The UW Oshkosh men’s and women’s indoor track teams concluded their season this past weekend at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship in Naperville, Ill.

The women had five athletes representing Oshkosh at the event while the men had nine.

There were three All-American runners for the Titans throughout the course of the weekend.

Titans head coach Mary Theisen said she is pleased with the performance of the athletes that placed.

“We are very proud of our few athletes that finished their season with All-American honors,” Theisen said. “We are hoping they lead the way to a successful outdoor season with many, many more student athletes with the same accolades.”

For the women, Titan Athlete of the Week and junior Kristen Linzmeier had a seventh-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:14.77.

Linzmeier’s performance was enough to earn her an All-American in her first championship appearance.

Titans distance coach Eamon McKenna said Linzmeier’s performance at Nationals showed how hard she worked this season.

“Kristen Linzmeier easily had the best year of her career,” McKenna said. “Her consistency and improvement throughout the season were vital to her success. Although her final race at Nationals was not her fastest race of the season, her competitiveness throughout the season helped put her in position to earn All-American status.”

Linzmeier said she is proud of her performance and her seventh-place finish defied expectations.

“I was seeded 10th coming into the meet and was blessed to have walked away with seventh and my first All-American title,” Linzmeier said. “It feels awesome knowing that all my time and hard work finally paid off in my last indoor meet of my collegiate career.”

The second All-American finish from the women came from junior Emily Reichenberger.

Reichenberger earned her second All-American finish in her indoor career and her third All-American overall with an eighth-place finish in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.75 seconds. She also finished 12th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.52 seconds.

Reichenberger’s first All-American finish came last year after finishing sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.52 seconds.

McKenna said he believes Reichenberger had her best season.

“Emily Reichenberger had the best and most consistent season overall of her college career,” McKenna said. “Emily finished off an excellent season, one that saw her win a conference championship in the 60-meter, as well.”

Senior Elizabeth Abhold finished 13th in the 20-pound weight throw with a measurement of 55-1.

Sophomore Cheyenne Moore placed 14th in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:35.83 and sophomore Alyssa Ryan finished 16th in the pole vault with a height of 11-3 3/4.
This was Moore and Ryan’s first championship appearance.

The women managed to score three points over the course of the weekend to place 56th among the 70 teams that scored.

McKenna said although he is pleased with the athletes that managed to finish All-American, the team did not have a good showing at the national level.

“The performance of our women’s track and field team was representative of the season we had overall,” Mckenna said. “We have some very strong talent, especially at the WIAC level, but we do not have the firepower to be a force at the national meet at this point.”

The men were able to bring home one All-American finish with a fifth-place finish from junior and Titan Athlete of the Week Roberto Lara in the mile with a time of 4:08.58. This was Lara’s second All-American finish in the mile run in the past three years.

Lara said he came into the weekend with high expectations and although he did not meet all his goals he is pleased with the final results.

“My goal was to place top- three and execute well with my teammate, Joe,” Lara said. “I ended up taking fifth in what ended up being an all-time fast mile at the national meet. I couldn’t be too upset running 4:08 when many years, that could have very possibly won.”

This was Lara’s third straight championship appearance and his fourth All-American finish overall. Lara said he believes his indoor season has been a success.

“Last weekend was a good close to my indoor career, and I have a feeling my teammates and I will come back outdoor more motivated than ever,” Lara said.

Also representing the men was junior Devan Gertschen, who had a height of 15-9 in the pole vault. Sophomore Ryan Powers had a time of 49.21 seconds in the 400 meter while junior Joe Zach had a time of 4:10.21 in the mile.

Each of them finished ninth in their respective event which was one place away from the All-American category. The top-eight places earn All-American status and score at the meet.

Despite placing ninth, Zach’s time of 4:10.21 was a new personal record. Zach’s previous best time was 4:13.71.

Junior Nick Freitag and sophomore Justin Skinkis both ran the 800-meter for the Titans.

Freitag finished 13th with a time of 1:58.56, while Skinkis finished 15th with a time of 2:00.53.

In the 1,600-meter relay, the team of Freitag, Powers, junior Garrison Griest and senior Danny Trimmer finished in ninth place with a time of 3:21.13.

The men managed to score five points over the weekend to earn them a 42nd place finish among 71 teams.

McKenna said the men’s performance was lacking.

“The performance of our men’s track and field team was very disappointing overall,” McKenna said. “We had a lot of near-misses, with four ninth-place finishes. We did not compete up to our potential overall on the men’s side, and we have to bring a stronger level of confidence to the future championship meets.”