Top-Ranked Titans Set For A Run At National Title

UW-Oshkosh aims for its second national crown in three years when it competes at the NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Thursday-Saturday (May 26-28) in Delaware, Ohio.

The Titans, who won the outdoor national title in 2009, bring nine individuals and one relay team to the 21-event spectacle. UW-Oshkosh enters the championship as the number-one team in the NCAA Division III computer rankings by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA). The other favorites to make the podium include Central College (Iowa), McMurry University (Texas), North Central College (Ill.) and UW-La Crosse.

The Titans, who finished fourth at the 2011 indoor championship, will be led by Quentin Badger (Fr. • Madison), Tony Baker (Sr. • Oshkosh) and Pete Delzer (So. • Oconto Falls), who each qualified in three events.

Badger will enter the 100-meter dash as the eighth seed with a time of 10.62 and the 200-meter dash as the sixth seed with a time of 21.48. He will also anchor the 400-meter relay team as the second seed with its time of 41.04, a school record in the event.

Baker, who won the 2009 national title in the discus with a toss of 165-8, enters the event as the second seed with his heave of 177-7.  Baker also sits as the fourth seed in the shot put with a mark of 56-10 and the 10th seed in the hammer throw with a cast of 192-1. Previously, Baker earned fifth-place honors in the hammer throw during 2009 with a launch of 176-1.

Delzer returns to the championship after an impressive freshman campaign (2010) where he gained fifth-place results in the shot put with a toss of 54-2 and qualified in the discus, where he provided a mark of 161-2. This season, Delzer is the sixth seed in the shot put with a heave of 55-8, the sixth seed in the discus with a fling of 174-0 and the 12th seed in the hammer throw with a cast of 189-11.

Continuing its strong tradition in the throwing events, UW-Oshkosh will be represented in the shot put and discus by Nick Baatz (So. • Brownsville), the discus by Lewis Prior (Jr. • Coleman) and the hammer throw by Ben Ludtke (Jr. • Lyons).

Last season, Prior placed fifth in the discus with a fling of 168-10, and he will enter this year's championship as the third seed with a mark of 176-8. Ludtke competes in the hammer throw as the 16th seed with a cast of 187-3. Baatz enjoys his first trip to the championship as the fifth seed in the shot put with a heave of 55-9 and the 12th seed in the discus with a launch of 170-1.

Joining Badger and qualifying for the third straight time as a member of the 400-meter relay team is Brent Jude (Sr. • Milwaukee). Jude will run for his third All-America honor in the event after taking fifth place in 2010 with a time of 41.43 and fourth place in 2009 with a time of 41.19. Alex DeWitt (So. • Howard) returns to the relay line-up for the second straight season and Ryan Sprenger (Fr. • Larsen) will be making his initial trip to the championship. In 2009, Jude also qualified for the championship in the 100-meter dash but did not advance to the finals.

Punching their individual ticket to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship for the first time are Chris Lipke (Sr. • Wautoma), Tyler Morey (Jr. • Combined Locks) and Nate Stymiest (Jr. • Oconto Falls). Lipke enters the competition as the eighth seed in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.75, Morey in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as the 11th seed with a time of 9:09.84 and Stymiest in the 5,000-meter run as the fifth seed with a time of 14:23.73.

UW-Oshkosh has placed in the top 10 at this championship 14 times, highlighted by the 2009 national championship, a second-place finish in 1990, a third-place standing in 2003 and fifth-place results during 1999 and 2000.