Titans Finish Second At Esten Challenge

Individual event winners Jordan Carpenter and Danny Trimner led UW-Oshkosh to a runner-up finish at the Phil Esten Challenge on Friday and Saturday (April 21-22) in La Crosse.

Host UW-La Crosse won the 19-team meet with 206 points while UW-Oshkosh was second with 144. Wartburg College (Iowa) placed third with 72 points, followed by fourth-place UW-Stout with 70 and fifth-place UW-Eau Claire with 48.

Carpenter bested a field of 16 competitors to win the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:05.31, and Trimner claimed the 400-meter hurdle race that featured 21 runners.

UW-Oshkosh also received runner-up finishes from Naji Allan in the 100-meter dash, Zachary Baehman in the shot put, Bryce Mancheski in the long jump and Ryan Powers in the 400-meter dash.

Allan's 100-meter time of 10.74 seconds trailed only unattached runner David Paynotta's winning time of 10.65. Allan added a third-place effort with a time of 21.76 seconds in the 200-meter dash.

Baehman had his best shot put toss of 55-3 1/2 edged out by UW-Eau Claire's Alex Mess, who had a heave of 55-9 1/4. Baehman also placed seventh in the hammer throw with a cast of 167-3.

Mancheski leapt to a distance of 21-6 3/4 while UW-La Crosse's Jarod Besl won the long jump with a leap of 21-10 1/4.

Powers completed the 400-meter race in 48.40 to trail Morris Dennis from Saint Mary's University (Minn.), who claimed the event in 48.22. Powers added a seventh-place effort in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.13.

Also placing third for UW-Oshkosh were Garrison Griest in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.67 and Christian Lopez in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.79. Griest contributed a sixth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles with his time of 15.33 while Lopez placed fifth in the 200-meter dash in 22.01.

Titans finishing in fourth place were Devan Gertschen in the pole vault with a height of 15-9, Roberto Lara in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:49.39, Morgan Malm in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.98, and Carson Weber in both the high jump and the triple jump with a height of 6-3 1/2 and a leap of 40-5, respectively.

UW-Oshkosh's fifth-place showings also included Jared Benson's triple jump distance of 39-7 3/4 and Nick Freitag's 800-meter run time of 1:54.03.

The Titans also received sixth-place finishes from Dakota Griffith in the high jump with a height of 6-1 1/2, Wal Khat in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:49.56 and Mitch Pauers in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:39.97.

Rounding out UW-Oshkosh's top-eight finishers were seventh-place Ryan Paulick in the shot put (50-4) and eighth-place Charlend Howard in the steeplechase (9:42.74).

UW-Oshkosh will split its squad among three meets this weekend. On Friday and Saturday (April 29-30) the Titans will compete at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa; and the Gina Relays in Hillsdale, Mich. UW-Oshkosh will also compete at the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative Meet on Sunday (May 1).