Wartburg is the clear favorite to capture its first national title in program history. The top-ranked Knights enter the NCAA Championships with 15 entries, of which 13 are billed among the top-10 performers this season. Just about every athlete Wartburg has going to North Carolina will be doubling, including national leader
Dallas Wright in the 400 and 400H, as well as three of the Knights’ distance runners –
Christopher Collet (steeple-5K),
Matt Heinzman (1500-5K) – among others.
UW-Oshkosh sits second entering the NCAA Championships. The Titans are looking for their first national title since 2009. UW-Oshkosh owns 13 entries, of which seven are ranked among the top-5 performers this season.
Wartburg is the No. 1 team during the outdoor season for the first time in program history. The Knights turned in a plethora of solid performances this past weekend that resulted in six new or improved national top-10 marks: Dallas Wright is No. 2 in the 400 at 47.39; Matt Heinzman is No. 3 in the 1500 at 3:50.15; Christopher Collett and Curren Matthais are now both ranked in the top-10 of the steeplechase at No. 4 and No. 8, respectively; Deyton Love is up to No. 4 in the 110H at 14.44; the 4×100 relay is now ranked third nationally at 40.97.
UW-La Crosse dropped one spot to No. 2 to no fault of its own. The Eagles chipped in three new or improved national top-10 marks, including an overall national lead in the 4×100 relay at 40.48. UW-La Crosse is also strong in the 4×400 relay, coming in ranked sixth at 3:14.02.