Titans Finish Second At WIAC Outdoor Championship

Christy Cazzola won three running events within a span of three hours on the final day to help UW-Oshkosh finish second at the WIAC Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship held Friday and Saturday (May 2-3) at the Oshkosh Sports Complex.

Cazzola's victories covered 7,300 meters in distance. She won two events for the fourth straight year, capturing runs at 800 and 1,500 meters in times of 2:12.26 and 4:49.24, respectively. Cazzola posted a time of 17:17.38 to win the 5,000-meter run for the second consecutive year.

Cazzola also ran on UW-Oshkosh's first-place 3,200-meter relay team. The group of Cazzola, Sonny Jenkins, Kristen Linzmeier and Kylee Verhasselt set an Oshkosh Sports Complex record with their time of 9:12.68.

UW-Oshkosh's remaining victories at the championship were in the field events, including Breanna Strupp who won her third discus title with a throw of 156-3. She previously won the event in 2011 and 2012.

In the high jump, UW-Oshkosh's Kasey Ederer leaped to a height of 5-6 to win the event for the second straight year.

The Titans also had Jecel (Gerner) Klotz take first place in the shot put and Melanie Brickner in the hammer throw with distances of 48-0 1/2 and 179-6, respectively. UW-Oshkosh has owned the winner in the hammer throw for the past 12 seasons.

UW-Oshkosh scored 172 points to finish second in the team standings for the fifth time in six years. UW-La Crosse tallied 232 points to win its third straight title and 29th overall.

UW-Eau Claire finished third in the nine-team meet with 104.5 points, while UW-Whitewater placed fourth with 100, UW-Stout with fifth with 79, UW-Stevens Point sixth with 73, UW-Platteville seventh with 58, UW-River Falls eighth with UW-Superior ninth with six.

Taking second place for UW-Oshkosh were Jenkins in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:31.22, Verhasselt in the 1,500-meter run at 4:49.63 and Becklyn Hunter in the 200-meter dash at 24.59.

The Titans also finished second in both the 400- and 1,600-meter relays. Hunter, Samantha Blue, Ashley Holicek and Alesha Malueg posted a time of 48.27 at 400 meters, while Verhasselt, Stephanie Jahn, Caitlyn McCormick and Elizabeth Pospyhalla marked a time of 3:55.53 at 1,600.

Finishing third for UW-Oshkosh Hunter in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.10, Verhasselt in the 800-meter run at 2:14.07 and Megan Geldernick in the 100-meter hurdles at 14.58.

UW-Oshkosh's lone fourth-place finisher was Blue in the 100-meter dash. She earned her listing with a time of 12.22.

UW-Oshkosh had a trio of fifth-place efforts as Amanda Shober marked a distance of 38-0 1/4 in the triple jump, Melanie Brickner a measurement of 43-9 1/4 in the shot put and Taylor Sherry a value of 4,194 points in the hepathlon.

Jahn and Martin were UW-Oshkosh's sixth-place finishers. Jahn ran to a time of 59.38 in the 400-meter run, while Martin threw the shot put to a distance of 43-3 1/4.

The Titans had six seventh-place finishers, three on the track and three in the field. Leah Rendflesh owned two of those results with times of 18:33.14 in the 5,000-meter run and 39:04.75 in the 10,000-meter run.

Other seventh-place results belonged to Linzmeier in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:54.99, Blue in the long jump with a leap of 17-4 3/4, Martin in the hammer throw with a distance of 154-3 and Haley Schatzke in the high jump with a height of 5-1.

UW-Oshkosh concluded its scoring with the eighth-place finishes of Holicek in the 100-meter dash and Macy Egan in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Holicek had a time of 12.37 and Egan a time of 11:53.47.

Strupp received the WIAC's Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete Award.

UW-Oshkosh athletes will compete in a variety of last chance meets before participating at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship on May 22-24 in Delaware, Ohio.