Titans’ Men’s Cross Country Schedule Includes The Hosting Of NCAA Championship
Four home events, including the NCAA Division III Championship, highlight the 2018 schedule for the UW-Oshkosh men's cross country team.
UW-Oshkosh opens its seventh season under head coach Eamon McKenna at the UW-Parkside Vic Godfrey Open on Sept. 8 in Somers. The Titans, who have started a season at a UW-Parkside event every year since 2014, finished seventh at the 2017 Vic Godfrey Open with 194 points.
The first of UW-Oshkosh's four home meets at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne takes place Sept. 21, when Illinois Institute of Technology, Lawrence University and Ripon College visit for the inaugural Titan Fall Classic.
The Titans' other home meets are the Kollege Town Invitational on Oct. 13, the UW-Oshkosh Open on Oct. 19 and the NCAA Division III Championship on Nov. 17.
The Kollege Town Invitational marks the 13th consecutive year that UW-Oshkosh has hosted one of the largest meets in the country. This year's meet, a pre-national event, will feature two races and nearly 800 runners.
Last year's Kollege Town Invitational was won by Augustana College (Ill.) with 97 points. UW-Oshkosh finished second among the 26 competing teams with 108 points while Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) placed third with 116 and Willamette University (Ore.) fourth with 134.
Expected to join the Titans at the UW-Oshkosh Open are runners from UW-Platteville, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater. UW-Stevens Point won last year's five-team meet with 38 points while UW-Oshkosh finished third with 55.
UW-Oshkosh follows the Titan Fall Classic by traveling to Colfax for the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational on Sept. 28, Falcon Heights, Minn., for the University of Minnesota Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 29 and Appleton for the Lawrence University Gene Davis Invitational on Oct. 6.
UW-Oshkosh scored 35 points to win last year's seven-team Roy Griak Invitational title for the third consecutive season. The Titans also won last year's eight-team Gene Davis Invitational with 42 points and finished seventh among 13 teams at the Blugold Invitational with 191.
UW-Oshkosh concludes its regular season at the WIAC Championship on Oct. 27 in Colfax. The Titans have won 10 WIAC titles, with the last two coming in 2011 and 2003.
UW-La Crosse scored 35 points to capture last year's WIAC title while UW-Stout finished second with 64 points and 2016 winner UW-Eau Claire third with 81.
UW-Platteville placed fourth in the 2017 league standings with 113 points, UW-Whitewater fifth with 129, UW-Stevens Point sixth with 133, UW-Oshkosh seventh with 165 and UW-River Falls eighth with 260
UW-Oshkosh begins NCAA Division III postseason competition with a run at the Midwest Regional on Nov. 10 in Colfax. The Titans, who have finished among the top 11 teams at each of the past 34 regionals, placed 10th at last year's event with 312 points.
UW-Oshkosh will host the NCAA Division III Championship this fall after hosting previous national meets in 1999, 2011 and 2015. The top two teams from each of the eight regionals and 16 at-large qualifiers will compete in the meet. The top seven individual finishers from each regional not on one of the team qualifiers will also earn an invitation to the national championship.
UW-Oshkosh is hunting for its 24th NCAA Championship appearance and first since 2015 when it finished 13th in the country. The Titans won NCAA titles in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 2002. UW-Oshkosh was the national championship third-place finisher in 1987, 1991 and 2000.
North Central College (Ill.) is the defending NCAA Division III champion. The Cardinals scored 57 points to win their 18th national title. UW-La Crosse finished second to North Central College with 196 points while Christopher Newport University (Va.) third with 221 and Amherst College (Mass.) fourth with 251.
UW-Oshkosh returns 11 of its 14 letter winners from last year's team. The returning group includes six of the seven runners who competed at the 2017 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional – sophomore Lucas Weber (37th place), sophomore Cody Chadwick (39th place), sophomore Michael Juarez (44th place), sophomore Noah Bruehl (101st place), sophomore Skyler Yunk (145th place) and senior Bennett Krueger (167th place).
Juarez also finished 19th at last year's WIAC Championship while Chadwick placed 26th, Weber 37th, Yunk 62nd, Krueger 63rd and Bruehl 64th.