Titans Seek Another Top-Three Finish At WIAC Championship

Alexandria Demco owns the top seed in both the 800- and 1,500-meter runs and Cara Volz the javelin for this weekend's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship (presented by Culver's) in River Falls.

The 49th edition of the championship begins at 1 p.m. Friday (May 7) and 10:15 a.m. Saturday (May 8) at UW-River Falls' David A. Smith Stadium at Ramer Field. The meet will be held in conjunction with the 102nd version of the men's championship. Both championships were canceled in 2020 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

UW-Oshkosh seeks its 32nd top-three finish in the last 35 conference championships held. The Titans scored 69 points to place fifth at the 2019 championship held in Platteville.

UW-La Crosse counted 225.5 points at the 2019 meet to win its eighth straight conference title and league-leading 34th overall. UW-Eau Claire finished second to the Eagles with 192 points, UW-Stevens Point third with 125, UW-Stout fourth with 83, UW-Platteville sixth with 64, UW-Whitewater seventh with 44.5 and UW-River Falls eighth with 12.

UW-Oshkosh lists second behind UW-La Crosse with 11 WIAC titles, while UW-Stevens Point has captured one. Former conference member University of Wisconsin has two first-place finishes. UW-Oshkosh captured conference titles in 1988-91, 1994-97, 2004, 2006 and 2011.

This weekend's conference championship showcases four programs ranked in the Top 17 of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's NCAA Division III Rating Index – top-ranked UW-La Crosse, sixth-ranked UW-Eau Claire, 13th-ranked UW-Oshkosh and 17th-ranked UW-Stevens Point.

Demco travels to River Falls seeded first in the 800- and 1,500-meter runs with times of 2:12.76 and 4:32.81, respectively. Demco, who ranks seventh nationally in both events, was a member of UW-Oshkosh's 1,600-meter relay team that finished fourth at the 2019 championship with a time of 3:58.30.

Volz earned the conference's top seed in the javelin with a measurement of 132-1 that ranks 15th nationally. She is also seeded third in the triple jump with a distance of 38-1 1/2.

Volz won the triple jump with a skip of 39-4 1/2 at the 2018 championship while finishing fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.80 seconds. In 2017, she placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.23 seconds at the conference meet while running on UW-Oshkosh's fifth-place 400-meter relay and seventh-place 1,600-meter relay teams that recorded times of 48.65 seconds and 4:07.80, respectively.

UW-Oshkosh's Sydney Thompson is seeded in three events – second in both the discus and shot put with measurements of 148-3 and 46-5 1/4, respectively, and fifth in the hammer throw with a distance of 168-9. The second-year transfer from NCAA Division II Minnesota State University, Mankato ranks third nationally in the shot put, fifth in the discus and 18th in the hammer throw.

Titan Hannah Lohrenz is seeded second in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:43.29. She finished third in both the 800- and 1,500-meter runs at the 2019 championship with times of 2:16.23 and 4:40.11, respectively.

Alexandria Steger of the Titans is seeded third in the javelin with a measurement of 124-1. She placed third in the event at both the 2018 and 2019 championships with distances of 119-8 and 120-7, respectively.

UW-Oshkosh's Morgan Florek and Riley Kindt are both seeded in a pair of events.

Florek is seeded fourth in the discus with a measurement of 141-11 and seventh in the shot put with a throw of 43-10. Florek, a second-year transfer from Minnesota State University, Mankato, ranks 10th nationally in the discus and 19th in the shot put.

Kindt, a freshman, is seeded fourth in the high jump with a leap of 5-6 and fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.88 seconds. She ranks 13th nationally in the high jump and 25th in the 100-meter hurdles.

UW-Oshkosh freshmen Emma Warr is seeded sixth in the pole vault with a height of 11-9 that ranks 24th nationally and Mikayla Jackson seventh in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.33 seconds.

Seeded eighth for UW-Oshkosh are freshmen Meygan Benzing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Libby Geisness in the 800-meter run with times of 11:49.86 and 2:16.69, respectively.

Titan Kahley Logan will compete in the shot put after finishing eighth at the 2018 championship with a measurement of 40-7 3/4.

UW-Oshkosh is seeded third in the 400- and seventh in the 1,600-meter relays with times of 48.63 seconds and 4:16.78, respectively.

Returning individual champions from the 2019 WIAC Championship are UW-Eau Claire's Megan Wallace in the heptathlon, UW-La Crosse's Savannah Rygiewicz in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, UW-Platteville's Katie Schilling in the 400-meter hurdles, and UW-Stevens Point's Larkin Hoepner in the hammer throw and Sylviann Momont in the high jump.

The top finisher in each event receives all-conference first team status while the runner-up secures second team accolades and the third-place performer honorable mention recognition.