Titans Win Six Events, Including Two By Potter At WIAC Championship

Steven Potter won a pair of middle-distance running events while Jonathan Wilburn established a school record with his winning measurement in the triple jump as UW-Oshkosh totaled six first-place finishes at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship (presented by Culver's) held Friday and Saturday (May 7-8) in River Falls.

UW-Oshkosh, a six-time WIAC champion, finished third in the team competition with 122.5 points after placing second with 138 at the 2019 league championship. The 2020 conference meet was canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

UW-La Crosse scored 185 points to win its 30th straight team title and 56th overall. UW-Whitewater finished second to the Eagles with 130 points, UW-Oshkosh third and UW-Eau Claire fourth with 110.5. UW-Stout placed fifth among the eight competing programs with 106.5 points while UW-Stevens Point finished sixth with 98.5, UW-Platteville seventh with 50 and UW-River Falls eighth with 15.

The 2021 WIAC Championship featured seven programs ranked in the Top 22 of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's NCAA Division III Rating Index – second-ranked UW-La Crosse, fourth-ranked UW-Oshkosh, sixth-ranked UW-Eau Claire, seventh-ranked UW-Stout, 10th-ranked UW-Whitewater, 16th-ranked UW-Stevens Point and 22nd-ranked UW-Platteville.

Potter earned his victories with times of 1:53.03 in the 800- and 3:53.98 in the 1,500-meter runs. He defeated 26 other competitors in the 800-meter run, including teammate Reid Marquardt who finished sixth with a time of 1:57.06. Potter outran 21 other challengers in the 1,500-meter run, including teammates Andrew Rathkamp who placed sixth and Andrew George who finished eighth with times of 3:56.51 and 3:57.28, respectively.

Potter, who is just the second Titan to win the 800-meter run at the WIAC Championship since 2003, ranks 13th nationally in the 1,500-meter run and 15th in the 800-meter run with times of 3:52.63 and 1:52.01 achieved earlier this year, respectively. He finished fourth in the 800- and fifth in the 1,500-meter runs at the 2019 championship.

George added a win the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:13.60. He defeated 23 other challengers after finishing fourth in the event at the 2019 championship. George ranks third nationally in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:07.68 acquired earlier this season.

Wilburn beat 22 other contestants in the triple jump with his victorious school-record and nation-leading measurement of 51-5 that also ranks 10th in NCAA Division III history. Wilburn, who placed second in the event at the 2019 championship, broke the previous UW-Oshkosh triple jump record of 51-1 1/2 set by Donald Klitz in 2013. Wilburn is the first Titan to win the triple jump at WIAC Championship since 2010.

UW-Oshkosh's Jack Flynn placed in the discus for the fourth straight championship after winning this year's title with a throw of 177-1 that ranks second in the country. Flynn, the starting center on UW-Oshkosh's 2019 national championship men's basketball team, defeated the other 24 competitors in the discus after previously finishing second in the event at the conference championship in 2019 and sixth in both 2017 and 2018.

The Titans picked up their remaining victory at this year's championship in the 1,600-meter relay. The group of Todd Beadle, Bo Koehn, Ryan Potter and Amitai Wheat defeated seven other participants with their time of 3:14.28. The UW-Oshkosh foursome ranks third nationally with a time of 3:12.79 that they achieved earlier this season. Beadle and Wheat were members of the Titans' 1,600-meter relay team that placed fifth at the 2019 championship. Beadle was also a participant on UW-Oshkosh's 1,600-meter relay unit that finished third in 2017 and seventh in 2018.

UW-Oshkosh additionally had multiple place winners in the 200-meter dash, 400-meter run and shot put.

In the 200-meter dash, Aaron McCarroll-Richardson finished fifth with a time of 22.03 seconds and Robert Ogbuli eighth in 22.22. Ogbuli also placed eighth in the event at the 2019 championship.

The 400-meter run had Beadle finish fifth and Ryan Potter sixth with times of 48.75 and 48.93 seconds, respectively. Beadle previously placed sixth in the event at the 2018 championship and eighth in 2019.

In the shot put, Jackson Sheckler finished second with a measurement of 53-9 1/4 and Nick Tegtmeier third with a distance of 52-2 3/4. Sheckler ranks eighth and Tegtmeier 14th nationally in the event with throws of 55-6 1/2 and 53-1 1/2 earned earlier this season. Tegtmeier previously placed second in the shot put at the 2019 championship.

UW-Oshkosh also received second-place performances of 54.02 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles from John Ford that ranks 13th nationally, 10.73 seconds in the 100-meter dash from Jaylen Grant and a mark of 23-0 1/2 in the long jump from Jamyle Brantley. Grant ranks eighth and Brantley 11th nationally in their events following results of 10.60 seconds and 23-8 obtained earlier this season, respectively. Brantley was a third-place finisher in the long jump at the 2019 championship.

The Titans closed out their list of place winners at this year's championship with Mitchell Bradford's fifth-place time of 15:04.72 in the 5,000-meter run and Joshua Rivers' seventh-place height of 6-4 in the high jump.

UW-Oshkosh athletes will compete in a variety of last chance qualifying meets over the next two weeks before participating at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship on May 27-29 in Greensboro, N.C.

Jonathan Wilburn's School-Record Triple Jump Performance