Veteran Lineup To Lead Titans At NCAA North Regional

UW-Oshkosh will be counting on a veteran group of runners to lead it to a strong performance at Saturday's (Nov. 13) National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Men's Cross Country North Regional at the Whitetail Golf Course in Colfax.

The 8,000-meter race begins at 12 p.m. and is expected to feature nearly 300 runners from 41 schools located in the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The North Regional is being contested for the first time in 2021. Since the mid-1970s teams in Minnesota competed at the Central Regional while squads in Wisconsin participated at the Midwest Regional.

UW-Oshkosh, which finished third at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship held Oct. 30 at the Whitetail Golf Course, is among six nationally programs competing on Saturday.

The four-time Midwest Regional champion Titans are ranked 27th in Division III by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association while 2021 WIAC champion UW-La Crosse is eighth, UW-Whitewater 10th, Carleton College (Minn.) 15th, St. Olaf College (Minn.) 24th and UW-Eau Claire 29th.

The winning North Regional team will secure an automatic berth into the Division III Championship that will be held next Saturday (Nov. 20) at the E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky. The 32-team meet will also include nine other regional champions and 22 at-large selections.

UW-Oshkosh's seven-person lineup for Saturday includes six individuals who represented the Titans at the 2019 Midwest Regional.

Senior Cody Chadwick, who earned All-America honors with his 21st-place finish at the 2019 Division III Championship, is making his fourth regional appearance after placing 11th at the Midwest Regional in 2019, 26th in 2018 and 39th in 2017.

The Titans also return senior Andrew George and junior Steven Potter who raced at the Midwest Regional in 2018 and 2019. George finished 33rd regionally in 2019 and 85th in 2018 while Potter placed 41st in the region in 2019 and 67th in 2018.

Other UW-Oshkosh runners back from the 2019 Midwest Regional are juniors Andrew Rathkamp and Joe Kehoe and sophomore Mitchell Bradford. Rathkamp finished 44th regionally two years ago while Bradford placed 76th and Kehoe 89th.

UW-Oshkosh's lineup concludes with the addition of sophomore Jason Ford.

Individually, the top seven finishers from each region not on one of the team qualifiers will also earn an invitation to the national championship.

The top 35 finishers at the Division III North Regional will receive all-region status.