The UW Oshkosh track and field teams steamrolled their way to a first place finish at the Ripon Winter Open meet on Dec. 2 and 3.

First place appeared to be a recurring theme for the Titans throughout the teams’ first meet of the year.

“I think the large numbers of first place finishes reflect the hard work and time everyone put in this fall and summer,” Cyna Madigan said. “We had many personal records and national qualifying marks as well which isn’t always a common feat for the first meet of the season.” 

The men’s team claimed 10 first place finishes en route to victory, scoring 278 points.

Davian Willems’s 6.72 second finish in the 60-meter dash earned him first place and the sixth fastest finish in NCAA Division III history, tying his own school record he shares with Jaylen Grant.

Fellow Titans Grant, Keegan Cullison, Danny Vinson and Brett Clavijo also earned top five finishes in the 60-meter dash.

Elijah Pena’s 8.50 second finish earned him the top spot in the 60-meter hurdles and fellow teammate Michael Campbell’s time of 8.64 gave him a third place finish.

Rashaad Henderson took first place in the 200-meter dash, while Grant, Cullison and Dylan Gramley finished second, third and fourth, respectively.

“The driving factor to so many first-place finishes was really just our mentality going into the first meet of the season,” Henderson said. “We’ve been training since September so that alone gives us as a team a lot of confidence going into competition.”

UWO had six top place finishers in the 400-meter dash, with Londyn Little claiming a first place finish with a time of 49.62. Ryan Potter, Weston Lerdal, Caiden Hoeppner, Damareyon Taylor and Reid Marquardt all placed within the top six.

Jelani Lawson and Nick Vey earned second and third place finishes in the 800-meter run with times of 1:58.17 and 1:58.57, respectively.

Steven Potter won the one-mile run with a time of 4:13.98.

Joe Hertel was the lone Titan in the 3,000-meter run, claiming the crown with a finish of 9:01.54. 

A time of 3:37.28 for the Titans was good enough for a first place finish in the 4×400-meter relay. 

Charlie Nolan took first place and Caleb Cornelius took seventh in the high jump.

AK Toheeb-Lawal, Aaron Richardson, Sebastian Jefferson and Caleb Wright had fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth place finishes giving UWO four of the top eight finishes in long jump.

In the triple jump, Jonathan Wilburn and Nolan claimed the top two spots.

In the shot put Isaiah Isom threw 14.59 meters to earn him first and Cameron Bendixen added a sixth place finish. Both teammates also placed within the top eight in the 35-lb weight throw as well.

The Titans took seven spots in the heptathlon, although St. Norbert took the first place finish. Aden Sears, RJ Bosshart, Payton White, Ewens, Fenyx Morningdove, Cole Spanbauer and Matthew Scholbe all earned finishes.

The women’s track and team also put out an impressive performance, scoring 234 points and taking first in seven of the 18 events. 

Rachel Castelli claimed a first place finish in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.89 seconds, while Andrea Glaz and Molly Greeninger claimed second and third place finishes. The Titans grabbed six of the top eight finishes, with Glaz and Castelli each setting personal records.

Castelli’s 26.44 finish earned her first place in the 200-meter dash, while Mikayla Jackson and Glaz added second and third place finishes.

Alaina Wagner won the 400-meter dash while Olivia Stenzel, Vanessa Jenneman, Erika Mullen and Jayda Dobeck grabbed the next four spots in the race. 

Madigan placed first and Katelyn Puetz placed ninth in the 800-meter run.

The Titans took six of the top place finishes in the one-mile run, but Edgewood took the first place finish.

UWO finished in 4:19.32 for a first place finish in the 4×400-meter relay.

Amelia Lehman took first in the 3,000-meter.

Jenneman took third in long jump, and in triple jump Haley Kanitz also took a third place finish and grabbed a fourth place finish in pole vault as well.

UWO had second and third place finishes by Brenna Masloroff and Katie Fruth in shot put.

Masloroff claimed the top spot in the 20-lb weighted throw for UWO, and Fruth claimed a third place finish.

The men and women’s track and field teams will be back in action during the annual UW-Oshkosh Early Bird Invitational hosted at the Kolf Sports Center on Dec. 10.