Pioneers gain experience at the Oshkosh Open

Pioneers gain experience at the Oshkosh Open
October 19, 2018

Whitewater, Wis. – The Pioneer cross country men's and women's teams ran at the Oshkosh Open hosted at UW-Whitewater on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2018. The Oshkosh Open was moved to the campus course at UW-Whitewater after the course at Lake Breeze Golf Club underwent wet conditions for the pre-national races the previous weekend.

Athletes competing for the Pioneers at the Oshkosh Open were runners who were yet to qualify for the WIAC Cross Country Championships. The Pioneer men ran a young squad of 14, while the Pioneer women ran a squad of four.

In the men's 8,000m race, the first Pioneer to cross the finish line, Nick Hein, took 11th place with a time of 28:05.00. Freshman Jason Voelker took 18th place, running 28:37.70. Also among the freshmen coming in as the Pioneer's top 5, Xander Furmanek ran 28:56.69 to take 28th place and Paul King ran 29:42 to take 38th place. Sophomore Ben Claas completed the Pioneer's team score running 29:08.74.

Two Pioneer men ran personal bests to conclude their freshman cross country season. Chris East ran a personal best time of 29:53.15, and Zach Flitsch ran a personal best time of 32:31.80.

A group of Pioneers finished close behind one another. Erick Peterson finished in 45th with a time of 30:07.30. Freshmen Jacob Woloszyn and Tyler Doering followed closely, finishing in 46th and 50th place respectively. Next, senior Mark Schmitz took 51st with a time of 30:27.44 and Nathan Taylor at 52nd clocking 30:31.62. Troy Humpal crossed the finish line at 30:53.51 to complete his freshman season. Tony Rozewski and Zach Flitsch finished within two places of each other, running 32:20.46 and 32:31.80 respectively.

For the Pioneer women, Claudia De Valk competed for 34th place, running about 30 seconds behind her personal best time at 28:29.64. Freshmen Katie Ganzer and Mackenzie Parrell paired up throughout the 6,000m race to finish 40th and 41st place. Ganzer ran just under 10 seconds off her personal best, finishing with a time of 30:21.92. Parrell ran a time of 30:27.67. Kat Salis ran a personal best to end her first season of cross country at UW-Platteville, running a time of 32:06.24 to take 44th place.

The next meet for the Pioneers will be the WIAC Cross Country Championships hosted by UW-Eau Claire at Whitetail Golf Course in Colfax, Wis. The Pioneers will compete at the WIAC Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 27. The women's 6,000m race will begin at noon, with the men's 8,000m race to follow at 1 p.m.