle for the Obelisk. The Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Tartans, Case Western Reserve University’s arch rival in the University Athletic Association, won the day 147-125 after combining both the men’s and women’s scores. CMU also won when separating the teams by gender. This was the first head-to-head meet for the Spartans this year. Although the team lost, it was not all bad for the team as several players had impressive performances throughout the day.

The Spartans showed their strength. Fourth-year student Temi Omilabu broke the former meet record for the women’s weight throw with a mark of 16.27 meters, blasting by the previous record of 15.21 meters set back in 2009. Third-year student Danielle Kulpins also performed exceedingly well, taking first place in both the 3000-meter run and the 5000-meter run, each by considerable margins.

Four women were responsible for breaking another meet record in the 4×400 relay. Fourth-year student Abby Casalnova, third-year student Marie-Louise Kloster, first-year student Bari Love and second-year student Olivia Newman won the relay with a time of 4:11.31, a step ahead of the previous meet record of 4:11:64 that was set last season. In addition to being a part of the record-beating group, Newman also managed to win the 60-meter run. Ultimately, the women for the Spartans managed to accrue 66 points, just four short of the Tartan women’s 70.

As for the men, things were not so close. The men lost by an 18 point margin and did not manage to break any previously standing meet records. This is not to say, however, that they did not compete or perform well.

Second-year student Joseph Cabral, fourth-year students Nico Ericksen-Deriso and Nathaniel Wahner and third-year student Andrew Ibibo joined forces to take first in the men’s 4×400 relay to close the day’s activities. Of this group of four, three also won another event. Cabral won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.41, Ibibo won the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.60 and Wahner won the 200-meter run with the brisk time of 23.15.

Two other men managed to take first place for the Spartans, as well. Third-year student Ben Zelkin won the 60-meter run with a time of 7.21 and third-year student Sam Merriman won the 5000-meter run with a time of 15:27.80.

Although the Spartans lost their first dual meet of the year, they showed their talents in various competitions, especially on the women’s side. This coming Saturday, Feb. 4, the Spartans return to action at the Joe Banks Invitational in Ada, Ohio at Ohio Northern University. With many athletes being primed to shine again and break more records, this coming event may prove to be exceedingly exciting.