Titans To Perform At WIAC Outdoor Championship
With the top seed in one event and the second in five others, UW-Oshkosh looks to improve on last year's fifth-place finish at this weekend's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship (presented by Culver's) in River Falls.
Competition at the 100th edition of the championship begins at noon Friday (May 4) and 10 a.m. Saturday (May 5) at UW-River Falls' Ramer Field. The meet will be held in unison with the 47th version of the women's championship.
UW-Oshkosh, a seven-time champion, has finished among the top three teams during six of the last eight league championships. The Titans placed fifth with 90 points last year, third with 130 points in 2016, sixth with 80.33 in 2015 and second with 163 in 2014. UW-Oshkosh captured WIAC titles in 1925, 1927, 1966-68, 1971 and 1990.
Last year, UW-La Crosse counted 214 points to secure its 29th straight WIAC title and 53rd overall. The Eagles were followed by second-place UW-Whitewater with 151.1 points and third-place UW-Stevens Point with 99.5.
Completing last year's team standings were fourth-place UW-Eau Claire with 93 points, fifth-place UW-Oshkosh, sixth-place UW-Platteville with 70, seventh-place UW-Stout with 63 and eighth-place UW-River Falls with 35.
UW-Oshkosh earned the top seed in the 400-meter relay for this year's championship after Robert Ogbuli, Nolan Peterson, Ryan Powers and Erik Schwandt recorded a season-best time of 41.81 seconds at UW-La Crosse's Phikl Esten Challenge on April 21.
Titans seeded second in their event are Powers with a time of 48.35 seconds in the 400-meter run, Schwandt with a time of 10.52 seconds in the 100-meter dash, Cody Chadwick with a time of 31:34.58 in the 10,000-meter run, defending champion Devan Gertschen with a height of 16-4 3/4 in the pole vault and Bailey Quinn with a distance of 187-4 in the hammer throw. Schwandt also ranks fourth in the NCAA Division III this outdoor season in the 100-meter dash while Gertschen lists sixth in the pole vault and Quinn eighth in the hammer throw.
UW-Oshkosh has a pair of third seeds as Powers earned a time of 21.42 seconds in the 200-meter dash and Jordan Boyd a height of 6-6 in the high jump. Powers also ranks seventh nationally.
Titan Bryce Mancheski is seeded fourth in the long jump with a measurement of 22-3 1/2.
This year's championship features 14 student-athletes who have combined to win 11 individual and six first-place relay medals at previous league meets. It will also showcase six teams ranked nationally in the NCAA Division III by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in third-ranked UW-Whitewater, 11th-ranked UW-La Crosse, 12th-ranked UW-Stout, 16th-ranked UW-Oshkosh, 18th-ranked UW-Platteville and 20th-ranked UW-Eau Claire.
UW-La Crosse's Ernest Winters claimed Track Performer of the Meet honors at the 2016 championship after winning the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and contributing to the first-place 400-meter relay team. He was joined on the 400-meter relay squad by Ryan Send. At last year's championship, Brendan Deiss was victorious in the high jump, while Justin Donkin won the javelin for the Eagles.
UW-Whitewater's Parker Witt is the reigning Track Performer of the Meet after securing the 100- and 200-meter dashes a season ago. Warhawk Brett Harms is the defending champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
UW-Eau Claire's Kyler Lueck was victorious in the 1,500-meter run a season ago, while Brandon Christnovich and Hunter Henk were members of the winning 1,600-meter relay team.
UW-Platteville's Cody Faust will aim for back-to-back first-place finishes in the decathlon.
At the 2016 championship, UW-Oshkosh's Powers and Garrison Griest helped the 1,600-meter relay team to victory. UW-Stout's Christian Lucchesi claimed the pole vault crown at the 2015 championship.
The top finisher in each event receives all-conference first team recognition while the runner-up secures second team accolades and the third-place performer honorable mention recognition.