UW-Oshkosh's Ayla Mitchell (So. • New Richmond) has been named to the 2007 United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country All-Academic Team.

Mitchell, who owns a 3.82 cumulative grade point average as an elementary education major, placed 13th to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Division III Championship held Nov. 17 in Northfield, Minn.

The first-year transfer from the University of Minnesota also captured the individual title at the WIAC Championship held Oct. 27 and finished second at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional held Nov. 10.

Student-athletes needed to compile a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or better and finish in the top 25 percent at the NCAA Division III regional championships in order to be eligible for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team. A total of 203 athletes were honored, including 14 from the WIAC.

The entire UW-Oshkosh women's cross country team was also recognized for its excellence in the classroom. Last fall, the Titans registered a 3.48 cumulative grade point average while finishing fifth at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional and fourth at the WIAC Championship. A total of 141 schools were honored by the USTFCCCA, including seven from the WIAC.

For a team to be considered for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team award, they must have competed and compiled a team score at an NCAA Division III regional meet. The team must also have a minimum 3.10 team cumulative grade point average.

UW-Oshkosh's Ayla Mitchell (So. • New Richmond) finished 13th to earn All-America status at the NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Championship held Saturday (Nov. 17) in Northfield, Minn.

Mitchell, UW-Oshkosh's lone representative at the national meet, completed the 6,000-meter course in a time of 21:45. It was the first appearance at the NCAA Division III Championship for Mitchell, who transferred to UW-Oshkosh this past summer from the University of Minnesota.

Sarah Zerzan of Willamette University (Ore.) captured the individual title with a time of 20:54. Liz Montgomery of State University of New York-Geneseo finished second with a time of 21:17, Alexandra Krieg of Middlebury College (Pa.) third in 21:23, Becca Jordahl of UW-River Falls fourth in 21:27 and Janet Dobyns of Luther College (Iowa) fourth in 21:28. A total of 280 runners finished the race.

Amherst College (Mass.) grabbed the team title with 120 points, while State University of New York-Plattsburgh finished second with 159 and Washington University (Mo.) third with 194. Rounding out the top five teams were fourth-place Calvin College (Mich.) with 199 points and fifth-place State University of New York-Geneseo with 249. The meet featured 32 teams.

Jordan Clark-Mand (Fr. • Waupun) finished fifth to lead UW-Oshkosh in a women's cross country meet the Titans hosted Friday (Oct. 19) at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne.

The non-scoring meet featured athletes from Milwaukee School of Engineering, Mount Mary College, North Central College (Ill.), UW-Oshkosh, UW-Parkside, UW-Platteville and UW-Stevens Point.

North Central College owned six of the top eight individual finishers, including Megan Andracki who completed the 5,000-meter course in a first-place time of 19:23. The Cardinals also had Sarah McMillan finish second in 19:37 and Christy Adduci third in 19:41. UW-Stevens Point's Sarah Glunn took fourth place with a time of 19:43 and UW-Oshkosh's Clark-Mand fifth in 19:44.

In addition to Clark-Mand, UW-Oshkosh had Allison Gehl (Fr. • Sherwood) finish 12th in 20:15, Cassie Petersen (Fr. • Marinette) 14th in 20:18, Toni Morning (Sr. • Colfax) 16th in 20:23, Kristin Bemis (So. • Fond du Lac) 26th in 21:09, Whitney Langer (Sr. • New Richmond) 27th in 21:14, Heather Bassett (Fr. • Minocqua) 31st in 21:18 and Sarah Schettle (Sr. • Oshkosh) 58th in 24:37. A total of 63 runners finished the race.

UW-Oshkosh competed in the meet with only eight of its 17 runners. The majority of those UW-Oshkosh runners absent from the meet were resting for next Saturday's (Oct. 27) WIAC Championship at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne.

Athletes from nine nationally-ranked men's teams and four nationally-ranked women's squads will race around Winneconne's Lake Breeze Golf Course on Saturday (Oct. 13) as UW-Oshkosh hosts the Brooks Cross Country Invitational.

The 14-team women's race begins at 10:30 a.m. It features third-ranked Washington University (Mo.), 17th-ranked Haverford College (Pa.), 24th ranked The College of New Jersey and 27th-ranked Wheaton College (Ill.).

Other teams in the women's division are Aurora University (Ill.), Bethel University (Minn.), Carroll College, Dominican University (Ill.), Elmhurst College (Ill.), Hope College (Mich.), Lake Forest College (Ill.), Millikin University (Ill.), North Park University (Ill.), Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.), UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater.

Washington University, which finished fourth at the 2006 NCAA Division III Championship, captured last year's Brooks Invitational title with 38 points. UW-Oshkosh placed sixth with 136 points.

The top individual returning from last year's 6,000-meter race is Nikki Umhoefer of Bethel University. Umhoefer finished second a year ago with a time of 21:57. A total of 163 runners finished the race.

The 22-team men's race starts at 11:15 a.m. The list of contestants is led by second ranked New York University, sixth-ranked Haverford College, ninth-ranked Augustana College (Ill.) and North Central College (Ill.), 13th-ranked UW-Stevens Point, 20th-ranked The College of New Jersey, 21st-ranked Wheaton College, 33rd-ranked Washington University and 35th-ranked UW-Oshkosh.

Other squads in the men's division are Aurora University, Bethel College, Carroll College, Carthage College, College of St. Scholastica (Minn.), Elmhurst College, Hope College, Lake Forest College, Macalester College (Minn.), Millikin University, North Park University, Olivet Nazarene University and UW-Whitewater.

Calvin College (Mich.) counted 37 points to claim last year's team title. New York University finished second with 69 points and UW-Oshkosh third with 114. New York University finished second at the 2006 NCAA Division III Championship.

The top runner back from last year's 8,000-meter race is Ryan Williams of New York University. Williams finished third with a time of 24:34. A total of 318 runners finished the race.

Admission to the meet is $5 per automobile. Spectators are encouraged to arrive early for the meet.

Despite resting six of its top eight runners, the UW-Oshkosh women’s cross country team still managed to take first place at the Ripon College Invitational held Saturday (Oct. 6) in Ripon.

UW-Oshkosh won the six team meet with 27 points, while Carroll College finished second with 47 and Ripon College third with 74. Completing the team rankings were fourth-place UW-Stevens Point with 103 points, fifth-place Finlandia University (Mich.) with 152 points and sixth-place Concordia University Wisconsin with 155.

UW-Oshkosh’s Jenny Melville (Sr. • Waukesha) captured individual honors by winning the 5,000-meter race with a time of 21:02. Beth Pollard of Marquette University finished second among the 64 runners with a time of 21:43.

The Titans had four other runners in the top 10 finishes as Cassie Petersen (Fr. • Marinette) placed fifth in 22:06, Brittany Haas (Fr. • St. Charles, Ill.) sixth in 22:07, Whitney Langer (Sr. • New Richmond) 10th in 22:27 and Shannon Madigan (So. • Green Bay) 13th in 22:50.

UW-Oshkosh’s list of participants also included Mallory Burk’s (Fr. • Athens) 15th-place time of 23:06, Toni Morning’s (Sr. • Colfax) 20th-place time of 23:31, Kristin Bemis’ (So. • Fond du Lac) 25th-place time of 24:16, Heather Bassett’s (Fr. • Minocqua) 27th-place time of 24:23 and Sarah Schettle’s (Sr. • Oshkosh) 52nd-place time of 27:49.

Ayla Mitchell (So. • New Richmond) finished second in the individual competition as the UW-Oshkosh women's cross country team placed sixth at the Calvin College Invitational held Saturday (Sept. 15) in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Calvin College, which finished third at last year's NCAA Division III Championship, scored 36 points to win its own invitational. The Knights captured the title by having five of the top-12 individual finishers.

Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) placed second in the 11-team meet with 42 points. The Spartans were followed by third-place Baldwin-Wallace College (Ohio) with 93 points, fourth-place Aquinas College (Mich.) with 115, fifth-place UW-Stevens Point with 127, sixth-place UW-Oshkosh with 132 and seventh-place Ohio Northern University with 164.

Mitchell paced UW-Oshkosh by finishing the 5,000-meter course in a second-place time of 17:47. Esther Erb of Case Western Reserve University won the race with a blistering time of 17:22. Calvin College swept the next positions as Lauren Bergstrom finished third with a time of 17:55 and Christina Overbeck fourth in 18:02. Amanda Strouse of Aquinas College ranked fifth among the 135 runners with a time of 18:04.

UW-Oshkosh's team scoring was completed by Jenny Melville's (Sr. • Waukesha) 24th-place time of 19:02, Katie Wondra's (Jr. • Campbellsport) 37th-place time of 19:27, Jordan Clark-Mand's (Fr. • Waupun) 44th-place time of 19:40 and Jenny Piskor's (Fr. • Eagan, Minn.) 45th-place time of 19:41.

The Titans also had Brittany Haas (Fr. • St. Charles, Ill.) finish 47th in 19:45, Allison Gehl (Fr. • Sherwood) 49th in 19:46, Cassie Petersen (Fr. • Marinette) 69th in 20:14 and Mallory Burk (Fr. • Athens) 77th in 20:28.

UW-Oshkosh's list of entries concluded with Whitney Langer's (Sr. • New Richmond) 87th-place time of 20:46, Shannon Madigan's 91st-place time of 20:57, Toni Morning's (Sr. • Colfax) 95th-place time of 21:13 and Sarah Schettle's (Sr. • Oshkosh) 133rd-place time of 25:21.

Ayla Mitchell (So. • New Richmond) ran to the individual title to lead the UW-Oshkosh women's cross country team to a first-place finish at the Ted Hedstrand Invitational held Saturday (Sept. 8) in Chicago, Ill.

UW-Oshkosh, making its 2007 debut, won the five-team meet with 23 points. Host North Park University (Ill.) finished second with 51 points, while Trinity Christian College (Ill.) placed third with 74, Lake Forest College (Ill.) fourth with 100 and Moraine Valley Community College (Ill.) fifth with 113.

Mitchell, a transfer from the University of Minnesota, completed the 5,000-meter course in a winning time of 19:36. Hannah Landecker of North Park University finished second among the 47 runners with a time of 19:54 and Jessica Jager of Trinity Christian College third at 21:04.

It was all UW-Oshkosh for the next seven places as Jessie Scheer (Jr. • De Pere) finished fourth in 21:09, Jenny Melville (Sr. Waukesha) fifth in 21:17, Jordan Clark-Mand (Fr. • Waupun) sixth in 21:34, Katie Wondra (Jr. • Campbellsport) seventh in 21:38, Brittany Haas (Fr. • St. Charles, Ill.) eighth in 21:47, Jenny Piskor (Fr. • Eagon, Minn.) ninth in 21:48 and Cassie Petersen (Fr. • Marinette) 10th in 21:52.

The Titans also had Shannon Madigan (So. • Green Bay) finish 13th in 22:17, Allison Gehl (Fr. • Sherwood) 14th in 22:28, Mallory Burk (Fr. • Athens) 17th in 22:48, Whitney Langer (Sr. • New Richmond) 21st in 23:20, Toni Morning (Sr. • Colfax) 23rd in 23:32 and Sarah Schettle (Sr. • Oshkosh) 45th in 28:02.