The UW-Oshkosh men’s indoor track and field team came just 3.5 points shy of a first-place finish at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship meet in Platteville on Feb. 26 and 27 with 141 points.
UW-La Crosse clipped the Titans with 144 points, claiming its ninth straight and conference record 35th WIAC indoor title.
The Titans were ahead by 4.5 points headed into the final event, the 4x400-meter relay, but could not overcome getting the baton knocked out of its hand and placed seventh.
UW-La Crosse ended up winning the race, but Titans head coach John Zupanc said his team should have been atop the medal stand instead.
“There’s no way we wouldn’t have won that relay,” Zupanc said. “We would’ve won it; we should’ve won it.”
It was a heartbreaking end to a great meet from his team.
“It was a very devastating loss for us,” he said. “It was a really tough pill to swallow.”
Freshman sprinter Alex Dewitt echoed the sentiments of his coach.
“I believe that we have a better group of athletes than they (La Crosse) do,” DeWitt said. “La Crosse did not beat us, we beat ourselves.”
Oshkosh had six first place finishes, the most in the meet, all coming from individual events, while UW-La Crosse won five events.
Senior Ben Zill was the only athlete at the meet to claim two individual championships, winning both the 400-meter dash (48.7 seconds) and pentathlon (3,699 points). Both resulted in new school records.
Zill surpassed the automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA Indoor Championships in both events as well.
Senior jumper James Simms became the second individual in WIAC history to claim three-straight triple jump titles, as he glided a distance of 47-10 1/2.
Simms also placed second in the long jump with a distance of 22-11 1/4.
In the 200-meter dash, DeWitt became the first Titan ever to claim a first-place finish at the WIAC Championships with a time of 22.38 seconds.
DeWitt, who came into the race expecting a finish in the top three, said wining was the highlight of his young career.
“It was easily the biggest meet of my track career, so I think it is my biggest accomplishment of my track career thus far,” he said.
The Titans swept both throwing events, with junior Tony Baker winning the shot put event with a throw of 54-00 and sophomore Ben Ludtke earning the weight throw title with a toss of 64-5 3/4.
Baker said the sweep was the goal all along and credits assistant and throwing coach Pat Ebel for much of their success.
“It’s a good feeling (to sweep throwing events), that’s what we were expected to do,” Baker said. “We have one of the best coaches (Ebel) in Wisconsin, and we look to win every meet.”
Baker reached the provisional qualifying standards for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the shot put, while surpassing the automatic standards in the weight throw (placed second) with a fling of 61-7 1/2.
Ludtke, who scratched all of his throws in the meet last year, moved to the top of the WIAC honor roll with his effort in the weight throw and came very close to Brandon Houle’s (2007) school record distance of 64-11 1/2.
However, Ludtke said he still needs to perfect his technique.
“I am happy with the throw,” he said. “Pat (Ebel) already told me some things I have to fix for nationals.”
Other Titans reaching provisional qualifying standards were senior Brent Jude in the 55-meter dash (fourth, 6.46 seconds), freshmen Pete Delzer (third, 51-7 1/4) and Nick Baatz (fourth, 51-3) in the shot put, and junior Andrew Stephany in the weight throw (fifth, 58-00 1/2).
Another notable finish came from sophomore Nate Stymiest in the one-mile run in which he placed second with a time of 4:16.26, falling just outside the provisional qualifying standards for the national meet.
The only event the Titans were unable to score points in was the 55-meter hurdles race.
The Titans clearly showed that they are a well-rounded group, something Zupanc considers to be “a point of pride” this season for the team.
Zupanc said the meet showed the Titans’ depth and power to both the WIAC and the rest of Division III.
“(The meet) confirms that we’re an excellent team,” Zupanc said. “I believe we’re the best team in the country; there’s no one better than us.”
The Titans will attempt to confirm Zupanc’s beliefs at the upcoming NCAA Division III Indoor Championships on March 12 and 13 at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.
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