Titans Look For Another Strong Finish At WIAC Championship

Titans Look For Another Strong Finish At WIAC Championship

UW-Oshkosh aims for another top four finish when it hosts the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship (presented by Culver's) this weekend.

Competition begins at 11:30 a.m. Friday (Feb. 28) and 10 a.m. Saturday (Feb. 29) from UW-Oshkosh's Kolf Sports Center.

The 44th gathering of women's teams will be held in unison with the 52nd edition of the men's championship. 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-Eau Claire won its first WIAC indoor title a season ago with 172.5 points. Six-time defending champion UW-La Crosse finished second with 162.5 points while UW-Stevens Point place third with 109, UW-Oshkosh fourth with 77 and UW-Stout fifth with 54.5.

Rounding out the team listings were sixth-place UW-Platteville with 45 points, seventh-place UW-Whitewater with 30.5 and eighth-place UW-River Falls with 10.

UW-Eau Claire joined UW-La Crosse (26 titles) and UW-Oshkosh (13) as the only current conference member to win a WIAC indoor title. Former conference members UW-Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin earned two titles and one championship, respectively.

UW-Oshkosh, which captured the last of its 13 WIAC crowns in 2012, has finished in the top four at every league event since 1985.

UW-La Crosse enters the weekend ranked fourth in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's NCAA Division III Rating Index.

This year's WIAC championship features 13 student-athletes who have combined to win eight individual and nine relay first-place medals at previous league meets.

UW-La Crosse's Savannah Rygiewicz is the reigning Track Performer of the Meet after winning the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash at last year's championship. Her time of 7.65 seconds in the 60-meter dash established a conference meet record. Rygiewicz also ran with Lucy Fashingbauer and Mara Schroeder on the school's first-place 1,600-meter relay team.

UW-La Crosse's Sophie Klein and Claire Koenecke were members of the triumphant distance medley relay team a season ago while Eagle Libby Brugger won the mile run at the 2018 championship.

UW-Stevens Point's Sylviann Momont claimed Field Performer of the Meet distinction a season ago when she finished first in the 60-meter hurdles and pentathlon. She also won the pentathlon in 2017. The Pointers' Brooke Wellhausen will aim for consecutive titles in the 800-meter run.

UW-Eau Claire received first-place finishes from Glory Hecker and Lizzy Kenna in the 1,600-meter, and Lizzy Cisewski and Emma Drangstveit in the distance medley relays at the 2018 championship.

Junior Cara Volz is UW-Oshkosh's lone returning champion. Volz, who missed the 2019 season due to an injury, won the triple jump with a leap of 38-4 3/4 in 2018 after placing third in the event in 2017. She also finished third in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2018 championship and fifth in 2017.

UW-Oshkosh's Amanda Van Den Plas returns to the championship after finishing second in the mile and eighth in the 3,000-meter runs a year ago.

Titan Sadie Huth is back to compete after finishing fourth in both the 60-meter hurdles and long jump in 2019. She also placed seventh in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2018 meet.

Other UW-Oshkosh scorers returning from last year's championship are Ashton Keene and Danae Prange. Keene finished fifth in the 5,000-meter run while Prange placed sixth in the triple jump.

Titan Taylor Pralle makes another appearance at the championship after finishing fourth in the 400-meter run and eighth in the 200-meter dash two years ago. The 2018 meet also featured UW-Oshkosh's Kahley Logan placing seventh in the shot put.

Several Titans are seeded in the top four of their event for this weekend's championship, including Keene who owns league-leading times of 10:21.10 in the 3,000- and 17:50.11 in the 5,000-meter runs. Freshman Libby Geisness has a conference-best time of 2:15.76 in the 800-meter run.

Ranking second in the conference in two events is Hannah Lohrenz. She earned those listings with times of 2:17.03 in the 800-meter and 5:06.42 in the mile runs.

UW-Oshkosh also has Volz seeded third in the triple jump with a measurement of 37-6, Morgan Florek third in the 20-pound weight throw with a distance of 57-2 1/4, Mikayla Jackson in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.19 seconds and Sydney Thompson fourth in the shot put with a mark of 43-9.

The Titans rank third in the 1,600-meter relay with their season-best time of 4:04.79.

UW-Oshkosh has hosted the WIAC Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship only twice since 1997 – 2003 and 2016.

Daily ticket prices for the championship are $7 for adults, $5 for senior citizens (55-plus) and $3 for students (K-College). Children ages 5 and under are free. Students attending a WIAC-member school are admitted free with their ID card.

2020 WIAC Men's & Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship Program

2020 WIAC Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship Website: https://wiacsports.com/sports/2020/1/6/MITRACK_0106202344.aspx