 "Photo: Josh O'Bright")
The UW-Oshkosh women’s track and field team dominated their opponents at the UW-Oshkosh Open on Jan. 22, achieving some standout performances from sprinter Camille Davis and thrower Holly Ozanich.
The Titans left Kolf Sports Center with first-place finishes in all but one event and 206 points, while Ripon College and Lawrence University earned just 49 and 44 points, respectively.
The meet showcased the many talented athletes on the Titans’ roster, including junior sprinter Davis.
Davis sprinted her way to a new school record in the 55-meter dash during her preliminary race with a time of 7.22 seconds.
According to Davis, it was a matter of all the characteristics of a quality run coming together perfectly for those few seconds of race time.
“I felt amazing coming out of the (starting) blocks and continued to push all the way through, and it paid off,” Davis said.
Emotions ran high for Davis, who came into the meet just hoping to achieve a personal best, after finding out she broke the 12 year-old record previously held by Theresa Lauer.
“I almost started crying because I saw it was (at provisional qualifying standards) for Nationals and a school record,” Davis said.
Head coach Pat Ebel said Davis definitely earned the record and sees it as a great sign of her potential for the rest of the season.
“Camille has been working extremely hard this season and doing all that we ask of her to get better and its showing in her time that she’s running,” Ebel said. “But she has so much more left in her. She’s just beginning.”
Davis went on to win the event with a time of 7.31 seconds in the finals, while her record-setting time placed as the fifth-best in the nation.
She was not the only Titan to show off her skills, as junior thrower Ozanich was also able to put on a show for those in attendance.
In the weight throw event, Ozanich threw a Division III-leading toss of 59-2 3/4 and has already hit the automatic qualifying mark for Nationals.
Ozanich said her ability to consistently improve each meet stems from those around her.
“My success comes from my coach and my teammates,” Ozanich said. “Without either of those two things it would be very hard to push myself and continually get better.”
Fellow thrower Ellie Sitek, a senior, had a second-place toss of 53-11, which was good enough to place her fourth in the nation.
Sitek also placed first in the shot put with a chuck of 13.85 meters (45-05 ¼), placing her third in the nation in that event.
Judging by the success thus far in the season, it seems that Ebel is adjusting pretty well to his new head coaching job. Ebel took the job after Deb Vercauteren stepped down to focus on cross country.
However, Ebel said Vercauteren has been helpful with his transition.
“It’s great to have Deb around here to show me the ins and outs of being a head coach,” Ebel said.
Ebel said he is pleased with where the team is at this point in the season but expects many to step it up a notch near the final stretch.
“We have a long way to go to accomplish what we want to do at the conference meet and NCAA’s, but I’m confident that we will perform as well as we can,” Ebel said. “We have some very talented individuals on this team.”
The Titans are very talented indeed, as they currently rank second in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division III power rankings.
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