NCAA Outdoor Championship To Feature Seven Titans
Qualified in both the 200-meter dash and 400-meter run, junior Ryan Powers leads UW-Oshkosh's seven participants for next weekend's NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship in La Crosse.
The 45th version of the three-day national meet begins Thursday (May 24) and concludes Saturday (May 26) at the Veteran's Memorial Field Sports Complex. Competition begins at 10 a.m. both Thursday and Friday (May 25) and 11 a.m. on Saturday. The men's championship will be held in unison with the 37th edition of the women's championship.
Powers earned the fourth seed in the 400-meter run with his winning school-record time of 47.45 seconds at the WIAC Outdoor Championship held May 4-5. Loras College's (Iowa) Patrick Mikel is seeded first in the event with a time of 47.00 seconds.
Powers, who posted a sixth-place time of 48.56 seconds at the Division III Indoor Championship held March 9-10, finished eighth in the 400-meter run at last year's Division III Outdoor Championship held in Geneva, Ohio, with a time of 47.73 seconds. Powers also placed 14th in the 400-meter run at the 2016 Division III Outdoor Championship held in Waverly, Iowa, with a performance of 48.18 seconds.
In the 200-meter dash, Powers acquired this year's 12th seed after sprinting to a season-best time of 21.42 seconds at the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative Meet held April 28. The event's top seeded time of 21.06 seconds belongs to UW-Platteville's Rodrick McMiller.
For each men's individual event contested, the top 20 declared student-athletes were accepted into the competition. For each relay event contested, the top 16 declared relay teams, one per institution, were accepted into the competition.
Other UW-Oshkosh qualifiers for next weekend's Division III Outdoor Championship are senior Devan Gertschen and sophomore Joe Vils in the pole vault, sophomore Jack Flynn in the discus, junior Bailey Quinn in the hammer throw, freshman Erik Schwandt in the 100-meter dash and senior Joe Zack in the 1,500-meter run.
In the pole vault, Gertschen is seeded sixth and Vils 15th with season-best heights of 16-8 3/4 and 16-0 3/4, respectively. Gertschen reached his measurement at the WIAC Outdoor Championship and Vils at the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative Meet. North Central College's (Ill.) Luke Winder is the event's top seed at 18-4 1/2.
Gertschen, a two-time WIAC outdoor pole vault champion, finished 17th in the event at the 2017 Division III Outdoor Championship and 13th in 2016. Gertschen also placed seventh and Vils 13th with heights of 16-0 3/4 and 15-1, respectively, at this year's Division III Indoor Championship.
Flynn, the starting center on a UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team that played in the Division III national championship game last March, is seeded eighth in the discus with his season-best distance of 170-05 recorded at the Augustana College (Ill.) Twilight Meet held May 17. He also placed sixth in the event with a mark of 161-6 at the WIAC Outdoor Championship. Sam Elsner of UW-Stout is seeded first in the discus for next weekend's national meet with a measurement of 184-11.
Quinn enters the national meet as the 13th seed in the hammer throw. His season-best distance of 187-4 at the UW-La Crosse Phil Esten Challenge on April 21. Quinn also placed third in the hammer throw at the WIAC Outdoor Championship with a cast of 170-11. Augustana College's Cody Wheeler is seeded first in the event with a distance of 207-2.
Schwandt ranks as the eighth seed in the 100-meter dash. He sprinted to his season-best performance of 10.52 seconds at the Lewis University (Ill.) Twilight Meet on April 24. Schwandt also finished fourth with a time of 10.63 seconds in the event at the WIAC Outdoor Championship. UW-La Crosse's Ernest Winters is seeded first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.42 seconds.
Zack is back for another appearance in the 1,500-meter run after placing 13th at last year's championship with a time of 3:53.42. He is seeded 13th this year after running a season-best time of 3:51.16 at the UW-La Crosse Final Qualifier on May 17. Zack also finished third in the 1,500-meter run at the WIAC Outdoor Championship with a time of 3:52.69. Isaac Garcia-Cassani of State University of New York at Geneseo is seeded first for this year's national race with a time of 3:42.85.
UW-Oshkosh finished 51st at the 2017 Division III Outdoor Championship with five points.
UW-La Crosse scored 47 points to win its third straight national title while UW-Whitewater placed second with 45, University of Mount Union (Ohio) third with 29, Benedictine University (Ill.) fourth with 28 and UW-Eau Claire fifth with 24.
UW-Oshkosh, the 2009 Division III outdoor champion, has scored at least five points at the past 34 national outdoor meets.
This season, North Central College enters the Division III Outdoor Championship ranked first in nation by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Following the Cardinals in the rankings are UW-La Crosse in second, Rowan University (N.J.) in third, UW-Whitewater in fourth and Augustana College in fifth.
2018 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship Website