In our glory-hungry society, sometimes we seek out individual athletes to praise for their merits. UW-Oshkosh is no different.
In the past month, The Advance-Titan has recognized senior forward D.J. Marsh for his merits on the basketball court. There’s no doubt that he is one of the four faces on the Titans men’s basketball Mount Rushmore.
This past fall, Titans fans witnessed the last race that senior Ayla Mitchell would run in her UW-Oshkosh career.
Mitchell, who has been named an All-American numerous times in cross-country, indoor and outdoor track and field, also holds two school records on the track team.
However, in our haste to honor the individual, let’s not forget about the team.
On March 12 and 13, the UW-Oshkosh women’s indoor track and field team was deemed the second-best squad in the nation.
In fact, had Wartburg College (Iowa) not run a Division III season-long best time in the 4x400 meter relay in the final event of the NCAA Championship, the Titans would be polishing a first-place trophy.
Not to be outdone, the Oshkosh men’s track team placed fourth out of 65 teams in the national competition as well.
And judging by what senior team members Ben Zill and James Simms said about their team’s performance, they were actually disappointed with the result.
Simply put, women’s head coach Pat Ebel and men’s head coach John Zupanc hold each of the athletes on these teams to a standard that nearly every Division III team in the nation falls well short of.
Ebel, who might be the best weight throw coach in the country, has enjoyed a nearly seamless transition from assistant to head coach in taking over for senior assistant athletic director, Deb Vercauteren.
Vercauteren, a living legend in Division III athletics, recently had the Division III Program of the Year award for cross-country, indoor and outdoor track and field named after her. Not easy shoes to fill for Ebel by any means.
Yet Ebel has done such a good job that in his first season as head coach (he has been with the Oshkosh program for eight years), he had the team within inches (or seconds) of winning a national title.
Zupanc is no slouch himself, leading the men’s teams to indoor and outdoor national championships in 2009.
Having lost two of the best runners in the country, Andrew Maguire and 2009 NCAA Track Athlete of the Year Willy Kaul, to graduation, Zupanc still found a way to guide the Titans to fourth place at the indoor championships in 2010.
And considering Zupanc, who is also the men’s cross-country coach, presided over the inaugural NCAA Division III Program of the Year award winner, it’s safe to say that he is one of the best coaches not only in the Midwest region, but in the nation.
Year after year, Ebel has groomed raw, talented weight throwers into the country’s best.
National weight throw champion Holly Ozanich was joined by Ellie Sitek, Jecel Gerner and Sue Trzebiatowski as All-Americans for the Oshkosh women weight throwers this year.
Ebel has also coached All-American Tony Baker and Ben Ludtke, who narrowly missed All-American status at this year’s championships.
Senior Ben Zill set a school record in the 400-meter run en route to becoming a national champion in that event and gaining All-American status in the pentathlon and for his part in the distance medley relay.
So while Zill will be missed next year, Zupanc will still have the outdoor portion of the season to coach him and the other Titans to a potential national championship this spring.
Both Ebel and Zupanc have instilled national championship expectations to the athletes on these two squads, and their students have responded by not settling for anything less than the best.
Not their best. The best.
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