Titans Win "Squig" Converse Invitational, Have Five Event Champions

Assisted by five event titles, nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh compiled 158.5 points to win the 11-team UW-Whitewater "Squig" Converse Men's Track & Field Invitational Friday (Jan. 28) in Whitewater.

UW-Oshkosh, the top-ranked NCAA Division III program in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Indoor Rating Index, tallied 31 top-eight results to win its third invitational of the young 2021-22 season.

UW-La Crosse finished second to the Titans in the team competition with 109 points while UW-Whitewater placed third with 98.5, Augustana College (Ill.) fourth with 50 and St. Norbert College fifth with 48.

UW-Oshkosh dominated the performances in the 60- and 200-meter dashes and 400-meter run.

The Titans had five of the top seven results in the 60-meter dash as Jaylen Grant finished first among 38 sprinters with a time of 6.78 seconds, Davian Willems second in 6.85, Denzel Thomas fourth in 6.90, Aaron McCarroll-Richardson sixth in 6.94 and Robert Ogbuli seventh in 6.96.

UW-Oshkosh earned four of the top seven outcomes in the 200-meter dash as McCarroll-Richardson placed first among 70 participants with a time of 22.49 seconds, Ogbuli third in 22.56, Jaylin Boatman fifth in 22.80 and Payton White sixth in 22.81.

UW-Oshkosh owned five of the top eight listings as Amitai Wheat finished second with a time of 50.83 seconds, Adrian Girone third in 51.03, Aden Sears fifth in 51.15, Elijah Pena sixth in 51.16 and Rashaad Henderson eighth in 51.41.

UW-Oshkosh also produced the winner in two other individual events as Caleb Cornelius recorded a height of 6-5 among 16 contestants in the high jump and Leslie Fisher a measurement of 47-3 1/2 among 16 entrants in the triple jump. Fisher now ranks 11th in his event nationally. 

The Titans additionally had Girone, Wheat, Bo Koehn and Ryan Potter register a winning time of 3:23.49 in the 1,600-meter relay. The victorious squad defeated 14 other challengers, including a pair of quartets from UW-Oshkosh that also finished in the top seven.

Taking third in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:26.80 were Boatman, Pena, Sears and Jonathan Wilburn. Running on UW-Oshkosh's 1,600-meter relay team that posted a time of 3:35.02 were Noah Bruehl, Dwight Hosni, Jelani Lawson and Evan Wendland.

UW-Oshkosh's second-place finishes were completed by the time of 4:35.21 in the mile run from Hosni and the height of 15-3 in the pole vault from Eli Tranel.

Titans Andrew Rathkamp and Jackson Sheckler added third-place finishes with their time of 4:35.86 in the mile run and measurement of 47-9 3/4 in the shot put, respectively.

Rounding out UW-Oshkosh's fourth-place results were the times of 8.70 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles by Aaron Kiela and 1:57.72 in the 800-meter run by Reid Marquardt.

White finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 22-1 1/2 while Jamyle Brantley placed sixth in the long jump with a measurement of 22-1 and eighth in the triple jump with a distance of 43-11 1/4.

The Titans also had Jacob Dennison finish sixth in the 35-pound weight throw with a mark of 50-8 1/4, Zachary Zirgibel seventh in the pole vault with a height of 14-3 1/4 and Julien Harden eighth in the high jump with a leap of 5-11 1/2.

UW-Oshkosh will send athletes to both the Ripon College Red Hawk Invitational and UW-Stevens Point Big Dawg Invitational on Saturday (Feb. 5).