Bio

Abe Mendoza was a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III champion as a member of the UW-Oshkosh men’s track & field team and a three-time All-American with the Titans men’s cross country program during an outstanding career from 1997-2000.

Mendoza claimed Division III outdoor titles in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with times of 9:01.06 and 8:55.09 at the 1999 and 2000 championships, respectively. His time in the event at the 2000 national meet remains the UW-Oshkosh record.

One of UW-Oshkosh’s three two-time Division III individual outdoor champions, Mendoza earned his first All-America award in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a fifth-place finish at the 1998 national championship.

On the indoor track, Mendoza achieved All-America honors with this fourth-place finish in the 5,000-meter run at the 1999 Division III Championship. He also was a member of the Titans’ 1999 team that captured the fourth Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference indoor track & field title in program history.

Mendoza totaled 10 letters across his three sports seasons, including four consecutive letters with the cross country team from 1997-2000.

In cross country the Appleton East High School alumnus earned All-America honors with his Division III national finishes of 29th in 1997, 21st in 1999 and 11th in 2000. He is one of only four three-time cross country All-Americans in UW-Oshkosh history.

Mendoza also finished fourth in 1997, ninth in 1998, 11th in 1999 and third in 2000 at the Division III Midwest Regional and sixth in 1997, third in 1998 and ninth in 2000 at the WIAC Championship. His performance at the 2000 WIAC Championship helped the Titans to their seventh league title in program history.

Mendoza was named to the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll in 1999 and 2000. He ran in the 2014 Boston Marathon and won the Master’s 5,000-meter run title at the 2021 USA Track & Field Championship in Ames, Iowa.

Mendoza lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., and has been retired since 2018. The 2016 Appleton East High School Hall of Fame inductee previously worked eight years as the Operations Manager at the Community Clothes Closet in Menasha.

Mendoza, the father of sons Calvin and Micah, is married to Joann.