Titans Look For Another NCAA Indoor Trophy
UW-Oshkosh seeks its 10th consecutive top-four finish at this weekend's NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Track & Field Championship in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The two-day competition begins at 10:30 a.m. (EDT) on Friday (March 13) and 10 a.m. (EDT) on Saturday (March 14) at the JDL Fast Track.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked fifth in the nation by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), is sending 10 athletes to compete in six events at the meet.
The Titans' Roberto Lara is seeded second among 15 competitors in the mile run with a qualifying time of 4:11.80. The top seed is Isaac Garcia-Cassani of State University of New York at Geneseo with a time of 4:10.87.
Also seeded second are UW-Oshkosh's 1,600-meter and distance medley relay teams.
The 1,600-meter foursome of Brian Beaudo, Kallen Bentz, Dan Trimner and Reid Zanoya qualified with a school-record time of 3:16.72. The distance medley relay team of Beaudo, Lara, Justin Skinkis and Joe Zack had a qualifying performance of 9:57.25.
Both relays feature 12 teams, with Augustana College (Ill.) and Amherst College (Mass.) owning the top seeds with times of 3:16.00 in the 1,600-meter and 9:56.62 in the distance medley, respectively.
Last year, the Titans placed fifth in the distance medley relay with a time of 9:59.20 and seventh in the 1,600-meter relay with an effort of 3:15.68.
UW-Oshkosh's Naji Allan is seeded fifth in the 60-meter dash with a school-record time of 6.86 seconds. State University of New York at Cobleskill's Winston Lee is the top seed among the event's 15 competitors with a time of 6.76.
The Titans will have two participants in the shot put. Zachary Baehman is seeded fifth with a qualifying toss of 57-4 1/4, while Nick Grosskopf ranks ninth with a throw of 55-3. UW-Eau Claire's Roger Steen leads the list of 15 qualifiers with a measurement of 61-2 1/4.
Baehman finished fifth at last year's championship with a distance of 55-4 1/4, while Grosskopf was sixth at the 2013 meet with a mark of 56-4.
Beaudo will compete in a third event as an individual. He is seeded 11th among 15 contestants in the 400-meter run with a qualifying time of 49.10 seconds. Cody Prince of UW-Eau Claire earned the top seed with a time of 48.49.
UW-Oshkosh placed third at last year's NCAA Division III Indoor Championship with 37.5 points. UW-La Crosse captured the team title with 63.5 points, while UW-Eau Claire finished second with 48, Wartburg College (Iowa) fourth with 26 and University of Mount Union (Ohio) fifth with 25.5.
The Titans' string of nine straight top-four finishes also includes a national title in 2009 and a second-place showing in 2013. UW-Oshkosh is one of just six programs to win a national title since the indoor championship began in 1985.
Two-time defending champion UW-La Crosse has claimed 17 crowns, including a share of the 2009 title with UW-Oshkosh.
Lincoln University (Pa.), now an NCAA Division II program, won seven championships. North Central College (Ill.), the only other school with multiple titles, owns four titles, including a run of three consecutive from 2010-12.
UW-Eau Claire enters this weekend's meet as the USTFCCCA's top ranked team. UW-La Crosse is ranked second, University of Mount Union third and North Central College fourth.
UW-Oshkosh NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship Qualifiers
NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship Website • JDL Fast Track Website