Titans Own Three Event Winners At Phil Esten Challenge

Titans Own Three Event Winners At Phil Esten Challenge

Ryan Powers recorded this season's best NCAA Division III time in the 400-meter run and Joe Vils the division's second-best performance in the pole vault during UW-Oshkosh's participation at the 19th Annual UW-La Crosse Phil Esten Men's Track & Field Challenge held Thursday and Friday (April 18-19) in La Crosse.

Powers, who ranks fifth nationally in the 200-meter dash (21.45) and 47th in the 100-meter dash (10.87), defeated 41 other 400-meter run contestants with his winning school-record time of 47.30 seconds. UW-Oshkosh's Todd Beadle finished second to Powers with a time of 49.07 seconds.

Vils established a personal best with his winning leap of 16-9 1/4 in the pole vault. Vils beat 29 other competitors, including UW-Stout's Noah Jastrow who finished second with a height of 16-3 1/4.

UW-Oshkosh's remaining victory came from Jonathan Wilburn in the triple jump. Wilburn, who ranks third in the event nationally with a season-best measurement of 48-6, skipped to a winning distance of 47-2 1/4 to defeat 13 other participants. UW-Stevens Point's Tom Kohn finished second to Wilburn with a mark of 46-11 3/4 while UW-Oshkosh's Jared Benson placed fifth at 43-10 1/2, Adam Tallman sixth at 43-10 1/2 and Jamyle Brantley seventh at 43-4 1/2.

The Titans owned three of the top performers in the long jump as Brantley finished third with a measurement of 23-0 1/2, Justin Rivers seventh at 21-10 1/4 and Roman Hill eighth at 21-9 1/2. Brantley's mark is the 20th best in the division this season.

UW-Oshkosh had three other second-place finishers – Rivers in the high jump with a leap of 6-6 3/4, Robert Ogbuli in the 200-meter dash with a time of 10.82 seconds and Bailey Quinn in the hammer throw with a distance of 187-7. Quinn's measurement in the hammer throw ranks 16th and Rivers' height in the high jump 18th nationally this season.

The Titans' two other third-place finishes came from Nick Tegtmeier in the shot put and Darquise Winters in the high jump. Tegtmeier recorded this season's 17th-best measurement in the division with his throw of 52-1 3/4 while Winters leaped to a height of 6-2 3/4.

UW-Oshkosh established its lone fourth-place listing in the 1,600-meter relay as Amitai Wheat, Steven Potter, Nick Freitag and Justin Skinkis ran to a time of 3:20.66.

Other fifth-place performances went to UW-Oshkosh's Skinkis in the 800-meter run and Jackson Sheckler in the shot put. Skinkis ran to a time of 1:54.87 while Sheckler marked a throw of 50-2 3/4.

The Titans had two other sixth-place finishes as Ogbuli and Aaron McCarroll-Richardson ran to times of 22.09 seconds in the 200-meter dash and 10.95 seconds in the 100-meter dash, respectively.

UW-Oshkosh's top-eight efforts were competed by the seventh-place times of 3:54.85 in the 1,500-meter run by Potter and 16:27.86 in the 5,000-meter run by Joe Kehoe.

UW-Oshkosh scored 114.5 points to finish second among the 20 competing teams.

UW-La Crosse compiled 149.5 points to win its 19th straight Phil Esten Challenge title while UW-Stevens Point finished third with 92. Minnesota State University placed fourth with 81.5 points, Wartburg College (Iowa) fifth with 72.5 and UW-Stout sixth with 71.

UW-Oshkosh will be represented at a pair of meets next weekend – the Drake Relays and the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative Meet. The Drake Relays begin Thursday (April 25) and conclude Saturday (April 27) in Des Moines, Iowa, while the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative Meet will be contested Saturday in Whitewater.