Titans Open Outdoor Track & Field Season In Illinois
The nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh men's track & field team begins the 2018 outdoor season at the Benedictine University Invitational on Saturday (April 7) in Lisle, Ill.
The season-opening event is the Titans' first of six meets before the WIAC Championship on May 4-5 in River Falls.
UW-Oshkosh will then travel to the UW-Platteville Invitational on April 13-14 before participating at the Phil Esten Challenge on April 19-20 in La Crosse.
The Titans are scheduled to send athletes to both the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, and the Gina Relays in Hillsdale, Mich., from April 26-28 and be represented at UW-Whitewater's Drake Alternative Meet on April 28.
Last season the Titans placed second among 20 teams at the Phil Esten Challenge and claimed 13 top-five individual finishes at the UW-Platteville Invitational.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked 20th in the NCAA Division III by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), returns 27 letter winners from last year's team that finished fifth at the WIAC Championship with 89 points and 51st at the national meet with five points.
Following the WIAC Championship, the Titans continue their outdoor season at the Dr. Keeler Invitational on May 10-11 in Naperville, Ill., the Eagle Open in La Crosse on May 11, the North Central College Gregory Invitational on May 16-17 in Naperville, and the UW-La Crosse Final Qualifier on May 17.
The NCAA Division III Championship will be held May 24-26 in La Crosse.
All-Americans Ryan Powers and Christian Lopez, both juniors, headline UW-Oshkosh's returning letter winners for first-year head coach Justin Kinseth.
Powers finished eighth in the 400-meter run at last year's Division III Championship and 14th in the event at the 2016 national meet. Powers and Lopez both ran legs on the Titans' 400-meter relay squad that placed sixth at the national meet in 2016. Powers, who helped the Titans win the 1,600-meter relay at the 2016 WIAC championship, finished second in the 400-meter run at last year's league meet.
Also back for the Titans are all-conference performers Devan Gertschen, Joe Zack, Todd Beadle and Garrison Griest.
Gertschen, a senior, won the WIAC's pole vault title a year ago. He went on to place 17th in the pole vault at last year's national meet. Gertschen finished 13th nationally in the pole vault in 2016.
Zack, a senior, placed second in the 1,500-meter run at the WIAC Championship and 13th at the Division III meet in 2017.
Beadle, a sophomore, and Griest, a senior, were members of UW-Oshkosh's 400-meter relay team that placed second at the 2017 WIAC Championship. Griest also earned All-WIAC first team honors in 2016 by running a leg on the Titans' winning 1,600-meter relay squad. Griest and Powers helped the Titans place ninth in the 1,600-meter relay at the 2016 Division III Championship.
North Central College (Ill.) enters the outdoor season ranked first nationally by the USTFCCCA. The Cardinals are followed by second-ranked Rowan University (N.J.), third-ranked George Fox University (Ore.), fourth-ranked Augustana College (Ill.) and fifth-ranked St. John Fisher College (N.Y.).
UW-Oshkosh is among five WIAC teams ranked in the USTFCCCA's national poll, which also includes sixth-ranked UW-La Crosse, seventh-ranked UW-Whitewater, eighth-ranked UW-Stout and 10th-ranked UW-Eau Claire.
UW-La Crosse, which has won 27 straight WIAC championships, secured its third straight and 15th overall Division III title a year ago. UW-Whitewater was last year's national runner-up, while UW-Eau Claire finished second in the country in both 2015 and 2016.
In WIAC competition, UW-La Crosse secured its 27th consecutive and 53rd overall title with 214 points a year ago. UW-Whitewater was second with 151.5 points, UW-Stevens Point third with 99.5, UW-Eau Claire fourth with 93, UW-Oshkosh fifth with 89, UW-Platteville sixth with 70, UW-Stout seventh with 63 and UW-River Falls eighth with 35.
UW-Oshkosh is the last program to dethrone UW-La Crosse at the WIAC Championship, winning the 1990 title to interrupt the Eagles' run of 39 league titles in the past 40 years.
The Titans, the 2009 NCAA Division III champion, have scored at least five points at the each of the past 24 national meets.