Titans Conclude Busy Weekend Of Activity
Joe Zack of the UW-Oshkosh men's track & field team recorded a pair of top-nine finishes in the Championship Division of the Gina Relays held Thursday through Saturday (April 27-29) in Hillsdale, Mich.
Zack finished eighth among 36 contestants in the 1,500-meter run with his time of 3:52.10 and ninth among 18 participants in the 800-meter run with his performance of 1:53.40.
Justine Kiprotich of Michigan State University won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:50.32 while Bastian Grau of University of Southern Indiana won the 1,500-meter race with a time of 3:46.27.
Roberto Lara and Derrick Rufer also represented UW-Oshkosh at the Gina Relays. Lara finished ninth in the Championship Division of the 1,500-meter run while Rufer placed 12th in the Open Division of the 800-meter run with times of 3:52.37 and 1:55.96, respectively.
In addition to the Gina Relays, UW-Oshkosh team members also competed in events held at the Drake Relays from Thursday through Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa, and the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative Meet held Saturday in Whitewater.
At the prestigious Drake Relays, UW-Oshkosh finished 10th in the 400- and 12th in the 1,600-meter College Division relays.
Garrison Griest, Christian Lopez, Nolan Peterson and Danny Trimner were members of a 400-meter relay team that recorded a time of 42.42 seconds while Griest, Trimner, Morgan Malm and Ryan Powers combined to post a time of 3:17.62 in the 1,600-meter relay.
At the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative Meet, Hunter Effa defeated 21 other contestants to win the long jump.
Effa leaped to a winning measurement of 22-4 1/4 while Cory Cegelski of Marquette University finished second with a distance of 21-10 3/4 and Bryce Mancheski of UW-Oshkosh third at 21-10. The Titans' Carson Weber placed fifth in the event with a mark of 21-7 1/2.
UW-Oshkosh had three place winners in the pole vault as Devan Gertschen finished fourth with a height of 15-3, Mitchell Hasey fifth at 15-3 and Joe Vils eighth at 14-9.
The Titans had two other fifth-place finishers as Josh Jennerjohn and Trevor Damkot recorded times of 11.09 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 16:00.63 in the 5,000-meter run, respectively.
UW-Oshkosh's sixth-place finishes were all in the field events as Weber leaped to a height of 6-3 1/2 in the high jump while Jared Benson skipped to a measurement of 40-7 1/2 in the triple jump and Jack Flynn threw to a distance of 149-0 in the discus.
Finishing seventh for the Titans were Todd Beadle with a time of 52.80 seconds in the 400-meter run, Isaiah Sample with a time of 10:25.10 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Bailey Quinn in the hammer throw with a cast of 171-8.
No team scores were kept at any of the three meets.
UW-Oshkosh will compete at the WIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship next weekend (May 5-6) in Platteville.