Phipps Wins UAA Title, Spartans Place Fifth in Conference

Case Western Reserve University first-year sprinter Gianna Phipps won a University Athletic Association Championship to lead the Spartan women's track and field team to a fifth-place finish at the 2026 UAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships at DiSanto Field in Cleveland on Sunday.

Phipps won the conference title in the 400-meter dash in a school record time of 54.82 seconds. Overall, CWRU scored 75.0 points at the two-day meet to place fifth out of seven teams.

UAA Champion

• Phipps

• 400-meter dash, 54.82 seconds

• Second career UAA title, first outdoor

All-UAA

• Phipps

• 400-meter dash, first, 54.82 seconds

• Fourth career, first outdoor

• Senior Grace Misiunas

• 100-meter hurdles, third, 14.94 seconds

• Second career, first outdoor

School Record

• Phipps

• 400-meter dash, 54.82 seconds

• Previous record: 55.36 seconds set by Phipps earlier this season

Top Eight Finishes

• Phipps

• 200-meter dash, fourth, 25.00 seconds

• 4x400-meter relay, fourth, 3:57.58

• 4x100-meter relay, fifth, 48.85 seconds

• First-year Esther Umezurike-Chukwu

• 4x100-meter relay, fifth, 48.85 seconds

• 100-meter hurdles, seventh, 16.27 seconds

• First-year Elizabeth Crossan

• 4x400-meter relay, fourth, 3:57.58

• 4x100-meter relay, fifth, 48.85 seconds

• First-year Samaria Benochi

• 4x400-meter relay, fourth, 3:57.58

• Senior Melanie Taylor

• 4x400-meter relay, fourth, 3:57.58

• Misiunas

• 4x100-meter relay, fifth, 48.85 seconds

• Junior Sarah Ball

• 100-meter hurdles, eighth, 17.52 seconds

• Senior Ayla Grabenbauer

• 1,500-meter run, eighth, 4:41.39

• Senior Lauren Iagnemma

• 5,000-meter run, eighth, 17:30.47

• Senior Michelle Lee

• Discus throw, eighth, 37.62 meters

Final Team Standings

• WashU, 221.0 points

• Emory, 198.5 points

• Chicago, 113.5 points

• Brandeis, 81.5 points

• CWRU, 75.0 points

• Carnegie Mellon, 73.5 points

• NYU, 46.0 points

Spartan Notes

• Grabenbauer recorded the fourth-best time in program history in the 1,500-meter run

• The 4x400-meter relay fell 0.11 seconds shy of the school record set in 2003

• Phipps is the first-ever Spartan to win a UAA championship in the 400-meter dash and the first CWRU sprinter to earn All-UAA honors in the event since Katherine Beck placed second in 2000

• The last member of the Case Western Reserve women's track and field team to earn All-UAA honors in the 100-meter hurdles was Rachel Tan, who finished second in 2015

Up Next

CWRU will take a week off from competition before a contingent of student-athletes will attempt to improve their marks and times for postseason qualification. Their first chance will be at the Harrison Dillard Twilight in Berea, Ohio, on May 7 and 8.