Nearly 1,600 Runners To Compete At Kollege Town Sports Invitational

UW-Oshkosh will host 70 universities and colleges from 20 states at the Kollege Town Sports Cross Country Invitational on Saturday (Oct. 13) at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne.

Featuring programs from Maine to California, the Kollege Town Sports Invitational will be comprised of six races, starting with the Women’s Pre-National 6,000-meter race at 9:40 a.m. The Men’s Pre-National 8,000-meter race commences at 10:20 a.m. and will be followed by the Women’s Pre-National Open at 11 a.m., the Men’s Pre-National Open at 11:40 a.m., the Women’s Invitational at 12:20 p.m., and the Men’s Invitational at 1 p.m.

Two-time defending and 18-time NCAA Division III champion North Central College (Ill.) headlines the men’s field as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) top-ranked team in the nation. The men’s race also includes third-ranked Pomona-Pitzer College (Calif.), fifth-ranked Haverford College (Pa.), sixth-ranked Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) and ninth-ranked Calvin College (Mich.).

A total of 17 ranked Division III men’s teams will compete in the Pre-National race, with the others being Wartburg College (Iowa) (11th), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (14th), University of Chicago (Ill.) (15th), UW-Stout (18th), Rhodes College (Tenn.) (19th), UW-Eau Claire (20th), Carleton College (Minn.) (20th), Otterbein University (Ohio) (24th), Rochester Institute of Technology (N.Y.) (27th), Emory University (Ga.) (31st), UW-Stevens Point (32nd), and Washington and Lee College (Va.) (33rd).

Augustana College (Ill.) won last year’s 26-team men’s Kollege Town Sports Invitational with 97 points. UW-Oshkosh placed second to the Vikings with 108 points, followed by third-place Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) with 116, fourth-place Willamette University (Ore.) with 134 and fifth-place Wheaton College (Ill.) with 148.

Unattached runner Nathan Routheri won the 2017 individual men’s title with a time of 25:21.

Lawrence University’s Austin Neura, the meet’s highest returning runner, placed second last year with a time of 25:38. UW-Oshkosh’s Lucas Weber placed fourth at the 2017 Kollege Town Sports Invitational in 25:40.

Weber has been UW-Oshkosh’s top runner all season, placing second in two of the three meets he participated in this year.

Returning to the invitational for the Titans are Cody Chadwick and Brian McKnight, who placed 16th in 26:22 and 37th in 26:54, respectively, at last year’s 362-runner race.

UW-Oshkosh’s men’s lineup is expected to also include Michael Juarez and Steven Potter.

The women’s field for the Women’s Pre-National race features 17 teams ranked in USTFCCCA’s top 35, including second-ranked Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.), fourth-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology, fifth-ranked UW-Eau Claire, sixth-ranked Carleton College (Minn.) and ninth-ranked Hope College (Mich.).

Rounding out the nationally ranked programs are Wheaton College (12th), Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (Calif.) (13th), Calvin College (15th), Brandeis University (Mass.) (18th), Wartburg College (20th), Otterbein University (21st), North Central College (23rd), Bates College (Maine) (24th), St. Olaf College (Minn.) (25th), University of Chicago (26th), Emory University (28th), and University of St. Thomas (Minn.) (32rd).

St. Norbert College won last year’s 24-team women’s race with 93 points. Trailing the Green Knights were second-place North Central College with 116 points, third-place UW-Oshkosh with 146, fourth-place Augustana College with 150 and fifth-place Olivet Nazarene University with 169.

Former UW-Oshkosh runner Cheyenne Moore took home the 2017 Kollege Town Sports Invitational title with a time of 22:11.

Benedictine University’s (Ill.) Emma Roberts is the highest returning female runner as she placed fourth in 22:41 a year ago.

UW-Oshkosh’s Evlyn Noone has recorded top-eight finishes in each of the three meets she has raced in this season, including a second-place result at the UW-Oshkosh Titan Fall Classic held Sept. 21.

Top returners for the Titans from last year's Kollege Town Sports Invitational race are Hannah Lohrenz and Ashton Keene, who placed 16th in 23:41 and 24th in 23:58, respectively. The UW-Oshkosh women’s lineup is also expected to include Amanda Van Den Plas.

Other WIAC schools participating in both the men’s and women’s races are on Saturday are UW-Eau Claire, UW-Platteville, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stout and UW-Whitewater.

Lake Breeze Golf Club will also be the site of the 2018 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on Nov. 17. The venue also hosted national championship events in 1999, 2011 and 2015.

UW-Oshkosh Kollege Town Sports Invitational Competing Teams
Albion College (Mich.) - M/W
Augustana College (Ill.) - M/W
Aurora University (Ill.) - M/W
Bates College (Maine) - W
Bay College (Mich.) - M/W
Benedictine University (Ill.) - M/W
Bethel University (Minn.) - M/W
Bridgewater College (Va.) - M/W
Brandeis University (Mass.) - W
Calvin College (Mich.) - M/W
Carleton College (Minn.) - M/W
Carroll University (Wis.) - W
Carthage College (Wis.) - M/W
Central College (Iowa) - M/W
Centre College (Ky.) - M/W
Christopher Newport University (Va.) - M/W
College of Saint Benedict (Minn.) - W
Colorado College - M/W
Concordia University Chicago (Ill.) - M/W
Concordia University Wisconsin - M/W
Cornell College (Iowa) - M/W
DePauw University (Ind.) - M/W
Dominican University (Ill.) - M/W
Elmhurst College (Ill.) - M/W
Emory University (Ga.) - M/W
Grinnell College (Iowa) - M
Haverford College (Pa.) - M
Hope College (Mich.) - M/W
Illinois Instutute of Technology - M/W
Kalamazoo College (Mich.) - M/W
Lake Forest College (Ill.) - M/W
Lawrence University (Wis.) - M/W
Loras College (Iowa) - M/W
Macalester College (Minn.) - M
Malcolm X College (Ill.) - M/W
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - M/W
Milwaukee School of Engineering - M/W
Moody Bible Institute (Ill.) - W
North Central College (Ill.) - W
Occidental College (Calif.) - M/W
Otterbein University (Ohio) - M/W
Pacific Lutheran University (Wash.) - M/W
Rhodes College (Tenn.) - M/W
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (Iowa) - M/W
Rochester Institute of Technology (N.Y.) - M/W
Rockford University (Ill.) - M/W
St. Norbert College (Wis.) - M/W
St. Olaf College (Minn.) - W
The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) - M/W
Trine University (Ind.) - M/W
University of Chicago (Ill.) - M/W
University of Dubuque (Iowa) - M/W
University of La Verne (Calif.) - M/W
University of Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.) - M/W
University of St. Thomas (Minn.) - W
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire - M/W
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh - M/W
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point - M/W
University of Wisconsin-Stout - M/W
University of Wisconsin-Superior - M/W
University of Wisconsin-Waukesha - M/W
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater - M/W
Wabash College (Ind.) - M
Wartburg College (Iowa) - M/W
Wheaton College (Ill.) - M/W
Washington & Lee University (Va.) - M
Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) - M/W
Waubonsee Community College (Ill.) - M/W
Willamette University (Ore.) - M/W
Wittenberg University (Ohio) - M/W

2018 Kollege Town Sports Invitational Website

Written by Ally Gwidt, UW-Oshkosh Sports Information