Lauren Wrensch won the long jump at the NCAA Championship with a school-record leap. The event title was the 50th for the Titans.
Lauren Wrensch won the long jump at the NCAA Championship with a school-record leap. The event title was the 50th for the Titans.

Wrensch Wins Long Jump Title At NCAA Championship

Lauren Wrensch became UW-Oshkosh's 50th national outdoor champion when she won the long jump with a school-record performance at the NCAA Division III Women's Track & Field Championship held Thursday through Saturday (May 23-25) at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Wrensch marked her momentous measurement of 19-11 on the third of her six jumps. She defeated 21 other contestants in the event, including Isabel Maletich of University of Chicago (Ill.) who finished second with a distance of 19-9.

Wrensch, who finished third in the long jump (18-11 3/4) at the Division III Indoor Championship in March, was competing in the event at outdoor nationals for the second straight year. She placed 21st with a distance of 17-7 1/2 at last year's Division III Outdoor Championship.

Wrensch is UW-Oshkosh's second national outdoor champion in the long jump. Ann Fink earned the Titans' first victory in the event with her 1989 measurement of 19-2 1/2. Wrensch's new UW-Oshkosh record broke the previous school mark of 19-7 1/2 established by Tara (Harding) Jaeger in 1997.

UW-Oshkosh entered this year's outdoor championship with a Division III-record 49 event titles while Christopher Newport University (Va.) ranked second with 29 and UW-La Crosse third with 27.

Wrensch also finished 12th in the 400-meter run and 16th as a member of the Titans' 1,600-meter relay team at this year's Division III Outdoor Championship.

Wrensch ran to a time of 56.77 seconds in the 400-meter run. She was less than two-tenths of a second from qualifying for the nine-person finals. Sarah King of George Fox University (Ore.) won the event with a time of 54.68 seconds.

Wrensch, who placed 10th (57.54) in the 400-meter run at this year's Division III Indoor Championship, was competing in the event at outdoor nationals for the first time.

In the 1,600-meter relay, UW-Oshkosh's quartet of Wrensch, Alexandra Demco, Lindsay Denu and Taylor Pralle posted a time of 4:03.61. All four Titans were competing in the race at the championship for the first time. Nebraska Wesleyan University won this year's 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:42.31.

Isabella Samuels, who received all-region honors in helping the UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team to a WIAC championship and a Division III postseason berth this past winter, finished 12th in the shot put at this year's Division III Outdoor Championship with a measurement of 43-4 1/2. Reyna Ta'amu of University of Redlands (Calif.) won the event with a mark of 49-7.

Samuels previously finished sixth with a distance of 46-8 in the shot put at the 2018 Division III Outdoor Championship and 12th with a toss of 44-6 3/4 at the 2017 meet.

The top-eight finishers in each event earn All-America honors.

Loras College (Iowa) scored 53 points to claim its first Division III outdoor title. The Duhawks were followed by second-place Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) with 49 points, third-place George Fox University and Johns Hopkins University (Md.) with 36 and fifth-place Nebraska Wesleyan University 33.

George Fox University shared last year's title with University of Massachusetts Boston while Washington University in St. Louis won the 2017 championship.

UW-Oshkosh, which owns a Division III-record nine outdoor titles, finished 23rd among the 80 programs that scored at this year's championship with 10 points. The Titans claimed Division III titles in 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2011.

2019 NCAA Division III Men's & Women's Outdoor Championship Daily Recaps: Day OneDay TwoDay Three

2019 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship Website

2019 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track & Field