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.