Championship season has arrived for the UW Oshkosh men’s track and field team and the Titans look to build on their historic season, where the team has broken program records in the 110-meter hurdle, 200-meter-dash, long jump, 4x100m relay and the decathlon.
At the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship May 2, Joshua Rivers created a club of his own as he became the first Division III athlete to reach the 8 meter mark in the long jump event in both indoor and outdoor competitions. This broke a 29-year-old record of 7.96m set by Shawn Watson.
Titan Aden Sears reset his own program record in the 110-meter hurdle event with a 14.2 second finish on day two of the WIAC championship May 3. This was a 0.02 second improvement on his record setting day one finish of 14.22 seconds.
On day one of the UW-Oshkosh Titan Invitational, Londyn Little broke his own program record in the 200-meter dash by 0.24 seconds. Little finished the event April 11 in 20.75 seconds. The performance also beat out the facility’s 17-year-old record by Willie Hordge from Buffalo State College (N.Y.).
“If I’m being honest, I was shocked just because I don’t ever open to outdoor 200 with a crazy time,” Little said. “Clearly staying healthy and trusting the process of my training plan led me that way.”
Charlie Nolan set a record on day two of the UW-Oshkosh Titan Invitational in the decathlon where he finished with 7,139 points. Nolan earned six victories in ten individual events and set personal records in the pole vault and javelin throw which led the way. The record was a 20-year old record of 7,103 by UWO Athletics Hall of Famer Kevin Deering.
Nolan said he hasn’t been able to get the moment he broke the record and finished the 1500 out of his head since.
“It’s something I didn’t really even consider while going into this outdoor season,” Nolan said. “What makes it such a huge accomplishment to me is knowing how proud I made my family, friends, teammates, and coaches. This is because I don’t just compete for myself, but for all of them, considering I couldn’t do half of the things I do without them.”
This isn’t the first piece of history Little and Sears are a part of. The two were part of UWO’s record holding 1,600 meter relay squad with Ryan Potter and recent graduate Rashaad Henderson who finished the relay in 3:11.29 May 18, 2023.
Little said he was overcome with all sorts of emotions after closing out the record breaking 1,600 meter relay two years ago.
“There’s a unique energy when you’re doing it with your teammates, the trust, the chemistry, the way each of us had to show up and deliver under pressure,” Little said. “When I got the baton on the anchor leg and brought it home, it was like every emotion exploded at once. Not proud of just yourself, but proud of each other.”
Championship season is right around the corner and the UWO men’s track and field team is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation. Nolan said he is ready to push himself to the limit to achieve the goals he set for himself and the team.
“For a plan to prepare, it’s just to continue training hard, and trusting my coaches abilities to lead me straight, which they always do,” Nolan said. “…I will say, after breaking the record with a big decathlon personal record, I want this really bad, and I have strong intentions to improve my marks significantly and break a few more records where I can.”
