The UW Oshkosh men’s and women’s cross-country teams hosted the Titan Fall Classic last Friday. The men’s team placed third and the women’s team placed second with Titan junior Hannah Lohrenz taking the top spot in the event.

Lohrenz finished the 6K race with a time of 23:45.2. Other Titans to finish in the top 15 were sophomore Elizabeth Reddeman in sixth place, freshman Zanzie Demco in 10th place, freshman Meygan Benzing in 12th place and senior Amanda Van Den Plas in 13th place.

Lohrenz’s time was 40 seconds faster than her time from last year’s Titan Fall Classic.

Lohrenz said racing at the team’s home course is special because it is easier for fans of UWO Titan cross-country to go and cheer on the team.

“Racing on our home course is always fun because people are easily able to come to the meet to support us,” Lohrenz said. “Also, you’re on your course so you need to make sure that you represent it well.”

The UWO women finished with 42 points, 14 points behind UW-Stevens Point who won the event.

The men’s team had five runners finish in 17th or better as junior Andrew George led the Titans with a seventh-place finish. Other finishers for UWO were junior Andrew Rathkamp in 12th, junior Spencer Muffler in 14th, freshman Jason Ford in 16th and sophomore Steven Potter in 17th place.

Rathkamp said he struggled during the meet, but he can only use that to help himself going forward.

“I’m a runner that doesn’t do too well in hot and humid environments, and that reflected in last week’s meet,” Rathkamp said. “That, paired with losing confidence during the race, made it rough towards the middle, but that’s just another thing I can acknowledge and improve on going forward.”

UW-Stevens Point won the meet with 32 points and UW-Whitewater took second with 46 points.

George said getting beaten by Stevens Point and Whitewater could act as a blessing in disguise.

“Losing to conference teams is never fun, but we will continue to grow and get faster just like any other team,” George said. “I hope that those teams now think that we will have no chance at pulling an upset. Being an underdog is always the most fun.”

Head coach Eamon McKenna said his teams weren’t at full strength for their home meet, but when they are at full strength, they expect to place well at conference.

“Stevens Point has very solid depth with both genders,” McKenna said. “We did not race at full strength with either gender, so we are hoping as we get people back healthy we can close the gap on Point. The goal for the men’s team is to be top five at conference, while the goal for the women’s team is to be top three.”

The Titans will travel to Falcon Heights, Minnesota for the University of Minnesota Roy Griak Invitational this Saturday.
The meet features colleges in Divisions I-III from all over the country. The women’s race begins at 9:30 a.m. and the men’s race begins at 10:20 a.m.