Titans Claim Title At WIAC Indoor Championship

The depth of the UW-Oshkosh men's indoor track & field program was on display as the Titans totaled 35 top eight finishes, including five event victories, to capture the team title at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship (presented by Culver's) held Friday and Saturday (Feb. 25-26) in Platteville.

UW-Oshkosh amassed 172 points during the championship to surpass the second-place total of 128.5 by 19-time defending champion UW-La Crosse. The Titans, who finished second at the 2020 championship before the 2021 league meet was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, previously won WIAC titles in 1971, 1973, 1989, 1999 and 2001. UW-Oshkosh's margin of victory at this year's championship was the largest in program history.

UW-Oshkosh, which ranks first nationally in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's NCAA Division III Indoor Rating Index, reached this year's overall scoring output with the help of 25 points in the 200-meter dash, 24 in the 60-meter dash, 21 in the triple jump and 17 in both the 400- and 800-meter runs.

UW-Eau Claire placed third in this year's team standings with 110.33 points while UW-Whitewater finished fourth with 104, UW-Platteville fifth with 56.66, UW-Stout sixth with 56, UW-Stevens Point seventh with 33.5 and UW-River Falls eighth with two.

UW-Oshkosh received event titles this year from Caleb Cornelius in the high jump, Ryan Potter in the 400-meter run, Steven Potter in the 800-meter run, Jonathan Wilburn in the triple jump and Davian Willems in the 60-meter dash. Wilburn previously won the triple jump at the 2019 and 2020 championships.

Cornelius defeated 19 other contestants in the high jump with his winning height of 6-8 3/4 that ranks 13th in Division III this season. UW-Platteville's Daniel Inyang finished second in the event with a leap of 6-6 3/4 and UW-Oshkosh's Neal McCourt seventh at 6-4 3/4.

Ryan Potter outran 23 other challengers in the 400-meter run with his victorious time of 49.18 seconds that ranks 12th nationally. UW-Eau Claire's Jordan Lijewski placed second in the race with a time of 49.41 seconds. The Titans also had Amitai Wheat finish fifth with a time of 49.68 seconds and Rashaad Henderson sixth at 49.74.

In the 800-meter run, Steven Potter beat 24 other rivals with his winning time of 1:54.82. UW-Stevens Point's Braedon Gilles finished second in the event with a time of 1:55.68 while Titans Ryan Potter placed third at 1:56.03 and Reid Marquardt eighth at 1:57.32.

Wilburn won his third conference triple jump title by skipping to a nation-leading distance of 49-8 1/2 that defeated 24 other opponents, including UW-La Crosse's Shelvin Garrett who placed second with a mark of 47-9 1/4. UW-Oshkosh's Leslie Fisher finished third in the event with a measurement of 46-9 and Elijah Pena fourth at 46-8 1/4.

Willems led five UW-Oshkosh placewinners in the 60-meter dash with his winning school-record tying time of 6.72 seconds that ranks second nationally. UW-La Crosse's Sam Blaskowski finished second among the event's 26 entrants with a time of 6.74 seconds while UW-Oshkosh's Denzel Thomas placed fourth at 6.83, Aaron McCarroll-Richardson fifth at 6.84, Jaylen Grant sixth at 6.86 and Joey Kean seventh at 6.87. The times by Thomas and McCaroll-Richardson rank 10th and 14th nationally, respectively.

UW-Oshkosh had another five placewinners in the 200-meter dash as Henderson finished second with a time of 22.07 seconds, Grant third at 22.12, McCarroll-Richardson fourth at 22.15, Londyn Little sixth at 22.20 and Robert Ogbuli seventh at 22.30.

The Titans earned their remaining second-place finishes in the 1,600-meter and distance medley relays. Members of the 1,600-meter squad that etched a time of 3:20.15 were Wheat, Adrian Girone, Bo Koehn and Aden Sears. Running on a distance medley unit that carved a time of 10:78.18 were Girone, Andrew George, Steven Potter and Andrew Rathkamp.

Other third-place results had Titans Steven Potter performing to a time of 4:15.76 in the mile run and McCarroll-Richardson leaping to a measurement of 23-0 3/4 in the long jump.

Additional fourth-place finishes for UW-Oshkosh, all in the field events, had Jamyle Brantley marking a measurement of 22-8 1/2 in the long jump, Jackson Sheckler a throw of 49-1 in the shot put and Eli Tranel a height of 15-4 1/2 in the pole vault.

UW-Oshkosh completed its sixth-place listings with the distance of 22-6 1/2 in the long jump by Sears and the times of 4:18.72 in the mile run by George and 15:00.70 in the 5,000-meter run by Jason Ford.

Pena added a seventh-place finish of 8.50 seconds for UW-Oshkosh in the 60-meter hurdles.

The Titans' eighth-place finishes closed with John Ford's time of 8.59 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, Micah Senior's measurement of 22-6 1/4 in the long jump and Zachary Zirgibel's height of 14-10 3/4 in the pole vault.

UW-Oshkosh will perform in last chance national qualifiers at Ripon and Wartburg (Iowa) colleges next weekend (March 4-5) before participating at the Division III Championship on March 11-12 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Photo courtesy of UW-Platteville Sports Information