Eagles Nip Titans For WIAC Outdoor Title

Nick Baatz (Jr. • Brownsville) won two throwing events and placed seventh in another as UW-Oshkosh finished second at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship held Friday and Saturday (May 4-5) in Whitewater.

UW-La Crosse scored 163 points to win the nine-team meet for the 22nd consecutive year. The Eagles owned the winner in four categories, including the 1,600-meter relay which was the final event of the meet.

UW-Oshkosh tallied 160 points on the strength of 17 top-four finishes, including four first-place efforts. The Titans have placed second at the meet the past three seasons.

UW-Whitewater finished third in the team standings with 135 points, while UW-Eau Claire placed fourth with 112, UW-Stout fifth with 75, UW-Platteville sixth with 74, UW-River Falls seventh with 68, UW-Stevens Point eighth with 60 and UW-Superior ninth with 10.

Baatz took first place in both the discus and shot put with distances of 178-11 and 59-2, respectively. His measurement in the shot put established a school record. Baatz also finished seventh in the hammer throw with a mark of 179-9.

The Titans' Pete Delzer (Jr. • Oconto Falls) had three top-three finishes, including a first-place performance in the hammer throw. Delzer won the the hammer throw with a distance of 196-6 while placing second in the shot put and third in the discus with measurements of 55-3 and 174-0, respectively.

UW-Oshkosh's other event champion was Corey Wilch (So. • Waukesha), who won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.05 seconds. Wilch also finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.92 seconds and ran on the Titans' second-place 1,600-meter relay team that posted an effort of 3:12.75. Other members of that relay squad were Brian Beaudo (Fr. • Fort Atkinson), John Cejka (Jr. • Wausau) and Reid Zanoya (Fr. • Monticello).

Donald Klitz (Jr. • Markesan) contributed a pair of second-place jumps for the Titans. He leaped to a distance of 48-6 1/4 in the triple jump and to a height of 6-8 in the high jump. Other UW-Oshkosh competitors finishing second were Jordan Carpenter (Fr. • Ashwaubenon) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:23.74, John Dewitt (Jr. • Oshkosh) in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 31:11.59, Alan German (Sr. • West Bend) in the javelin with a distance of 178-5 and Matt Lawrence (So. • Plainfield, Ill.) in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:55.66. German also placed fourth in the long jump with a distance of 23-7 1/2.

Other top-four finishes went to the Titans' Cejka, and Ben Ludtke (Sr. • Lyons). Cejka placed third in the 400-meter run with a time of 48.08 seconds while Ludtke ranked fourth in the hammer throw with a distance of 190-3.

UW-Oshkosh will be represented by athletes at both the Dr. Keeler Invitational in Naperville, Ill., and the Eagle Open in La Crosse on Friday (May 11).