Titans Overwhelm Opposition At Red Hawk Invitational

Ryan Powers won the 400-meter run with a school-record performance and Robert Ogbuli finished first in a pair of sprints to lead the UW-Oshkosh men's track and field team to a lopsided victory at the Ripon College Red Hawk Invitational held Saturday (Feb. 2) in Ripon.

UW-Oshkosh, ranked second in the NCAA Division III by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, won 10 of the meet's 16 events and concluded competition against its 11 opponents with 272.16 points.

Carroll University scored 83 points to finish a distant second to UW-Oshkosh while St. Norbert College placed third with 43 points and both Concordia University Wisconsin and Wisconsin Lutheran College fourth with 30.

Powers defeated 25 other participants in the 400-meter run with his winning time of 48.27 seconds. His performance, which ranks second in the NCAA Division III this indoor season, broke the previous UW-Oshkosh record of 48.33 seconds established by Ben Zill on March 13, 2010.

Ogbuli earned his victories with times of 6.89 seconds in the 60-meter dash and 22.57 seconds in the 200-meter dash. He outran 41 other competitors for the 60-meter race and 47 for the 200. Ogbuli's time in the 60-meter dash is the sixth fastest in the country.

UW-Oshkosh's Justin Skinkis contributed a victory in the mile run with his time of 4:19.63.

Titans recording first-place measurements in the field events were Justin Rivers in the high jump with a leap of 6-6 3/4, Bailey Quinn in the 35-pound weight throw with a distance of 56-2, Jackson Sheckler in the shot put with a toss of 49-7, Joe Vils in the pole vault with a height of 15-9 and Jonathan Wilburn in the triple jump with a skip of 46-4.

UW-Oshkosh had two of the top-three times in the 1,600-meter relay as the Titans' A Team finished first with a run of 3:22.82 and the Titans' B Team third in 3:32.33.

The Titans had a large group of second-place finishers as Roman Hill leaped 22-6 1/2 in the long jump, Benjamin Jung ran 22.91 seconds in the 200-meter dash, Christian Lopez sprinted 7.06 seconds in the 60-meter dash, Devin Moody and Darquise Winters soared 6-6 3/4 in the high jump, Jason Myrick hurled the 35-pound weight throw 50-9, Kunmi Olatunde ran 8.86 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, Noah O'Neill scampered 9:01.81 in the 3,000-meter run and Nick Tegtmeier marked a distance of 48-5 1/2 in the shot put.

Finishing third for UW-Oshkosh were Jamyle Brantley in the long jump with a measurement of 22-4 1/4, Zachary Emmer in the pole vault with a height of 13-11 3/4, Steven Potter with a time of 4:20.57 in the mile run and Adam Tallman in the triple jump with a mark of 44-2.

Eight Titans finished fourth as Brantley went 44-1 1/2 in the triple jump, Moody 21-11 in the long jump, Quinn 45-0 1/4 in the shot put, Tegtmeier 44-9 in the 35-pound weight throw, Todd Beadle 50.68 seconds in the 400-meter run, Abel Christiansen 23.12 seconds in the 200-meter dash, Michael Hartman 9.01 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles and Michael Juarez 9:06.41 in the 3,000-meter run.

Earning fifth-place results for UW-Oshkosh were Jung in the long jump with a measurement of 21-4 3/4, Cade Ellenbecker in the pole vault with a height of 13-5 1/4 and Henry Laste in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:10.35.

Placing sixth for the Titans were Winters in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.15 seconds, Nick Freitag in the mile run with a time of 4:25.17, Bennett Krueger in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:08.64, Denzel Thomas with a time of 7.22 seconds in the 60-meter dash and Amitai Wheat in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.08 seconds.

Supplying UW-Oshkosh's seventh-place listings were Andrew George with a time of 4:28.85 in the mile run, Andrew Muskevitsch with a time of 9:14.78 in the 3,000-meter run and Jared Ollhoff with a distance of 42-1 1/2 in the triple jump.

Titan Noah Bruehl finished eighth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:16.94.

UW-Oshkosh competes next Saturday (Feb. 9) at the UW-Whitewater Midwest ELITE Invitational in Whitewater.