From Case Western Reserve University Athletics

 Junior captain Tony Spalding (South Bend, Ind./Marian) placed first individually to lead the Case Western Reserve University men's cross country team to a season-opening victory against local rival John Carroll University at the 14th Annual Bill Sudeck Classic on Saturday at Squire Valleevue Farm.

The Spartans claimed the first four spots and five of the top six overall to win the team scoring, 16 to 41.

Spalding's time of 19:54.71 was a career-best 6k and beat his previous top mark at the Sudeck Classic by nearly a minute.

The next three spots went to freshman Sam Merriman (Middlesex, Vt./U-32), sophomore Galen Caldwell (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt) and junior Timothy Travitz (Salisbury, Md./Parkside). Merriman finished in 20:13.22, while Caldwell and Travitz checked in at 20:24.21 and 20:25.40, respectively.

After John Carroll's top finisher came through in fifth place, sophomore Lou Takahashi (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) crossed the finish line in 20:33.62 to round out the CWRU scoring.

The Sudeck Classic is named in honor of legendary former coach and CWRU Hall of Famer, Bill Sudeck, who passed away in August of 2000. This year's meet was the 14th annual.