Titans Look To Contend For WIAC Indoor Championship Crown
Four-time defending champion UW-La Crosse is expected to be challenged by UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater for first place at this weekend's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship (presented by Culver's) in Menomonie.
Competition in the two-day event begins at 11:30 a.m. on Friday (Feb. 24) and 9 a.m. on Saturday (Feb. 25) in UW-Stout's Sports and Fitness Center. The 41st edition of the women's championship will be held concurrently with the 49th gathering of the men's teams.
UW-La Crosse and UW-Oshkosh have combined to win each of the past 32 WIAC indoor titles. UW-La Crosse owns 24 championships overall, including a six-year title run from 2000-05. UW-Oshkosh has claimed 13 league titles, including a six-year championship streak from 1988-93. The Titans captured their last title in 2012.
UW-La Crosse won last year's eight-team WIAC indoor championship with 162 points. UW-Eau Claire finished second to the Eagles with 104.5 points while UW-Stout placed third with 103, UW-Oshkosh fourth with 93.5, UW-Stevens Point fifth with 80, UW-Platteville sixth with 58, UW-Whitewater seventh with 50.5 and UW-River Falls eighth with 11.5.
This year's championship features nine student-athletes who have combined to win nine individual and five relay titles at previous WIAC indoor championships.
The meet will also display six nationally ranked programs by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. UW-Whitewater enters the league championship ranked fifth in the nation while UW-Oshkosh lists eighth, UW-Platteville 13th, UW-Eau Claire 16th and UW-Stevens Point 21st.
UW-Oshkosh competes this weekend with several athletes ranked among the national top 20.
Titan Emily Reichenberger, a junior, has turned in the third-fastest time in the 60-meter dash this season with a time of 7.72 and the eighth-fastest mark in the 200-meter dash at 25.36.
UW-Oshkosh freshman Cara Volz is also highly ranked in two events, listing 11th nationally in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.96 seconds and 13th in the triple jump with a distance of 37-6 3/4.
Rounding out UW-Oshkosh's top-20 national performances are junior Kristen Linzmeier, who ranks fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:14.03, sophomore Cheyenne Moore, who rates seventh in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:17.72, junior Alyssa Ryan, who lists 11th in the pole vault with a height of 12-3 1/2, senior Elizabeth Abhold, who ranks 11th in the 20-pound weight throw with a distance of 57-5 3/4, and junior Karina Marchan, who grades 12th in the long jump with a leap of 18-4 1/4.
UW-La Crosse brings back a pair of individual conference champions from last season as senior Autumn Miller and junior Kaitlyn McDaniel won the shot put and 5,000-meter run, respectively. Junior Valerie Jones contributed to the Eagles' first-place distance medley relay team in 2015 and 2016.
UW-Platteville senior Amber Williams is the most decorated returnee. She has been voted the Track Performer of the Meet at the last two WIAC indoor championships and is the two-time defending champion in both the long and the triple jumps. She could become the first individual in conference history to win three straight long jump titles.
UW-Eau Claire senior Jessie Reineck is the defending champion in the 400-meter dash. She also was a member of the winning 1,600-meter relay team along with Blugold classmates Jess Rupnow and junior Ashleigh Buergi.
UW-Stout junior Courtney Shaffer posted a first-place finish in the mile run a season ago while senior Lydia Meier won the 20-pound weight throw.
Previous WIAC members winning league indoor titles were University of Wisconsin in 1977 and Marquette University in both 1982 and 1984.