The John Carroll University Track and Field teams are on a roll and cannot be stopped as the success is coursing through each individual on the team. This weekend was another one for both JCU and personal record books as individual athletes pursued greatness each and every day on the track and in the field. 

Men’s Track & Field

John Carroll Men’s Track & Field had a busy weekend, competing in three meets and enjoying success at each one. The team’s most notable achievement came at the Sparky Adams Invitational in Berea, Ohio where they won the meet with a total of 122 team points, outscoring the host team, Baldwin Wallace, who finished with 113 points.

At the Otterbein Twilight Invitational on Fri., April 21, Adam Shah ‘23 and Jacob Gerhardt ‘24 represented the Blue Streaks in the 3000m Steeplechase. Shah secured second place with a time of 9:43.00 while Gerhardt came in seventh with a time of 10:08.16.

Just prior to Alex Phillip’s ‘23 record-breaking 10,000m performance, Ethan Domitrovich ‘24 was also striving for his own personal best at the Stanford Payton Jordan Invitational. Domitrovich made history, achieving a new PR in the 3000m Steeplechase with a time of 8:57.53. He finished fourth in the race which moved him up to second place in program history, only behind Ian Pierson, placing him third overall in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III.

The Blue and Gold began the Sparky Adams Invitational with the discus and javelin events on Friday. In the discus, Zach Szafarski ‘23 achieved a personal record (PR) of 44.66m, placing third. Tyler Gast ‘24 led the team with a runner-up heave of 44.72m. In the javelin, Szafarski and Alec Gorman ‘25 came in sixth and seventh place respectively with throws of 38.27m and 37.57m.

On Sat., April 22, John Carroll dominated in the running events, beginning with a victory in the 4×100 relay where Mick Doyle ‘23, Garrett Clark (graduate student), Dustin Horner ‘26 and Jimmy Kartsonas ‘24 registered a time of 41.48. Kartsonas went on to win the 100m with a time of 10.94 while Basheer Alramahi ‘26 secured first place in the 400m with a time of 48.10.

In the 200m, Clark took the top spot with a time of 21.72 while Alramahi came in third with a time of 22.38. Daylen Glaze ‘26 finished third in the 110m hurdles with a time of 16.30 and came in eighth in the long jump with a distance of 6.11m. Evan Smith ‘25 finished fourth in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:06.14.

On the mid-distance side, Joe Backus ‘23 achieved a PR of 1:55.80 in the 800m, securing second place. John Shoemaker ‘24 came in sixth with a time of 1:57.17 while Michael Hvizdos ‘25 snagged seventh in the 1500m with a time of 4:07.19.

The Blue and Gold ended the running events with the 4x400m where Caleb Correia ‘24, Brody Hanlon ‘26, Max Grillo ‘26 and Evan Piscitani ‘25 teamed up for a time of 3:23.06, securing fourth place.

In the field events, Noah Schroeder ‘24 achieved a distance of 51.73m for fourth place in the hammer throw while Szafarski came in fifth with a distance of 51.72m. Matthew Russo ‘25 secured fourth place in the shot put with a toss of 13.49m.

Women’s Track & Field

Over the weekend, the JCU Women’s Track & Field team had a short trip to Berea, Ohio for the Sparky Adams Invitational at Baldwin Wallace. The Blue Streaks dominated with a first-place finish and a total of 162 points which was over double the amount of points earned by the second-place team, Baldwin Wallace, who had 80 points.

The events began on Fri., April 21 with the discus and javelin. Leah Fritsch ‘26 impressed with a lifetime best javelin toss of 32.22m which earned her second place. Emily Blasko ‘26 also participated and finished in eighth place with a toss of 20.89m. Graduate student Kelsey Dunn also had a season-best time of 44.08m in the discus which moved her up the national list.

On Sat., April 22, JCU began with the 3000m Steeplechase and came in 2-3-4 with Katy Fellenstein ‘23 leading the way at 11:46.05. Sydney Jenko ‘23 finished third with a time of 11:53.64 in her first-ever steeplechase and Sydney Wingler ‘26 finished fourth with a time of 12:00.18.

In the sprints, the Blue and Gold won the 4×100 with a time of 48.78. Mia Scott ‘25, Taylor Anthony ‘23, Rosie Murray ‘26 and Massey Andrykovitch ‘25 all contributed to the victory. Ellie Kitsmiller ‘25 finished fourth in the 400m with a time of 58.92, and Murray followed closely behind in fifth place with a time of 59.52.

Anthony continued to dominate in the sprints, winning the 100m with a time of 12.70. Scott finished fourth with a time of 13.06, and Ella Zambruno ‘26 came in sixth with a time of 13.28. Anthony also won the 200m with a time of 25.92 with Murray following closely behind in second place at 25.97. Scott finished in seventh place with a time of 26.77.

In the mid-distance events, Abby Schroff ‘26 finished seventh in the 800m with a time of 2:21.78. In the 1500m, Annie Higgins ‘24 finished fourth with a time of 4:59.00, and Cassie Klein ‘26 finished eighth with a personal record time of 5:05.53.

Erica Esper ‘23 finished second in the 5000m with a time of 18:19.16, and Jen Massucci ‘23 finished fifth with a time of 18:45.00. The day concluded with a victory in the 4×400 relay with Genevieve Arnold ‘24, Andrykovitch, Kaleigh McNamara ‘26 and Scott finishing with a time of 4:12.32.

In the field events, Arnold won the long jump with a jump of 5.34m with Tori Miller ‘24 also performing well with a jump of 4.87m. Emmy Bryan ‘25 achieved a personal record in the high jump with a mark of 1.60m, earning her third place after finishing ninth in the long jump. JCU also had three athletes surpass 40m in the hammer throw with Sarah Hart ‘26, Dunn and Cara Jewett ‘25 all achieving this feat. Meredith Glavach ‘25 won the pole vault, finishing in first place with a height of 2.95m.

There is another busy weekend ahead for the two teams as they start competing on Thurs., April 27 at the Walsh Invitational in North Canton, Ohio and continue into Friday and Saturday at the Ashland Alumni Invite.