From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
The Case Western Reserve University men's distance medley relay team of senior Logan Singer, first-year Josh Bates, sophomore Nate Gilbert, and senior Joe Jaster made history on Friday night, becoming the first CWRU relay to ever secure All-America honors with a seventh-place finish in the event at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama.
Singer, Bates, Gilbert, and Jaster combined for a time of 9:51.01 to break their own school record in the event set last week. After entering the fastest field in the history of the event at the DIII level as the 10th-seeded team, the Spartans outperformed their seeding and were in All-America position for nearly the entire race. Singer got the Spartans off to a strong start with a split of 3:00.38 in the 1,200-meter leg, good for fifth place at the handoff. Bates followed with a split of 49.02 in the 400-meter portion of the race, handing the baton to Gilbert in second place. Gilbert followed with a 1:55.33 split in the 800-meter leg to keep the team in sixth, and a 4:06.04 in the 1,600-meter anchor leg by Jaster secured the All-America honor for CWRU.
The Spartans crossed the finish line in eighth place, but a disqualification by the Wartburg relay (which initially finished seventh) moved the team up to seventh in the final results.
The relay became the first Spartan men to earn All-America honors for the CWRU track and field team since former Spartan Dominic Oddo did so in the heptathlon in 2019-20. It was the 10th All-America honor earned all-time during the indoor season by the CWRU men's track & field team.
By virtue of placing seventh in the event, the relay earned two points for the Spartans in the team standings. It marked the first time since 2012 that CWRU has scored at the NCAA Indoor Championships.