Titans To Run At WIAC Championship
UW-Oshkosh juniors Cody Chadwick and Noah O'Neill will make their third consecutive appearance at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men's Cross Country Championship (Presented by Culver's) that will be held Saturday (Nov. 2) in Cuba City. The 59th edition of the championship begins at 12 p.m. from the Cole Acres Golf Course.
Chadwick finished 12th at last year's championship held in Colfax and 26th at the 2017 league event held in Whitewater. He owns four top-27 finishes this year, including a victory at the UW-Parkside Vic Godfrey Open held Sept. 6 in Somers.
O'Neill placed 77th at the WIAC Championship a year ago and 85th at the league meet in 2017. His top finish this season is a 14th-place result at the Lawrence University Gene Davis Invitational held Oct. 12 in Appleton.
Other UW-Oshkosh runners competing on Saturday with WIAC Championship experience are Noah Bruehl, Andrew George, Andrew Muskevitsch, Steven Potter and Skyler Yunk.
George finished 42nd, Potter 46th and Muskevitsch 67th at the 2018 WIAC Championship while Yunk placed 62nd and Bruehl 64th in 2017.
Titans making their WIAC Championship debut on Saturday are Mitchell Bradford, Jason Ford, Joe Kehoe, Spencer Muffler and Andrew Rathkamp. Bradford, Ford and Kehoe are all freshmen.
This year's WIAC Championship includes several runners who have earned all-league honors at previous league championships. They include UW-Eau Claire's Connor Dolan (17th place in 2018); UW-La Crosse's Matt Bourland (16th in 2018 & 12th in 2017), Tyler Nault (seventh in 2018 & ninth in 2017), Chris Pahnke (19th in 2018) and Josh Schraeder (third in 2018, third in 2017 & 16th in 2016); UW-Oshkosh's Chadwick (12th in 2018); UW-Stevens Point's Alex Egbert (13th in 2017), Matt Stelmasek (20th in 2017) and Tyler Tanko (20th in 2018); UW-Stout's Tyler Ellefson (eighth in 2017), Mike Friedman (ninth in 2018) and Nick Zolondek (18th in 2017); and UW-Whitewater's David Fassbender (sixth in 2018).
The top seven runners in Saturday's 8,000-meter race will receive All-WIAC First Team recognition while runners placing eight through 14 earn All-WIAC Second Team accolades. Individuals finishing 15 through 20 collect honorable mention laurels.
UW-Oshkosh, a 10-time WIAC team champion, finished fifth at last year's WIAC Championship with 127 points.
UW-La Crosse scored 38 points to win its second straight title and 34th overall. The Eagles were followed in the team standings by second-place and 2016 champion UW-Eau Claire with 69 points, third-place UW-Stout with 85 and fourth-place UW-Stevens Point with 119.
Completing the team listings were sixth-place UW-Platteville with 134 points, seventh-place UW-Whitewater with 138 and eighth-place UW-River Falls with 255.
UW-La Crosse enters Saturday's meet ranked 16th in the NCAA Division III by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, UW-Stevens Point 21st, UW-Stout 34th and UW-Eau Claire 35th.
In addition to the WIAC championships won by UW-La Crosse and UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point owns five league titles, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Platteville four apiece and UW-Whitewater two.
Following a weekend off all eight WIAC teams will participate at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional on Nov. 16 at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne. The NCAA Division III Championship will be held Nov. 23 at the E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.