Titans Capture WIAC Outdoor Title

UW-Oshkosh won five events and totaled 37 top-eight finishes to capture the team title at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship (presented by Culver's) held Friday and Saturday (May 6-7) in La Crosse.

The Titans secured the title with 174 points to nip the 173 by 30-time defending WIAC outdoor champion UW-La Crosse. UW-Oshkosh's margin of victory matches the closest in the 103-year history of the championship. UW-La Crosse edged UW-Oshkosh, 175-174, for the 2011 WIAC outdoor crown.

UW-Oshkosh's conference outdoor championship was the seventh in program history and first since 1990. The Titans also won league outdoor titles in 1927, 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1971.

Saturday's victory additionally gave UW-Oshkosh a sweep of the WIAC indoor and outdoor titles for the first time since 1971. The Titans claimed their first indoor conference championship since 2001 on Feb. 26 in Platteville.

This year's conference win by UW-Oshkosh was a little closer than anticipated. The Titans took a 174-165 lead over UW-La Crosse into the final event, the 1,600-meter relay, and needed to just finish the race to grab the team title. UW-Oshkosh appeared to have done that by placing third behind first-place UW-Eau Claire and second-place UW-La Crosse in the event, but the Titans were disqualified, thus, creating, the one-point margin of victory. Had UW-La Crosse won the event, which it lost by less than two seconds to UW-Eau Claire, the title would have gone to the Eagles.

UW-Eau Claire placed third in this year's team standings with 131.5 points while UW-Stout finished fourth with 109, UW-Whitewater fifth with 88, UW-Platteville sixth with 87.5, UW-Stevens Point seventh with 42 and UW-River Falls eighth with 13.

The 2022 WIAC Outdoor Championship showcased five programs ranked in the Top 17 of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's NCAA Division III Rating Index – sixth-ranked UW-Eau Claire, 11th-ranked UW-Oshkosh, 12th-ranked UW-La Crosse, 15th-ranked UW-Stout and 17th-ranked UW-Platteville.

UW-Oshkosh athletes successfully defending their individual event title from last year's WIAC Outdoor Championship were Steven Potter and Jonathan Wilburn.

Steven Potter defeated 22 other contestants in the 800-meter run with his winning time of 1:52.10. Michael Madoch of UW-La Crosse finished second in the race with a time of 1:52.246 while UW-Oshkosh's Ryan Potter placed third in 1:52.249, Reid Marquardt fifth in 1:54.19 and Dwight Hosni seventh in 1:54.68.

Wilburn finished first among 24 participants in the triple jump with a measurement of 48-2 3/4 that ranks ninth in Division III this outdoor season. William Cady of UW-La Crosse placed second in the event with a distance of 48-0 1/2 and UW-Oshkosh's Leslie Fisher fifth at 46-11.

Also winning individual events for the Titans were Caleb Cornelius and John Ford.

Cornelius earned first place in the high jump with a leap of 6-8 3/4 that ranks seventh nationally. Wes Keller of UW-Eau Claire finished second among the event's 20 entrants with a height of 6-8 3/4 and UW-Oshkosh's Julien Harden eighth at 6-5 1/2. Cornelius won the title by having fewer missed attempts than Keller.

Ford outran 18 other contestants in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.53 seconds that ranks 16th in Division III. Hayden Wagner of UW-Stout finished second in the event with a time of 54.46 seconds and UW-Oshkosh's Weston Lerdal eighth at 57.60.

UW-Oshkosh furthermore won the 400-meter relay as Adrian Girone, Jaylen Grant, Aaron McCarroll-Richardson and Robert Ogbuli produced a time of 40.72 seconds. UW-La Crosse finished second in the eight-team race with a time of 41.05 seconds. Ogbuli was also a member of Titans' triumphant 400-meter relay unit in 2019.

UW-Oshkosh athletes will compete in a variety of last chance qualifying meets over the next two weeks before participating at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship on May 26-28 in Geneva, Ohio.