Titans Place Eighth At NCAA Midwest Regional

All seven UW-Oshkosh runners were among the top 100 finishers as the Titans placed eighth at the NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Midwest Regional held Saturday (Nov. 10) at the Whitetail Golf Course in Colfax.

A trio of sophomores led UW-Oshkosh during its 231-point effort, including Lucas Weber who completed the 8,000-meter race with a 21st-place time of 25:18. The Titans also had Cody Chadwick finish 26th in 25:23 and Michael Juarez 38th in 25:43.

Weber was a 37th-place finisher at last year's Midwest Regional in Rock Island, Ill., while Chadwick ranked 39th and Juarez 44th. Their performance helped the Titans place 10th in the team standings with 312 points.

Brad Hodkinson of Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) defeated 252 other runners to win Saturday's individual title with a time of 24:32. UW-Platteville's Zach Lee finished second with a time of 24:36.

North Central College owned five of the next eight finishers as Chris Buechner listed third with a time of 24:36, Zach Hird fifth in 24:40, Dhruvil Patel sixth in 24:41, Al Baldonado seventh in 24:41 and Matt Osmulski ninth in 24:47.

UW-La Crossed possessed the remaining three top 10 finishers as Josh Schraeder finished fourth with a time of 24:39, Thomas Schultz eighth in 24:42 and Tyler Nault 10th in 24:51.

UW-Oshkosh also had freshman Steven Potter finish 67th with a time of 26:13, Justin Skinkis 79th in 26:25, Andrew George 85th in 26:29 and Fabian Salinas Arroyo 99th in 26:48.

Defending national and Midwest Regional champion North Central College claimed Saturday's team title with 30 points while UW-La Crosse finished second with 74. North Central College entered the meet ranked first in the nation by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and UW-La Crosse fifth.

Washington University in St. Louis finished third in the field of 35 teams with 87 points while UW-Eau Claire placed fourth with 147 and UW-Stout fifth with 164.

Completing the list of top 10 teams were sixth-place University of Chicago (Ill.) with 166 points, seventh-place UW-Platteville with 208, eighth-place UW-Oshkosh, ninth-place Wheaton College (Ill.) with 256 and 10th-place UW-Whitewater with 268. 

The top two teams from Saturday's meet, North Central College and UW-La Crosse, earned automatic berths to the NCAA Division III Championship, which will be hosted by UW-Oshkosh on Nov. 17 at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne.

Sixteen other at-large bids will be awarded from the nation's eight total regions on Sunday (Nov. 11). The top seven individual finishers from each region not on one of the qualifying teams will also secure an invitation to the national championship.

2018 NCAA Division III Cross Country Midwest Regional Website

2018 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship Website

Written by Ally Gwidt, UW-Oshkosh Sports Information