On Saturday, the Case Western Reserve University’s track and field team traveled to Wooster, Ohio, to participate in the Fighting Scots Invitational. Both Spartan teams swept the competition, being the other five competing schools: Denison University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, West Virginia Institute of Technology and host The College of Wooster. The men’s team won with 184 points and the women’s team won with 194 points.

The women’s team took first in six events and had top finishes in all 15 events. Second-year Sarah Ball crossed the finish line first in the 60 meter dash with a time of 8.20 and was also part of the school-record breaking 4×200 team.

“This was my first college track meet due to a previous injury, so I’m proud of myself for putting in the work to recover and get back on the track. These achievements demonstrated to me that I can contribute to this team’s success, and I left the meet with a hunger to work harder for myself and my teammates,” she said.

Alongside Ball in the women’s 4×200 relay team were third-year Melanie Taylor and first-years Siena Kannenberg and Riley Friedman. The team finished with a time of 1:49.14, beating the previous record of 1:49.22 set in 2019, which came as a shock to the four of them. 

“We had never practiced handoffs before the meet, and we had no idea what this race would look like since it was our first time running it together. We went into the 4×200 with a relaxed, ‘let’s just have fun and finish the race’ mindset and were shocked to learn that our first attempt as a team set a school record. We always have a great time running together in practice, so it was easy to build off of each other’s energy and run our hardest for each other in the race,” Ball commented.

Other event victories for the women’s team included sweeping the distance races with third-year Lauren Iagnemma in the 3000-meter race (10:13.42) and third-year Arianna Holbrook in the mile race (5:25.14). The Spartan squad also dominated in the field events with first-year Eyoha Teshome in the high jump (4-11.50), fourth-year Jordan Su in the triple jump (32-11.75), second-year Holly Schreiber in pole vault (11-00.00) and third-year Lauren Roskuszka in the weight throw (49-05.00).

Ball noted the team’s spirit and unity during the meet.

“I’m used to feeling like part of a family with the teams I’m on, but it can sometimes be hard for me to feel like I belong on this team after I was injured last season. This meet, however, was full of encouragement and enthusiasm, and I felt welcomed into a new, loving family by my teammates,” she said. 

The men’s team took first place in three events, including the 5,000-meter run, the triple jump and the pole vault. Fourth-year Mike Lombardi crossed the finish line in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:47.74. Second-year Tanush Anand bounded 13.66 meters to take first, and fourth-year Quaylen Lamarre cleared 13-05.5 feet. 

Overall, the team notched 14 personal records and a plethora of top 10 performances. As this is just the beginning of their season, the Spartans have a promising season ahead. 

Ball shared her goals for the season.

“One of my goals this season is to compete in high hurdles, as this is something I’m getting back into after many years without competing. Further, I want to improve at something every week, whether it be my 60m time, my 200m time, my ability to be there for my teammates, or my confidence in myself as a track athlete,” she said. 

The team will be travelling to Berea, Ohio, to participate in the Dr. Taraschke Team Challenge hosted by Baldwin Wallace University.