Hannah Lohrenz finished 78th among the 353 runners in the Pre-National race.
Hannah Lohrenz finished 78th among the 353 runners in the Pre-National race.

Titans Finish 21st In 52-Team Kollege Town Sports Invitational

Spearheaded by Evlyn Noone's 25th-place run, UW-Oshkosh finished 21st among 52 women's cross country teams at the Kollege Town Sports Invitational held Saturday (Oct. 13) at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne.

A total of 749 women from nearly 60 collegiate programs competed in the event's three 6,000-meter races – Pre-National, Open and Invitational.

Noone finished her run in the Pre-National race with a time of 22:40. She was within eight seconds of earning a top 20 finish as the 19th-place time was 22:32.

Noone and teammates Hannah Lohrenz, Amanda Van Den Plas, Ashton Keene and Alexis Reichardt helped UW-Oshkosh score 670 points in the team competition. Lohrenz finished 78th with a time of 23:34 while Van Den Plas placed 132nd in 24:09, Keene 182nd in 24:38 and Reichardt 253rd in 25:31.

The Titans also had Megan Berg finish 302nd and Tayah Cunningham 303rd with times of 26:33.

Claire Lamb of Otterbein University (Ohio) defeated 352 other runners to win the meet's individual title with a time of 21:24. Paige Lawler of Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) finished second with a time of 21:32 while Helen Guo of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (Calif.) placed third in 21:37, Emily Bryson of Brandeis University (Mass.) fourth in 21:39 and Aly Wayne of Washington University in St. Louis fifth in 21:49. 

Washington University in St. Louis, ranked second in the NCAA Division III by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, won the team title with 70 points. Fourth-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology finished second with 108 points, 18th-ranked Brandeis University third with 213, 12th-ranked Wheaton College (Ill.) fourth with 236 and fifth-ranked UW-Eau Claire fifth with 256.

No team scores were kept as Molly Shepherd of Washington University in St. Louis achieved the individual title in the Open category with a time of 23:27. Breanna Van Den Plas paced UW-Oshkosh by finishing 138th in a field of 337 runners with a time of 26:17. The Titans also had Melissa Srnka place 175th with a time of 26:52.  

Led by Mackenzie Dorth's first-place finish, Concordia University Wisconsin won the six-team Invitational division with 31 points. Dorth outran 58 other runners with her winning time of 25:46.

Several runners in Saturday's meet will return to the Lake Breeze Golf Club as UW-Oshkosh hosts the 2018 NCAA Division III Championship on Nov. 18. The Lake Breeze Golf Club previously hosted the national event in 1999, 2011 and 2015.

2018 Kollege Town Sports Invitational Website

Written by Ally Gwidt, UW-Oshkosh Sports Information

Photo by Elizabeth Reddeman