Titans Go After Third Straight NCAA Indoor Title
Jecel (Gerner) Klotz and Kylee Verhasselt are back to defend their individual crowns as UW-Oshkosh seeks its third consecutive and 10th overall team title at this weekend's NCAA Division III Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The two-day competition begins at 11 a.m. (EDT) on Friday (March 13) and 10 a.m. (EDT) on Saturday (March 14) at the JDL Fast Track.
Last year, the Titans scored a program-record 67 points to edge UW-La Crosse's second-place total of 65. Rounding out the top five teams from a year ago were third-place Wartburg College (Iowa) with 46 points, fourth-place Wheaton College (Mass.) with 26 and fifth-place UW-Whitewater and Williams College (Mass.) with 24.
UW-Oshkosh, which attempts to extend its division-leading championship total, will be sending 13 athletes to compete in 10 events at the meet.
The Titans enter this weekend's championship ranked second in the nation by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). UW-La Crosse ranks first in the division, while Illinois Wesleyan University lists third, Massachusetts Institute of Technology fourth and Johns Hopkins University (Md.) fifth.
Klotz is the top seed in the shot put as she looks to defend her national indoor title. She won last year's event with a distance of 49-4 1/4 and enters this weekend with a qualifying toss of 50-0 3/4. Klotz is also the fifth seed in the 20-pound weight throw with a qualifying measurement of 57-9 3/4. She finished fifth in the 20-pound weight throw in both 2011 and 2014.
This year's throwing events will both feature 17 participants.
Verhasselt is seeded ninth among 17 competitors in the 800-meter run with a qualifying time of 2:13.86. She claimed the 2014 national indoor title with a time of 2:08.67. Rachael Shine of the State University of New York at Oneonta is seeded first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:11.76.
Verhasselt will also participate as a member of UW-Oshkosh's 1,600-meter relay team and the Titans' two-time defending national champion distance medley relay squad.
The Titans' 1,600-meter relay foursome of Becklyn Hunter, Stephanie Jahn, Caitlyn McCormick and Verhasselt is seeded seventh with a qualifying time of 3:54.47. Last year, UW-Oshkosh's 1,600-meter relay team finished third with a time of 3:49.21.
Joining Verhasselt on the Titans' 10th-seeded (11:58.55) distance medley relay squad are Jahn, Sonny Jenkins and Isabella Tremonti. UW-Oshkosh claimed the event's last two titles with times of 11:32.24 in 2013 and 11:39.94 in 2014.
Both relays feature 12 teams, with UW-La Crosse and Massachusetts Institute of Technology owning the top seeds with times of 3:50.23 in the 1,600-meter and 11:44.24 in the distance medley, respectively.
UW-Oshkosh's Melanie Brickner is the top seed in the 20-pound weight throw with a qualifying distance of 63-3, which ranks eighth best in Division III history. She placed third at both the 2013 and 2014 meets with marks of 50-10 1/2 and 59-8 1/2, respectively.
Brickner will also be the fourth seed in the shot put with a qualifying toss of 48-0 3/4.
Emily Reichenberger enters as the sixth seed in the 200-meter dash with a qualifying time of 25.42 seconds. Adriana Wright of Lehman College (N.Y.) is seeded first among the event's 17 participants with a time of 24.71.
Taylor Sherry set two school records on her way to being seeded seventh in the pentathlon with 3,466 points and 12th in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.89 seconds. Melanie Winters of Baldwin Wallace University (Ohio) is the top seed in the pentathlon with 3,589 points while Wright turned in the best time in the 60-meter hurdles with a performance of 8.44. Both the pentathlon and 60-meter hurdles feature 17 contestants.
Samantha Blue is the ninth seed in the long jump with a leap of 18-5 1/4. Illinois Wesleyan University's Amelia Glueck paces the event's 15 entrants with a qualifying distance of 19-0 1/2.
Kasey Ederer is seeded 10th among 17 participants in the high jump with a leap of 5-6 1/2. Gladys Njoku of Stevens Institute of Technology (N.J.) is the top seed with a height of 5-10 3/4.
Rounding out UW-Oshkosh's national qualifiers is Megan (Margaret) Geldernick in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.94.
UW-Oshkosh also captured NCAA Division III indoor titles in 1994-96, 2004-06, 2011 and 2013. The Titans placed second in 1990-92, 2002, 2010 and 2013. UW-Oshkosh took third place in 1997 and 2009.
Following the Titans' Division III-leading nine championships are Christopher Newport University (Va.) with six, Wheaton College with five and the University of Massachusetts Boston with three.
UW-Oshkosh NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship Qualifiers
NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship Website • JDL Fast Track Website