UW-Oshkosh men’s and women’s track and field showed up and showed out on Feb. 7, as multiple athletes scored top three placements at either the Ripon College Red Hawk Invitational, the Illinois Wesleyan University Multi/Keck D-III Select, and the UW-La Crosse Mark Guthrie Legacy Invitational.
The first record to fall was one that has been shattered previously this season, as graduate student Collin Kao broke the UWO pole vault record for the third time. The new record of 5.20 meters placed Kao both second in Division III and, in the event in Bloomington, Illinois, short of Western Illinois University’s Arnie Grunert, who won the event with 5.30 meters. UWO juniors Cavan Dobberstein and Bryce Smith also had big performances in the heptathlon at IWU, claiming first and second in the event. Dobberstein won the event with 4,941 points, with Smith taking second with 4,842 points.
In La Crosse, the school record in the men’s 4×400-meter relay, set in 2023, was broken by the quartet of junior Dylan Doss, freshman Sean Malay, junior Lucas Koerselman and sophomore Tyran Bender with a time of 3:13.80. They placed fourth in the event, behind host UW-La Crosse, who ran a 3:13.10. The Titans also swept the podium in the 60-meter dash, with Doss winning the event, senior Davian Willems placing second and junior Nolan Milas placing third, in addition to winning the 200-meter dash. Junior Lucas Nicholson placed second in the 800-meter run.
At the Red Hawk Invitational, the UWO women’s squad placed second overall in the competition with 135 points, falling short of the top spot to St. Norbert College, which scored 138.5. Freshman Mia Riley placed third in the 60-meter dash, with fellow freshman Maya Van Schyndel reaching silver in the 60-meter hurdles. Junior Amara Smalls finished in third place in the 400-meter run, while freshman Megan Hoffman completed the 800-meter run in second place. UWO took the top two spots in the 3,000-meter run, with freshman Lehna Mitchell winning the event and junior Allison Van Der Wegen placing second. The 4×400-meter team consisting of sophomores Anabell Mitchell, Adriana Garcia, Hoffman and freshman Athena Soto finished in third place. In field events, freshman Bri Meyer earned silver for the Titans in pole vault and junior Brooklyn Metz placed third in the shot put.
In the men’s competition, UWO reigned supreme, winning the meet with 165 points. In the sprints, sophomore Christian Thompson placed third in the 60-meter dash, while freshman Peyton Hale clinched silver in the 200-meter dash. The Titans also had two runners make the podium in both the 400 and 800-meter runs. Junior Henry Kennedy placed second and freshman Brandon Marks finished in third during the 400, while junior Jett Breed and freshman Luke Beeksma completed the 800-meter race in silver and bronze standing. Graduate student Xavier Lasee finished the mile run in second. UWO had a first place finish in the 4×400-meter relay, consisting of Beeksma, freshman Noah Callahan, Breed and senior Dwight Hosni finishing with a time of 3:28.68. During field competition, the Titans swept the podium in high jump, with freshman Jo Hibbler and Thompson finishing in a tie for first with a height of two meters, and sophomore Cameron McAndrews placing third. McAndrews would then go on to win the long jump with a distance of 6.72 meters. A quartet of throwers also reached the podium for UWO. Junior Isaiah Baez-Isom and senior Kieran Maude placed second and third respectively in the shot put, while senior Gavin Fritsch and junior Bryce Hale claimed the top two spots in weight throw.
UWO now heads to UW-Whitewater on Feb. 13 for the Midwest Elite Invitational. The competition kicks off on Friday night with the 5,000-meter run before the rest of the meet gets underway throughout the day on Saturday.
