From Case Western Reserve University Athletics

Case Western Reserve University junior Sam Merriman finished first out of a field of 114 Division III runners to claim the D3 title at the 2016 All-Ohio Championships in Cedarville, Ohio on Friday afternoon, and lead the Spartans to a fourth-place finish out of 16 teams at the meet.

Merriman crossed the finish line of the 8K course with a time of 25:33.3 to lead all Division III runners at the meet, and place 12^th overall among the 175 runners in the field, representing Ohio schools from all Divisions.  He became the first Spartan to finish first among Division III runners at the All-Ohio meet since Dominic Smith in 2008.

Following Merriman was senior Galen Caldwell, who finished fifth among Division III runners and 35^th overall with a time of 26:05.5, while junior Aidan DeSanto added a 30^th-place DIII finish and 99^th overall with a mark of 27:10.2.  Sophomore James De La Cruz was the team's fourth finisher with a mark of 27:35.7, 41^st in the Division III field and 121^st overall, and freshman Luke Robbins rounded out the Spartans' top five, finishing 126^th overall and 41^st among DIII competitors with a time of 27:40.6.

Freshman Karthik Ravichandran crossed the line with a time of 27:57.6, finishing 143^rd overall and 53^rd in Division III, and junior James Gibson placed 203^rdoverall and 80^th in DIII with a time of 29:15.3 to complete the top-seven finishers for Case Western Reserve.

The Spartans finished with a score of 120, finishing behind only Mount Union (60), Ohio Northern (67) and John Carroll (100) in the Division III team standings.