Eight Top-Five #EventSquad Rankings Keep Titans in the Top-Three; Set to Travel to Whitewater
OSHKOSH, Wis.- The UW-Oshkosh men's track & field team was ranked No. 3 in the nation, holds eight top-five #EventSquad rankings and 10 top-10 marks including four top-five and a national leader in this week's review of national rankings.
Team National Ranking
The Titans are ranked in the top-three in the national for the third week this season, after USTFCCCA's weekly poll was released on Tuesday afternoon. Other WIAC competitors UW-La Crosse (No. 1), UW-Eau Claire (No. 7) and UW-Whitewater (No. 23) were also ranked.
Oshkosh holds eight top-five #EventSquad rankings in this week's poll. Sophomore Davian Willems, senior Jaylen Grant, sophomore Londyn Little, and senior Denzel Thomas make up the No. 1-ranked 60-meter dash squad that owns a 6.84 second average. The high jump squad made up of freshman Charlie Nolan, sophomore Caleb Cornelius, freshman Matthew Ewens and freshman Aden Sears averages a nation-leading 1.97-meter average. Oshkosh also ranks first in the triple jump (14.10-meter average), made up of senior Jonathan Wilburn, Nolan, junior Elijah Pena, and senior Ben Jung. The men rank second in both the 800-meter run and the long jump with averages of 1:52.31 and 6.98 meters, respectively. Sophomore Ryan Potter, senior Steven Potter, sophomore Dwight Hosni and junior Reid Marquardt make up the 800-meter squad and the long jump squad includes freshman Sebastian Jefferson, junior RJ Bosshart, sophomore AK Toheeb-Lawal and senior Jamyle Brantley. One of their third place squads is the 200-meter dash, which members, sophomore Londyn Little, junior Rashaad Henderson, Grant, and freshman Devin Williams average a 21.99 second finish in. Their other third place squad ranking is the heptathlon. Bosshart, Sears, Ewens and junior Payton White have averaged 4,577 points this season. As the Titans' sole fourth place ranking, senior Eli Tranel, sophomore Zach Zirgibel, Ewens and Bosshart average a 4.47-meter mark. The team also ranks fifth in the 400-meter dash with a 49.27 second finish. Little, Ryan Potter, Williams, and Pena make up the 400-meter dash squad.
Wilburn leads all Division III jumpers with a 15.20-meter finish in the triple jump. In the 60-meter dash, Willems ranks third (6.72 seconds). Little's 21.49 second finish in the 200-meter dash sits at fifth in the nation. Bosshart also holds a fifth place spot, although his is in the heptathlon, where he scored 4,918 points. Sears ranks right behind him with a season-high finish in the heptathlon of 4,896 points. The point totals in the heptathlon take into account an adjustment for running on a banked track. The Potter brothers rank seventh (Ryan, 1:51.57) and ninth (Steven, 1:51.71) in the 800-meter run. Nolan is among the top-10 finishers in the high jump with a 2.04-meter mark. Tranel ranks seventh in the pole vault with a high of 5.00 meters and Zirgibel follows in ninth with a 4.90-meter vault.
Last Week's Highlights
The Titans took first in Ripon College's Red Hawk Invite, scoring 264 points and winning eight events. Little led the 60-meter dash with a 6.91 second time. Williams won the 200-meter dash in a time of 22.65 seconds. In the 400-meter dash, senior John Ford beat all other runners with a time of 51.42 seconds. Ryan Potter placed first in the 600-meter dash, finishing in 1:20.74. Sophomore Eli Traeder and freshman John Thill won the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs with times of 8:50.63 and 15:41.39, respectively. The Titans; 4x400-meter relay beat all other schools with a time of 3:24.63. Wilburn extended his nation-leading effort in the triple jump with his 15.20-meter mark, besting his previous finish of 15.15 meters. Freshman Kieran Maude led all Division III throwers in the shot put with a 14.22-meter throw, taking second behind a Wisconsin Badger.
Where the Titans are Competing
The Titans compete in the UW-Whitewater Midwest Elite Invitational this Saturday, with events beginning at 11 a.m.