Titan Men Primed For NCAA Track & Field Championship
UW-Oshkosh aims for its ninth straight top-four finish at this weekend's NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Track & Field Championship in Lincoln, Neb.
Competition begins at 11 a.m. on Friday (March 14) and 10 a.m. on Saturday (March 15) at the University of Nebraska's Bob Devaney Sports Center.
UW-Oshkosh has scored points at every NCAA Division III Indoor Championship since 1999. The Titans won the 2009 national title before placing second last season and third in 2012.
With 13 entries, fourth-ranked UW-Oshkosh has the second-most of any school. Top-ranked UW-La Crosse owns 20 entries, while second-ranked UW-Eau Claire, third-ranked UW-Whitewater and fifth-ranked North Central College (Ill.) each have 11.
UW-Oshkosh is the top seed in the distance medley relay. The group of Kenny Halloran, Corey Wilch, Brett DeNure and McKena Ramos enters the meet with a season-best time of 9:47.47.
Both DeNure and Ramos will compete in the 800-meter run. Ramos is ranked second with a time of 1:49.85 and DeNure sixth at 1:51.07.
Three Titans qualified in the throwing events. Joe Brunner is seeded fifth with a distance of 62-6 1/2 in the weight throw. In the shot put, Zachary Baehman ranks fifth at 56-4 and Jeremy Brandt 10th at 55-2.
UW-Oshkosh's 1,600-meter relay is seeded ninth with a time of 3:15.70. The group includes Ramos, Brian Beaudo, Ryan Gregory and Mike Servais.
Other track entries for the Titans are Sean Kutz in the 5,000-meter run and Wilch and Beaudo in the 400-meter run. Kutz is seeded 10th with a time of 14:28.19, while Wilch ranks 14th at 48.42 and Beaudo 15th at 48.46.
John McCann is the lone returning All-American for the Titans. He placed sixth at last year's meet with a high jump of 6-8 1/4. This season, McCann is seeded 12th with a mark of 6-9 1/2.
The long jump competition will feature UW-Oshkosh's Jonathan Jordan and Kyle Schueller. Jordan is seeded 13th with a distance of 23-4 1/4 and Schueller 15th at 23-2 3/4.
UW-La Crosse won last year's crown with 74 points, while UW-Oshkosh placed second with 40, UW-Eau Claire third with 37 and UW-Whitewater fourth with 35. The Titans also finished second at the meet in 1999, 2001 and 2003.
By Jon Feyen