Outdoor Track & Field Season Begins For Titans In Illinois
The nine-time NCAA Division III champion UW-Oshkosh women's track & field team commences the 2018 outdoor season at the Benedictine University Invitational on Saturday (April 7) in Lisle, Ill.
UW-Oshkosh continues its schedule at the UW-Platteville Invitational on April 13-14 and the Phil Esten Challenge on April 19-20 in La Crosse. The Titans then travel to both the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, and the Gina Relays in Hillsdale, Mich., on April 26-28 while also competing at UW-Whitewater's Drake Alternative Meet on April 28.
Last year the Titans finished sixth among 17 teams at last year's Phil Esten Challenge, boasted three event champions at the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative Meet and produced six top-five individual finishes at the UW-Platteville Invitational.
UW-Oshkosh will compete at the WIAC Championship on May 4-5 in River Falls before rounding out the regular season at the Dr. Keeler Invitational on May 10-11 in Naperville, Ill., the Eagle Open on May 11 in La Crosse, the North Central College Gregory Invitational on May 16-17 in Naperville, and the UW-La Crosse Final Qualifier on May 17.
The Titans, who amassed nine top-five efforts at last year's Eagle Open, placed fifth at the WIAC Championship with 93 points a year ago.
This year's NCAA Division III Championship is set for May 24-25 in La Crosse.
UW-Oshkosh welcomes back 23 returning letter winners for first-year head coach Justin Kinseth.
Juniors Emily Reichenberger and Olivia Seeley helped UW-Oshkosh's 400-meter relay team win the 2016 national title with a school-record time of 46.05 seconds. Reichenberger, who missed last year's outdoor season due to an injury, finished 16th in the 200-meter dash at the 2016 Division III Championship and 17th in the event at the 2015 national meet. Reichenberger also earned All-WIAC second team recognition as a member of the Titans' 400-meter relay squad in 2015.
Junior Megan Leahy is back for UW-Oshkosh after finishing second in the pole vault at last year's conference meet. Leahy won the pole vault title at the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative Meet a year ago while Seeley claimed top honors in the 100-meter dash and senior Karina Marchan captured the long jump title in Whitewater.
UW-Oshkosh junior Isabella Samuels also returns after placing 12th among 22 competitors in the shot put at the 2017 Division III Championship.
Williams College (Mass.) enters the outdoor season ranked first nationally by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Following the Ephs in the poll were second-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (Calif.), third-ranked George Fox University (Ore.), fourth-ranked and defending national champion Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) and fifth-ranked Ohio Northern University.
WIAC members UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stout ranked 12th and 18th in the USTFCCCA's national poll, respectively.
UW-La Crosse won last year's WIAC Championship title – its sixth in a row – with 172.5 points. UW-Eau Claire was second with 154.5 points, UW-Stout third with 101.5, UW-Whitewater fourth with 96 UW-Oshkosh fifth with 93, UW-Stevens Point sixth with 82, UW-Platteville seventh with 78.5 and UW-River Falls eighth with 40.
UW-Oshkosh's nine national outdoor titles are the most in Division III history. Christopher Newport University (Va.), which claimed its most recent championship in 1998, is second with six titles. UW-Oshkosh won Division III championships in 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2011.
The Titans, who scored at least 20 points at 15 of the previous 16 Division III Championships, have also been the national runners-up on nine occasions since the championship debuted in 1982.