College Achievers: Lakes graduate Kao vaults to the top at Oshkosh
As a freshman at the University of Illinois in 2022, Lakes Community High School graduate Collin Kao cleared 15 feet, 9¼ inches indoors in the pole vault.
He would only go up from there.
Concluding this term as a graduate student at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh after two years a Purdue, Kao won pole vault at 17 feet, 3/4 inches earlier this month at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship in La Crosse, Wis.
Paired with his indoor school-record mark of 17-1 at the 2026 WIAC Indoor Championship, Kao became the first athlete to sweep the conference pole vault titles in a single season since 2019. He also was the first Oshkosh Titan to do that since 1970.
Kao also owns Oshkosh’s outdoor record, a personal-best 17-3½ clearance in April at La Crosse.
First clearing 17 feet during the indoor season as a junior at Purdue, Kao placed eighth indoors in the Big Ten Conference in 2024, and eighth again outdoors in 2025 as a senior.
Saturday at the Division III Outdoor Championship in La Crosse, Kao placed third.
Champs
Illinois Wesleyan’s Imani Ogunribido (Lake Park) on Saturday became the third women’s triple jumper in Division III history to win consecutive Division III championships. The junior was in second place when she soared 42-1¼ on her last jump to take the title. Ogunribido captured the 2025 title at 42-6¼.
Oshkosh junior Nolan Milas (Burlington Central) anchored a Titans 400-meter relay that crossed the line first in a meet-record 39.25 seconds. Earlier this month at the La Crosse Final Qualifier, Milas and his teammates set the Division III record of 38.96 seconds, the first sub-39-second time in Division III history.
Again, a twofer
For a second straight year, the College of DuPage won both the men’s and women’s titles at the NJCAA Division III outdoor track and field championships. For the men, it was their sixth title in a row.
Freshman Kailee Rodeck (Downers Grove South) won pole vault with a new meet record of 3.60 meters (11-9¾). The Chaparrals had a number of women make three trips to the podium, including Samantha Blankenship (Lake Park), Maureen Bluemle (Neuqua Valley), Elena Kosorog (Glenbard East), Klaudia Sztafa (Downers South), Agata Valuzis (Naperville Central), and Adriana Villanova (Naperville Central).
Dionte Shaw (West Aurora) won a national title in discus. Kevin Myrick (Wheaton Warrenville South) and Jaylin Miller (Willowbrook) helped win the 400 relay. Royce Krush (Glenbard North), Jacob Skibbe (Willowbrook), and Matthew Wick (Naperville Central) were on a winning 3200 relay. Miller placed in the top-three of both the 100 and 200 dashes.
Harper College’s Jake Cody (Cary-Grove) won the hammer throw. Harper’s Kasey Ledinsky (Lake Zurich) won the steeplechase.
Nicely done
Kendall Farm’s (West Chicago) distinguished golf career at Lewis University ended this month at the Division II East Regional. A graduate student, Farm earned her second all-Great Lakes Valley Conference first-team honor. In nine events including the fall season she finished in the top five in six of them and won her first tournament, with the help of her first hole-in-one.
The Reggies
Illinois State’s Reggie Awards annually salute the school’s top student-athletes.
Redbirds quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse (St. Francis) earned Male Athlete of the Year. The two-time team football captain with the 3.68 GPA in business management set four single-season program records while leading Illinois State to the Football College Subdivision national championship game. Rittenhouse threw for 3,568 yards and 40 touchdowns and led the team with 7 touchdown runs.
One of his targets, receiver Luke Mailander (York), was named the athletic program’s male freshman of the year. In 2025 he caught 44 passes for 671 yards and 4 touchdowns.