Hosting Of NCAA Championship Highlights Titans’ Women’s Cross Country Schedule
The prestigious NCAA Division III Championship is among the four meets that the UW-Oshkosh women's cross country program will host during the 2018 season.
UW-Oshkosh, which previously hosted the national event in 1999, 2011 and 2015, will host this year's NCAA Championship on Nov. 17 at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne. The top two teams from each of the eight regionals and 16 at-large qualifiers will compete in the meet. The top seven individual finishers from each regional not on one of the team qualifiers will also earn an invitation to the national championship.
UW-Oshkosh, a four-time national champion, is seeking its third NCAA Championship appearance in four seasons and 28th overall. The Titans claimed NCAA titles in 1987, 1988, 1991 and 1996 while finishing second in the country in 1989, 1990 and 1995.
Johns Hopkins University (Md.) is the two-time defending NCAA Division III champion. The Blue Jays scored 96 points a year ago to easily win their fifth national title in six seasons.
UW-Eau Claire finished second at last year's championship with 191 points while Washington University in St. Louis placed third with 202 and Massachusetts Institute of Technology fourth with 210.
The first of UW-Oshkosh's four home meets at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne takes place Sept. 21 when Illinois Institute of Technology, Lawrence University and Ripon College visit for the inaugural Titan Fall Classic.
The Titans' other home meets are the Kollege Town Invitational on Oct. 13, the UW-Oshkosh Open on Oct. 19 and the NCAA Division III Championship on Nov. 17.
The Kollege Town Invitational marks the 13th consecutive year that UW-Oshkosh has hosted one of the largest meets in the country. This year's meet, a pre-national event, will feature two races and nearly 800 runners.
Last year's Kollege Town Invitational was won by St. Norbert College with 93 points. North Central College (Ill.) finished second among the 24 competing teams with 116 points while UW-Oshkosh placed third with 146 and Augustana College (Ill.) fourth with 150.
Expected to join the Titans at the UW-Oshkosh Open are runners from UW-Platteville, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater. UW-Stevens Point won last year's four-team meet with 29 points.
UW-Oshkosh opens its fourth season under head coach Eamon McKenna at the UW-Parkside Vic Godfrey Open on Saturday (Sept. 8) in Somers. The Titans, who have started a season at a UW-Parkside event every year since 2014, finished eighth at the 2017 Vic Godfrey Open with 216 points.
UW-Oshkosh follows the Titan Fall Classic by traveling to Colfax for the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational on Sept. 28 and Appleton for the Lawrence University Gene Davis Invitational on Oct. 6. The Titans finished seventh among 15 teams at the Blugold and third among seven squads at the Gene Davis invitationals held a year ago.
UW-Oshkosh concludes its regular season at the WIAC Championship on Oct. 27 in Colfax. The Titans have won 16 WIAC titles, with the last two coming in 2015 and 2000.
UW-Eau Claire is the defending WIAC champion. The Blugolds scored 33 points at last year's WIAC Championship to capture their ninth league title.
2017 WIAC champion UW-La Crosse finished second in last year's team standings with 59 points while UW-River Falls placed third with 91, UW-Platteville fourth with 130, UW-Stevens Point fifth with 139, UW-Stout sixth with 139, UW-Oshkosh seventh with 140 and UW-Whitewater eighth with 174.
UW-Oshkosh begins NCAA Division III postseason competition at the Midwest Regional on Nov. 10 in Colfax. The Titans are the owners of 14 Midwest Regional titles, including seven in a row from 1994-2000. UW-Oshkosh has finished among the top eight teams at 35 of the past 36 Midwest Regionals. The Titans placed 12th at last year's regional with 320 points.
UW-Oshkosh returns eight of its 13 letter winners from last year's team. The returning group includes three of the seven runners who competed at the 2017 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional – junior Ashton Keene (32nd place), sophomore Hannah Lohrenz (76th place) and junior Amanda Van Den Plas (167th place). Keene also finished 37th at last year's WIAC Championship while Lohrenz placed 45th.
Other UW-Oshkosh runners who completed last year's WIAC Championship race were sophomore Erica Liesen (72nd place) and juniors Melissa Srnka (84th place) and Tayah Cunningham (87th place).