Titans Triumphant Against Strong Field

UW-Oshkosh outscored the top two teams in the nation by winning the Cardinal Men's Track & Field Opener on Friday (Jan. 18) in Naperville, Ill.

The Titans, ranked third in the NCAA Division III by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, won the nine-team meet with 147 points. Second-ranked UW-La Crosse finished second with 142 points, while top-ranked and meet-host North Central College placed third with 137. NCAA Division I University of Illinois-Chicago took fourth with 82 points and Carthage College fifth with 35.

Two of UW-Oshkosh's three victories came in the throwing events. Nick Baatz (Sr. • Brownsville) won the shot put with a distance of 57-2 3/4, while Pete Delzer (Sr. • Oconto Falls) captured the weight throw with a mark of 63-4. Baatz added a second-place finish in the weight throw with a cast of 59-5 1/2.

Matt Lawrence (Jr. • Plainfield, Ill.) took the remaining UW-Oshkosh victory with his personal-best time of 1:55.33 in the 800-meter run.

In addition to the performances of Delzer and Baatz in the weight throw, the Titans also had Lewis Prior (Sr. • Coleman) finish fourth at 58-3 and Joe Brunner (So. • Reedsville) sixth at 56-8 3/4.

The shot put featured Jeremy Brandt (Jr. • Wausau) finishing second at 53-8 1/2, Prior third at 52-4 and Nick Grosskopf (So. • Weston) sixth at 50-4.

John Cejka (Sr. • Wausau) finished second in the 400-meter run with a time of 50.23, as did Derek Johnsrud (So. • Fall River) in the 5,000-meter run at 15:18.80. The Titans' remaining second-place result came from Donald Klitz (Sr. • Markesan), who leaped 48-7 1/2 in the triple jump.

In the long jump, Ryan Sprenger (Jr. • Larsen) placed third with a distance of 22-9 1/4, while Lee Robinson (So. • Racine) finished fourth at 22-4 1/4 and Kyle Schueller (Fr. • Edgar) fifth at 22-1.

John Dewitt (Sr. • Oshkosh) took third in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:45.07, while additional fourth-place finishes went to Erik Hofferber (So. • Neenah) in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:20.14 and John McCann (Jr. • Elroy) in the high jump with a height of 6-7.

Contributing fifth-place efforts were Quentin Badger (Jr. • Madison) in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.81 and Corey Wilch (Jr. • Waukesha) in the 400-meter run at 50.76.

Sixth-place performances went to Jordan Carpenter (So. • Ashwaubenon) in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:48.41 and Kenny Halloran (So. • Mt. Prospect, Ill.) in the mile run at 4:20.64.

UW-Oshkosh placed third in the 1,600-meter relay as Cejka, Wilch, Brian Beaudo (So. • Fort Atkinson) and Mike Servais (Fr. • New Franken) posted a time of 3:20.53.

The Titans kick off their home schedule by hosting the UW-Oshkosh Invitational next Friday (Jan. 25) in Kolf Sports Center.