Titans Cruise To Season-Opening Victory
UW-Oshkosh's opening performance of the
2009 season was a dominating one as the Titans easily captured the
team title at the Carroll University
Women's Cross Country Invitational held Saturday (Sept. 12)
in Waukesha.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked 15th in the NCAA Division III by the U.S. Track
& Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, won the
nine-team meet with 27 points. Carroll University finished second
with 50 points, Illinois Institute of Technology third with 64,
Beloit College fourth with 119 and Lake Forest College (Ill.) fifth
with 142.
UW-Oshkosh owned eight of the top 13 runners in the 5,000-meter
race, including Ayla Mitchell (Sr. • New Richmond) who
finished second with a time of 18:11. Megan O'Grady of Carroll
University captured the individual title with a time of 17:50,
while Stephanie Lucas of Illinois Institute of Technology placed
third in 19:29.
In addition to Mitchell, UW-Oshkosh also received scoring
positions from Jennifer Piskor (Jr. • Eagan, Minn.), Cassie
Petersen (Jr. • Marinette), McKenzie Kelly (Fr. • New
Richmond) and Allison Gehl (Jr. • Sherwood). Piskor finished
fourth with a time of 19:30, while Petersen placed fifth in 19:53,
Kelly seventh in 20:10 and Gehl ninth in 20:17.
Other Titans cracking the top 20 were Samantha Helgesen (So. • Bristol), Brittany Haas (Jr. • St. Charles, Ill.), Mallory Burk (Jr. • Athens) and Janelle Brooks (So. • Janesville). Helgesen finished 11th in 20:33, Haas 12th in 20:42, Burk 13th in 20:43 and Brooks 18th in 20:53.
UW-Oshkosh also had Jordan Clark-Mand (Jr. •
Waupun) finish 26th in 21:14, Kelsey Sweeney (Fr. • Verona)
28th in 21:26, Megan Tyjeski (So. • Wisconsin Rapids) 29th in
21:47, Heather Bassett (Jr. • Minocqua) 32nd in 21:52, Shannon
Madigan (Sr. • Green Bay) 33rd in 22:02, Kathryn Magnor (So.
• Brookfield) 39th in 22:34, Alexandra DeBaker (Fr. •
Green Bay) 45th in 22:52, Kristin Stockheimer (Fr. • West
Salem) 46th in 22:54, Carlyn Brown (So. • Belleville) 50th in
23:07 and Lauren Pinzl (Fr. • Mercer) 69th in 24:22.
A total of 109 runners finished the race.
UW-Oshkosh returns to action by competing at next Saturday's (Sept. 19) UW-Whitewater Invitational.