From Case Western Reserve University Athletics

Behind three first-place finishes, the Case Western Reserve University women finished atop the team standings at the Dick Small Invitational, hosted by Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio on Saturday.

Winning events for the Spartan women on Saturday were freshman Olivia Newman, sophomore Cassandra Laios, and senior Emily Harker.  Newman finished first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.81 seconds, the 17^th-fastest mark in Division III this season, and added a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.56 seconds, the 49^th-fastest mark in Division III.  Harker picked up the win in the high jump, clearing the bar at 1.55 meters, and was second in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.51 seconds.  Meanwhile, Laios won the shot put with a toss of 12.08 meters, 12^th in Division III, and was also the team's top performer in the discus throw with a mark of 32.14 meters, placing sixth overall.

Second-place finishers for the CWRU women included senior Christen Saccucci in the pole vault with a mark of 3.12 meters (37^th in DIII), sophomore Meredith Haller in the high jump with a height of 1.45 meters, sophomore Marie-Louise Kloster in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:11.95, and sophomore Rachel Willard in the triple jump with a distance of 10.05 meters.  Other third-place finishes came from senior Laurel Shickler in the high jump (1.45 meters) and freshman Sophie Trikeriotis in the 800-meter run (2:28.42).

Adding top performances by a Spartan during the meet were freshman Jennifer Hoffmann in the 1,500-meter run (sixth, 5:08.56), senior Meredith Shea in the javelin throw (fifth, 26.98 meters), senior Kelsie Leary in the 100-meter dash (sixth, 13.38 seconds) and the long jump (fifth, 4.58 meters), freshman Amy Lin in the 5,000-meter run (19:44.21) and sophomore Nimi Gupta in the hammer throw (sixth, 40.10 meters, 43^rd in Division III).