UW Oshkosh held the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) outdoor track and field championship May 2-3 at the Oshkosh Sports Complex, its first hosted conference meet since 2014.
Both of UWO’s track and field teams participated in the event. The men claimed third in the conference with 133 while the women placed fourth with 106. UW-La Crosse was crowned victorious in each with 269.5 and 252.5, respectively.
Titan Joshua Rivers made headlines on day one after an NCAA record-breaking 8.04m leap in the men’s long jump event. Rivers is the first and only Division III men’s track and field athlete to ever reach the 8-meter mark in the event, both indoor and outdoor. If moved up to Division I, the leap would be its fourth longest ever. Shawn Watson of the University of Mount Union (Ohio) previously held the record of 7.96m for 29 years. UWO’s Caleb Wright placed second in the event with 7.5m (A new facility record if not for Rivers).
Aden Sears continued to add to his men’s 110-meter hurdles program record, setting the new bar at 14.22 seconds on day one, just to break it again with 14.20 seconds in the finals to win his first individual championship of his career. Brady Larson was the next best Titan in fourth place after finishing with 14.83.
The history wasn’t done yet for UWO as the men’s 4x100m relay became only the third team to break 40 seconds. With D-III’s second-best score of all-time, Eddie Jones, Nolan Milas, Danny Vinson and Davian Willems were crowned WIAC champions. Both UWO and UWL broke 40 seconds, marking it the first time in D-III history that’s happened.
Brenna Masloroff decided to join in on the fun UWO experienced throughout the weekend with a meet record of her own in the women’s hammer throw event. After a throw that reached 59.34m, Masloroff was crowned champion for the second year in a row. She also placed second in the shot put event with 13.72m.
In the women’s 800-meter run, UWO’s Libby Geisness and Cyna Madigan claimed the top two in both the preliminary and finals runs. Madigan squeezed by and won the event with a time of 2:12.28, which was quickly followed by Geisness who finished in 2:12.62. Titan Olivia Stenzel joined the two on the podium when it was all said and done with 2:14.23 in the finals.
Geisness’ day wasn’t done yet, as she had yet to claim her crown in the women’s 1500-meter run after beating out fellow Titan Amelia Lehmen in the race. Geisness finished at 4:35.19 and Lehmen crossed at 4:35.93.
UWO’s 4x400m women’s relay squad of Addie Baker, Stenzel, Madigan and Maddy LaVoi claimed second place with 3:50.46.
Titan Megan Hunt had herself a day, picking up wins in two separate events: the women’s high jump and the heptathlon. In the heptathlon, Hunt won three of the seven events, leading to her marginal win in the event with 4725. In a separate long jump event, Hunt stood atop the podium with 5.83m.
In the decathlon, Payton White was able to secure second place for UWO with a total score of 6518 and Cavan Dobberstein placed sixth with 6383.
Willems was able to build on a qualifying preliminary round to place second in the men’s 100-meter dash with 10.26, a new facility record if not for UWL’s Sam Blaskowski, who set a new D-III record with 10.08. Willems’ time improved from 10.44 to 10.26, which helped get him on the podium for the second time that weekend.
Titan Nolan Milas got fourth in the 200-meter dash with 21.53, falling to Blaskowski who continued his dominant day. The 400-meter saw similar results with UWO’s Tyran Bender leading the charge. Bender finished the dash in 47.88 seconds, enough for fourth on the leaderboard.
Caleb Cornelius got things back on track for the Titans after picking up a win in the men’s high jump with 2.09m. Kyle Wisniewski was the next best Titan in fifth after jumping 2.01m.
Gavin Fritsch had himself a weekend representing UWO with podium finishes in two of the three events he participated in over the course of the weekend. Fritsch’s best placing was in the hammer throw, where his throw reached 59.43m. In the discus throw, Fritsch put up 52.92m but fell short of his second victory of the day.
UWO track and field returns to action May 9, where the teams will participate in both the University of St. Francis (Illinois) Fighting Chance Invitational in Joliet, Illinois at Joliet Memorial Stadium May 9-10 and the UW-La Crosse Eagle Open at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex May 9. Times have yet to be provided for the Fighting Chance Invitational, but the Eagle Open kicks off at 3 p.m.
