WIAC Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship On Tap For Titans
UW-Oshkosh's Cheyenne Moore will be out to defend her 3,000-meter run title when the Titans compete at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship (presented by Culver's) this weekend in Whitewater.
Competition begins at 11:30 a.m. on Friday (Feb. 22) and 10 a.m. on Saturday (Feb. 23) at UW-Whitewater's Kachel Fieldhouse. The 43rd edition of the women's championship will be held in unison with the 51st gathering of the men's teams. Medals will be awarded to the top eight finishers in each of the individual events and to the individuals comprising the top six relay teams.
UW-La Crosse will attempt for a seventh straight conference title this weekend. The Eagles captured the league-leading 26th conference crown in program history a season ago with 201.5 points. UW-Eau Claire placed second with 153.5 points, UW-Oshkosh third with 89, UW-Stout fourth with 67.5, UW-Stevens Point fifth with 67, UW-Whitewater sixth with 51.5, UW-Platteville seventh with 23 and UW-River Falls eighth with nine.
UW-Oshkosh ranks second behind UW-La Crosse with 13 league titles, while former conference members UW-Milwaukee and UW-Madison collected two and one, respectively.
This year's championship features 14 student-athletes that have combined to win eight individual and six relay first-place medals at previous league meets. It will also include four teams ranked in the Top 29 of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division III Track & Field Rating Index distributed on Feb. 12. UW-La Crosse is sixth, while UW-Oshkosh is 11th, UW-Stevens Point 24th and UW-Eau Claire 29th.
UW-La Crosse's Amanda Wiebke is the reigning Co-Field Performer of the Meet and defending champion in the pentathlon, while Libby Brugger and Sophia Schuessler will aim for second straight titles in the 1,500-meter run and pole vault, respectively. Whitney Ebert was a member of the first-place distance medley relay team at the 2017 championship.
UW-Eau Claire's Hanna Reed will look for a repeat title in the 800-meter run. Glory Hecker and Lizzy Kenna contributed to the victorious 4x400-meter relay team, while Emma Drangstveit and Lizzy Cisewski were members of the first-place distance medley relay squad.
UW-Stout's Kaitlin Mallek shared Field Performer of the Meet accolades with Wiebke after winning the long jump.
At the 2017 championship, UW-Stevens Point's Sylviann Momont won the pentathlon and UW-Whitewater's Abbie Felton helped the 4x400-meter relay quartet emerge with a first-place time.
Additional individuals producing strong times and marks for their teams this season include: UW-Platteville's Rachel Beuthin (shot put), Brittany Ehlen (pole vault) and Johanna Meister (800-meter run); and UW-River Falls' Linsey Tolkkinen (5,000-meter run).