Titans To Compete At NCAA Outdoor Championship

UW-Oshkosh's Jordan Carpenter is the top seed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Naji Allan and Ryan Powers will compete in three events apiece to highlight the Titans' entrants at the 2016 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship on May 26-28 in Waverly, Iowa.

UW-Oshkosh, ranked seventh in the NCAA Division III computer rankings by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA), will be represented by 10 athletes in a total of 10 events at the national championship to be hosted this weekend by Wartburg College (Iowa) at Walston Hoover Stadium. Competition, which features 20 entrants in each of the individual events and 16 in each of the relays, begins at 11:30 a.m. on both Thursday (May 26) and Friday (May 27) and at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday (May 28).

North Central College (Ill.) heads in to the national championship ranked first by the USTFCCCA. Following the Cardinals are second-ranked UW-La Crosse, third-ranked UW-Whitewater, fourth-ranked UW-Eau Claire and fifth-ranked UW-Platteville.

Last year, UW-La Crosse won its 13th national title in program history by scoring 71 points. WIAC rivals UW-Eau Claire and UW-Whitewater finished in second and third place with 46 and 42 points, respectively, while Salisbury University (Md.) was fourth with 31 points and St. Olaf College (Minn.) was fifth with 27. UW-Oshkosh finished in 39th place at last year's championship with seven points.

Carpenter, the WIAC champion this season, leads the field in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with his qualifying time of 8:56.23, which is more than two seconds faster than the second-seeded time of 8:58.29 established by Adam Togami from Wabash College (Ind.).

UW-Oshkosh will also be represented in the individual events by second-seeded Zachary Baehman in the shot put, 12th-seeded Danny Trimner in the 400-meter hurdles, 12th-seeded Roberto Lara in the 1,500-meter run, 16th-seeded Powers in the 400-meter dash, 17th-seeded Devan Gertschen in the pole vault and Allan, who's seeded 16th in the 200-meter dash and 18th in the 100-meter dash.

Allan, Baehman and Carpenter are each seeking their second individual All-America awards. Allan earned his individual All-America citation by finishing sixth in the 100-meter dash at the 2014 championship while Baehman placed fourth in the shot put at last year's national meet and Carpenter was the eighth-place finisher in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2014.

Allan also achieved All-America status as part of the Titans' 400-meter relay squad that placed seventh in 2013 while Kallen Bentz and Trimner both picked up All-America accolades by running legs on UW-Oshkosh's 1,600-meter relay that finished seventh last year.

Baehman, who finished fourth in the shot put at last year's national meet, had a qualifying distance of 57-10 1/2, which trails only the toss of 58-3 1/4 by Corey Burt from Whitworth University (Wash.).

In their respective events, Trimner qualified with a time of 53.06, Lara in a time of 3:49.39, Gertschen with a height of 16-1 3/4 and Powers with a time of 47.98. Lara is the reigning WIAC champion while Allan produced seed times of 10.68 in the 100-meter dash and 21.51 at the 200-meter distance.

The Titans will look to upend the favorites in their events, including Anthony Simpson (10.44) from Wesley College in the 100-meter dash, Jeh Johnson (21.12) from Occidental College (Calif.) in the 200-meter dash, Jake Mihelich (46.61) from Linfield College in the 400-meter dash, Charlie Marquardt (3:43.24) from Haverford College (Pa.) in the 1,500-meter run, Luke Campbell (51.24) from North Central College in the 400-meter hurdles and Luke Winder (18-1) from North Central College in the pole vault.

The Titans also qualified as the sixth-seeded 400-meter relay squad and the eighth-seeded 1,600-meter relay team. UW-Oshkosh's 400-meter relay team, which ran had a season-best time of 41.17, will be comprised of Allan, Bentz, Christian Lopez and Powers. The Titan 1,600-meter relay team of Bentz, Garrison Griest, Powers and Trimner qualified by winning the WIAC title with a time of 3:13.24.

Wesley College is the top-seeded team in the 400-meter relay with a time of 40.64 while UW-Eau Claire is the favorite in the 1,600-meter event with a seed time of 3:10.57.

UW-Oshkosh, which won its lone national championship in 2009, also took home trophies for placing second in 1990, third in 2003 and 2013, and fourth in 2012 and 2014.

2016 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship Website