Holly Ozanich
Holly Ozanich, a senior from Green Bay, repeated as 20-pound weight throw champion and won the shot put as the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh seized the team title at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championship held March 11-12 in Columbus, Ohio.
UW Oshkosh scored 46.5 points, including 20 by Ozanich, to claim its NCAA Division III-record seventh indoor title. The Titans, who finished second at last year’s meet with 29 points, also won consecutive NCAA Division III indoor titles from 1994-96 and 2004-06. Overall, UW Oshkosh is the owner of 43 national titles, including 28 in NCAA Division III competition.
Ozanich defeated 16 other contestants in the 20-pound weight throw with a winning distance of 67-8 and 14 other participants in the shot put with a top measurement of 50-1 3/4. Last year, she won the 20-pound weight throw with a mark of 64-5 1/4 while finishing third in the shot put with a figure of 46-3 1/2.
Jecel Gerner, a sophomore from Markesan, contributed 10 points to the Titans’ winning effort by placing third in the shot put with a distance of 47-6 1/4 and fifth in the 20-pound weight throw with a value of 57-4 3/4. UW Oshkosh also had Alexia Child, a junior from Lake Geneva, finish sixth in the 20-pound weight throw with a measurement of 57-4 1/4.
UW Oshkosh concluded its team scoring with the efforts of Camille Davis, a senior from Green Bay, Christy Cazzola, a sophomore from Kaukauna, and Danielle Carrigan, a junior from Waukesha. Davis finished third in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.10 seconds, while Cazzola placed fourth in the mile run with a time of 4:59.65. Carrigan provided the Titans’ margin of victory by finishing sixth in the pole vault with a height of 12-0 1/2.
UW Oshkosh also was represented at the meet by Breanna Strupp, a sophomore from Slinger, and Lisha Hanson, a junior from Clintonville. Strupp placed ninth in the shot put with a distance of 44-6, while Hanson finished 12th in the pole vault with a height of 11-6 1/2.
The meet featured 15 events, with the top eight finishers in each category earning All-America status. The top four teams collected a trophy.
Two-time defending champion Wartburg College, located in Iowa, placed second in this year’s team standings with 44 points, while Massachusetts Institute of Technology finished third with 30.5, Methodist University, located in North Carolina, took fourth with 26 points and Illinois College claimed fifth with 24 points.
Rounding out the top 10 teams were sixth-place and 2008 champion Illinois Wesleyan University with 21 points, seventh-place Williams College, located in Massachusetts, with 20, eighth-place Calvin College, located in Michigan, with 18 points, ninth-place The College of New Jersey with 17 points and 10th-place Monmouth College, located in Illinois, with 16 points. A total of 57 teams scored points at this year’s meet.
The Titans begin their outdoor season by hosting the UW Oshkosh Invitational on April 2 at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.
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