UW Oshkosh indoor track and field men’s team placed fifth in the National Collegiate Athletics Association Division III Championships. Together, the men’s and women’s teams earned nine All-America honors.

The men’s team sent athletes for eight events, and competed in the finals for seven of those. The men’s team also earned six All-America honors over the weekend, breaking three program records.

The women’s teams sent athletes for four events and competed in all four final events, earning three All-America honors.

In the heptathlon, Aden Sears and RJ Bosshart earned third and eighth places with respective scores of 5,156 and 4,802.

Sears said that competing among the top in the nation was awe-inspiring.

“It was really awesome to know that you’re top 20 in the nation in your specific event,” she said. “It was cool to be down there in the environment knowing that you’re competing with the top athletes in your respective event.”

In spite of the experience and performance, Sears said that he’s ready to leave his pride in the past.

“I’m going to keep working hard, I won it recently but it’s in the past,” he said. “It’s motivation because you can always do better.” 

In the men’s 4×400 relay, Rashaad Henderson, Ryan Potter, Londyn Little and Devin Williams, earned All-America Seventh Team with a time of 3:14.68.

Both UWO vaulters placed, with Eli Tranel vaulting 4.95 meters and earning All-America Third Team Honors and Zach Zirgibel taking 10th with 4.7 meters.

In the jumps, triple jumper Jonathan Wilburn earned All-America First Team, with a distance of 15.56 meters, beating his record from last season by .07 meters. In the high jump, Caleb Cornelius took All-America Third Team, with a height of 2.03 meters and Charlie Nolan took 11th with 1.98 meter jump.

In the women’s finals, the UWO competed in four events: the 800-meter run, mile, weight throw and shot put.

Cyna Madigan took eighth in the 800-meter with a time of 2:21.56. In the mile, Amelia Lehman also took eighth with a time of 4:56.13.

In throwing events, Brenna Masloroff competed in the 20-pound weight throw and took All-America Sixth Team with a distance of 18.13 meters. In the shot put, Masloroff took 15th with a distance of 13.13 and Katie Fruth took 19th with 12.77 meters.

Libby Geisness ran in the 800-meter alongside Madigan, however Geisness failed to qualify for the finals. She said that she doesn’t feel discouraged and has faced obstacles before.

“I was very thankful to make it into nationals,” she said. “Freshman year, I qualified for 800, but the day before we competed it was canceled due to COVID-19. Junior year I competed in the medley, but there was a mistake where the baton got knocked from my hand.”

She said her challenges this season came in large part from nursing an illness, but that didn’t take away from her pride in the team.

“In December, I got pneumonia, and this season I’ve spent most of my time recovering,” she said. “I’m very thankful to make it into nationals and to be able to compete. It’s unfortunate I didn’t make it into the final, but I’m proud of all my teammates who competed and received All-America honors.”

Looking forward, Geisness is ready for the outdoor track and field season and pushing herself forward.

“I’m ready to roll,” she said. “I want to keep having fun with it. I have bad anxiety with racing, but something I’ve learned is to trust yourself and the process, and that good things will come with it. I’m excited for the outdoor season and to see what I can do.”

Sears said that the team feels scorned after being just shy of a trophy at nationals.

“I feel pretty good, the team feels a bit sour because we were one point out of a trophy,” he said. “We’ll carry that out during the outdoor season. I feel like we can use that to our advantage and bring a trophy for the outdoor. A team trophy is more valuable than an individual All American.”

Track and field will resume their season outdoors starting April 1 at the Pioneer Open hosted by UW-Platteville and the Washington University Invitational in Saint Louis, Missouri.