Titans' Four Home Men's Cross Country Meets Includes NCAA Regional
UW-Oshkosh will host four men's cross country meets, including the Kollege Town Sports Invitational and the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional, as part of its schedule for the 2019 season.
The Titans begin their eighth season under head coach Eamon McKenna at Friday's (Sept. 6) UW-Parkside Vic Godfrey Open. UW-Oshkosh has started a season at a UW-Parkside event every year since 2014. The Titans finished eighth among 12 teams at last year's meet with 194 points.
The first of UW-Oshkosh's four home meets takes place Sept. 20 when it hosts the Titan Fall Classic at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne. The meet will also involve runners from Illinois Institute of Technology, Lawrence University, Ripon College and St. Norbert College. UW-Oshkosh won last year's three-team meet with a perfect score of 15 points.
UW-Oshkosh's remaining home meets are the Kollege Town Sports Invitational on Oct. 12, the UW-Oshkosh Open on Oct. 25 and the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional on Nov. 16.
The Kollege Town Sports Invitational marks the 14th consecutive year that UW-Oshkosh has hosted one of the largest cross country meets in the country. This year's meet is expected to feature nearly 375 runners from 25 collegiate programs.
Last year's Kollege Town Sports Invitational, a pre-national event, was won by North Central College (Ill.) with 41 points. UW-Oshkosh finished 20th in the 50-team event with 565 points while Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) placed second with 97 points and Calvin College (Mich.) third with 127.
Runners from UW-Parkside, UW-Platteville, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater are expected to join the Titans at the UW-Oshkosh Open. The Titans finished second among four teams at last year's meet with 51 points.
UW-Oshkosh follows the Titan Fall Classic by traveling to Falcon Heights, Minn., for the University of Minnesota Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 28, Colfax for the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational on Oct. 4, and Appleton for the Lawrence University Gene Davis Invitational on Oct. 12.
UW-Oshkosh scored 34 points to win last year's 10-team Roy Griak Invitational title for the fourth consecutive season. The Titans also finished third at last year's 10-team Gene Davis Invitational with 94 points and finished 17th among 29 teams at the Blugold Invitational with 492.
UW-Oshkosh concludes its regular season at the WIAC Championship on Nov. 2 in Cuba City. The Titans have won 10 WIAC titles, with the last two coming in 2011 and 2003.
UW-La Crosse scored 38 points to win its second straight WIAC title and 34th overall. The Eagles were followed in the team standings by second-place UW-Eau Claire with 69 points, third-place UW-Stout with 85, fourth-place UW-Stevens Point with 119 and fifth-place UW-Oshkosh with 127.
Completing the team listings were sixth-place UW-Platteville with 134 points, seventh-place UW-Whitewater with 138 and eighth-place UW-River Falls with 255.
UW-Oshkosh begins NCAA postseason competition by running at the Division III Midwest Regional on Nov. 16 in Winneconne. Lake Breeze Golf Club was the host facility for the NCAA Division III Championships in 1999, 2011, 2015 and 2018 and the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional in 1997, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2016.
Defending champion North Central College (Ill.) claimed the 2018 Midwest Regional title with 30 points while UW-La Crosse listed second in the field of 35 teams with 74. UW-Oshkosh, which has finished among the top 11 teams at each of the past 35 Midwest Regionals, placed eighth at last year's meet with 231 points.
UW-Oshkosh can earn a berth to the 2019 NCAA Division III Championship on Nov. 23 in Louisville, Ky., by finishing first or second at the Midwest Regional or earning one of the 16 national at-large bids. The top seven individual finishers from each regional not on one of the team qualifiers will also earn an invitation to the national championship.
UW-Oshkosh is hunting for its 24th NCAA Championship appearance and first since 2015 when it finished 13th in the country. The Titans won NCAA titles in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 2002. UW-Oshkosh was the national championship third-place finisher in 1987, 1991 and 2000.
North Central College is the three-time defending NCAA Division III national champion. The Cardinals won their division-record 19th overall title a year ago with 43 points. Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) finished second in the 32-team meet team with 110 points while UW-La Crosse placed third with 127 and Haverford College (Pa.) fourth with 213.
UW-Oshkosh returns 11 former letter winners to this year's team, including junior Cody Chadwick who finished 67th at the 2018 NCAA Division III Championship. Chadwick also placed 12th at the WIAC Championship and 26th at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional a year ago.
Other Titans returning after running at last year's NCAA Division III Midwest Regional are sophomore Steven Potter and junior Andrew George. Potter finished 67th among the meet's 253 runners and George 85th.
UW-Oshkosh runners returning from last year's WIAC Championship are Chadwick, George, sophomore Andrew Muskevitsch, junior Noah O'Neill, Potter and junior Parker Scheld. Chadwick placed 12th at the meet in 2018 while George finished 42nd, Potter 46th, Muskevitsch 67th, O'Neill 77th and Scheld 84th.