Led by Senior Ben Zill, the UW-Oshkosh men’s indoor track and field team scored 31 points and earned a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship in Greencastle, Ind. on March 12 and 13.
North Central College (Ill.) claimed its first indoor title with 52.3 points, ahead of UW-Stevens Point in second place (34 points) and UW-La Crosse in third place (31.5 points).
The Titans shared the team title last year with UW-La Crosse.
The finish left a sour taste in the mouths of most of the team, feeling they should have performed better, including Zill and fellow senior James Simms.
“It was pretty disappointing,” Zill said. “We had some guys who didn’t do as good as they were supposed to.”
Simms’ feelings were mutual.
“I believe we could have, should have, done better as a team,” Simms said, “But in the end, things just did not work out as planned.”
While his athletes may have felt bitter about the results, head coach John Zupanc said it is important to look at the positives that came from it.
“It was a mixed bag (of good and bad),” Zupanc said. “But I’d say there’s more good than anything. It’s always good to bring home a trophy.”
Zill was named the meet’s outstanding track performer after winning the 400-meter run with a school record time of 48.33 seconds and anchoring the third-place distance medley (10:04.73) and sixth-place 1,600-meter (3:18.50) relay teams. All events qualified for All-American recognition.
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