UW Oshkosh continued its track and field success at the UW-Platteville Invitational on Thursday, April 12.

While no team scores were kept at the meet, the Titans were able to gauge their success based on a plethora of impressive finishes by the women and men alike.

Women’s results

The performance of the women’s team was highlighted by a trio of first-place finishes on the day. Senior sprinter Emily Reichenberger led the pack in the 100-meter dash, an event that saw Titans claim the top three spots. Her winning time of 12.53 seconds was followed closely by the junior sprinting duo of Taylor Pralle and Olivia Seeley, who finished second and third, respectively.

Sophomore jumper Cara Volz also impressed, adding to the team’s win total in the triple jump with a distance of 37-5 and finishing third in the 100-meter hurdles.

The 1,600-meter relay team, consisting of senior Rachel Powers, junior Lindsay Denu, sophomore Morgan Endries and freshman Sadie Huth, rounded out the Titans’ first-place efforts with a time of 4:17.96.

Other strong performances from the Titans came in second-place finishes from Reichenberger, Seeley and juniors Taylor Pralle and Lauren Wrensch in the 400-meter relay, junior Megan Leahy in the pole vault and junior Isabella Samuels in the shot put.

Despite the handful of impressive finishes from her teammates, sophomore pole vaulter Alicia Moon said she believes as the weather continues to heat up, so will her team’s performances.

“Our first few meets have not been good examples of the athletes we have become over the past few months, but with warmer weather we hope to improve individually and as a whole,” Moon said.

Men’s results

The Titan men made their mark at Platteville as well, recording two first-place finishes on the day.

Junior thrower Bailey Quinn won the hammer throw with a toss of 182 11, beating the other 32 competitors in the event.

Freshman sprinter Erik Schwandt came out on top in his event, winning the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.81 seconds.

The Titans saw another strong performance from senior jumper Devan Gertschen, who placed in three events, including a second-place finish in pole vault with a height of 16 4-3/4. Junior jumper Jared Benson added a second-place finish for his team in the triple jump, leaping 41 9-1/4.

Sophomore thrower Jack Flynn also had a solid outing, finishing third in discus with a throw of 150 11.

Distance coach Eamon McKenna said his team’s success can be attributed to its ability to adapt and overcome the obstacles the poor weather had caused earlier in the week.

“I thought the team showed up ready to compete at a high level at Platteville in spite of our meet schedule changing due to the inclement weather,” McKenna said. “It is difficult to stay focused and to compete well when the schedule changes and when you have to break routine, but our student athletes handled it well and brought a positive and competitive attitude to the meet.”

UWO will look to build on its early success this season as it prepares to compete at UW-La Crosse’s Phil Esten Challenge April 19-20.

Continuing with the theme of the weather’s effect on the team’s ability to reach their potential, senior sprinter Nolan Peterson said the team will continue to focus only on what they can control in the upcoming meets.

“We live in Wisconsin, so we have to deal with cards we are dealt when it comes to weather, and as a team, all we can do is keep working hard and control the variables we can control,” Peterson said.