Titans Overpower Their Opposition

UW-Oshkosh scored 29 or more points in four events to easily win a four-team men's track & field meet on Friday (Feb. 5) in Kolf Sports Center.

The host Titans won the UW-Oshkosh Titan Open with 297 points, while St. Norbert College finished second with 131.5, Ripon College third with 86.5 and Marian University fourth with 12.

UW-Oshkosh owned the first-place finisher in 12 of the 15 events, including the 60-meter dash where it scored 35 points. The Titans also tallied 32 points in the pole vault, 31 in the 800-meter run and 29 in the 200-meter dash.

The Titans swept the top five places in the 60-meter dash. Naji Allan won the sprint with a time of 6.97 seconds, while Christian Lopez finished second in 7.08, Nolan Peterson third in 7.15, Ben Garski fourth in 7.16, Hunter Effa fifth in 7.20 and Bryce Mancheski seventh in 7.25.

In the pole vault, UW-Oshkosh's Devan Gertschen soared to a winning height of 15-0 1/4. The Titans also had Anthony Alioto finish third at 14-0 1/2, Mitchell Hasey fourth at 13-6 1/2, Kevin Caufield fifth at 13-6 1/2 and Austin Steinhafel seventh at 12-6 3/4.

UW-Oshkosh captured seven of the top eight places in 800-meter run, including the winning effort of 1:55.02 by Wal Khat. The Titans also had Cole Considine finish third in 1:57.22, Mitch Pauers fourth in 1:57.32, Nick Freitag fifth in 1:57.45, Robert Lara sixth in 1:57.77, Derrick Rufer seventh in 1:57.94 and Jordan Carpenter eighth in 1:58.81.

Allan earned his second victory of the meet with a time of 23.08 seconds in the 200-meter dash. UW-Oshkosh also had Garski finish second in 23.21 seconds, Bailey Gesteland third in 23.27, Morgan Malm sixth in 23.53 and Peterson seventh in 23.61.

The Titans also claimed the top three finishes in both the 3,000-meter run and the high jump.

Carpenter defeated his competitors in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:51.99, while Ryne Scopp placed second in 9:02.57 and Trevor Faldet third in 9:12.75.

Brett Thompson won the high jump with a leap of 6-5, while Carson Weber ranked second at 6-3 1/4 and Dakota Griffith third at 6-1 1/4.

In the long jump, Effa leaped to a winning measurement of 22-6 1/2, while Mancheski finished second at 22-4 1/2 and Jared Benson fourth at 19-6 3/4.

UW-Oshkosh ruled the 400-meter run as well. Ryan Powers won the race with a time of 49.01 seconds, while Danny Trimner finished fourth in 50.84, Garrison Griest fifth in 51.04, Jack Prescott seventh in 51.62 and Tyler Brown eighth in 52.76.

UW-Oshkosh had five place winners in the mile run, as Jacob Rost took first with a time of 4:26.65 and Tyler Miletti third in 4:28.34. The Titans also collected a seventh-place time of 4:33.18 from Trevor Damkot and an eighth-place performance of 4:33.63 from Daniel Massey.

The Titans other major scoring event was the 60-meter hurdles. Malm won the race with a time of 8.63 seconds, while Brown finished third in 9.07, Griest fifth in 9.36 and Caufield seventh in 10.07.

UW-Oshkosh's remaining event winners were Benson in the triple jump with a skip of 39-6 and Zachary Baehman in the shot put with a distance of 55-10 1/2. Baehman also finished fourth in the 35-pound weight throw with a mark of 50-2 1/2.

Ryan Paulick added a third-place measurement of 49-11 in the shot put for the Titans, while Collin Kempka finish seventh in the 35-pound weight throw and eighth in the shot put with distances of 40-2 and 41-5 1/4, respectively.

UW-Oshkosh will complete in a quadrangular hosted by UW-Stevens Point next Saturday (Feb. 13).