From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
Case Western Reserve University junior Sam Merriman led the way for the Spartans at the Sudeck Sunset Classic Stampede, winning the men's 6k race during the team's season-opening meet at Squire Valleevue Farm in Hunting Valley, Ohio on Friday afternoon.
Merriman won the race with a time of 19:24, over a 30-second improvement on his time at the meet in 2015, when he placed second in the event. He was followed by junior Aidan DeSanto, who finished second in the race with a time of 19:44.
The Spartans would be edged in the team standings by John Carroll, which would finish in the next four spots, along with an eighth-place finish, for a score of 26. The Spartans finished with 29 points.
Other scoring finishers for the Spartans included freshman Luke Robbins in seventh with a time of 20:16, sophomore James De La Cruz in ninth with a time of 20:19, and junior Ben Whitman in 10th with a time of 20:26. Rounding out CWRU's top-seven were junior Nicholas Knorz in 11th-place with a time of 20:29, and sophomore Ben Resnick in 14th with a time of 20:31.
The Sudeck Sunset Classic Stampede is run in the honor of Bill Sudeck, who served as the head cross country and track and field coach at the Case Institute of Technology and Case Western Reserve University for 46 years, and coached his cross country teams to 12 conference titles.