
Titans Victorious In Long-Awaited Return
UW-Oshkosh's long-awaited return to competitive men's cross country activity was a dominating one as the Titans easily captured first place at the six-team Concordia University Wisconsin Ken Weidt Classic held Saturday (Sept. 11) in Mequon.
UW-Oshkosh was performing in its first meet of the 2021 season after the Titans' 2020 campaign was canceled due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Saturday's competition was UW-Oshkosh's first since being represented at the NCAA Division III Championship held Nov. 23, 2019.
The Titans owned eight of the meet's top 15 runners, including Joe Kehoe who finished second in the 8,000-meter race with a time of 26:52.8, Steven Potter who placed third in 26:58.5 and Mitchell Bradford who ranked fifth in 27:08.6.
Lawrence University's Collin Beyer recorded a time of 26:37.5 to win the individual title and defeat his 65 other challengers. St. Norbert College's Andrew Lopez finished fourth with a time of 27:01.7.
UW-Oshkosh won the team title with 26 points. Lawrence University finished a distant second with 66 points and defending champion St. Norbert College third with 71.
Rounding out the team finishes were fourth-place Concordia University Wisconsin with 101 points, fifth-place Illinois Tech with 104 and sixth-place College of Lake County (Ill.) with 170.
The Titans owned five other top-15 finishers as Andrew George placed seventh with a time of 27:28.7, John Thill ninth in 27:42.9, Jason Ford 11th in 27:54.9, Andrew Rathkamp 13th in 28:11.8 and Andrew Strasser 15th in 28:21.9.
Other UW-Oshkosh runners at the meet were Ryan Dolnik, Dwight Hosni, Michael Kreuser, Cody Witthun, Eduardo Neri, Noah Bruehl, Isaac Lueck, Joe Hertel, Ethan Phillips, Zach Nelson and Jeremiah Wilson. Dolnik finished 21st with a time of 28:53.8, Hosni 22nd in 28:57.9, Kreuser 27th in 29:16.0, Witthun 32nd in 29:46.7, Neri 33rd in 29:53.9, Bruehl 36th in 29:57.4, Lueck 43rd in 31:23.9, Hertel 53rd in 33:04.9, Phillips 55th in 33:27.1, Nelson 59th in 34:30.2 and Wilson 63rd in 36:03.5.
UW-Oshkosh participates at UW-Whitewater's Tom Hoffman Invitational next Saturday (Sept. 18).
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics