Sports

The No. 3 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team scored 24 second-half points Saturday to turn a one-possession game early in the fourth quarter into a 37-17 victory over UW-Stout at Perkins Stadium to clinch at least a share of the program’s 37th Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.

Photos provided by Robert Mischka

Saturday’s win, coupled with UW-Oshkosh’s win, sets up a winner-take-all game for the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship next Saturday, Nov. 16, in Oshkosh.

The Warhawks (9-0 overall, 6-0 WIAC) performed superbly on special teams, leading to their average starting field position of their 46-yard line, compared to the 24-yard line for the Blue Devils (3-6, 2-4).

Junior Andy Cooper averaged 45.8 yards per punt and pinned UW-Stout inside its own 20-yard line four times.

Junior kicker Wojciech Gasienica knocked through three field goals, including a season-long 41-yarder, and converted all four of his extra points in the contest.

Junior wide receiver Ryan Wisniewski led the offense with 11 receptions for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Junior quarterback Max Meylor posted 167 yards passing for two scores and rushed for 25 yards and one touchdown.

Junior defensive lineman Mackenzie Balanganayi tallied a team-high eight tackles, including 3.0 for a loss and 2.5 of the team’s seven sacks. Senior defensive lineman Jordan Brand contributed seven stops, including 1.5 sacks.

The two teams exchanged punts to start the game before UW-Whitewater took advantage of a short field for a 28-yard field goal by Gasienica with 8:32 left in the quarter.

UW-Stout tied the affair on a field goal just over seven minutes later before the Warhawks took the lead for good on a five-yard run by junior quarterback Zach Oles nine seconds into the second quarter.

Gasienica made it a 10-point game with a 41-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

Following a defensive stop to start the half that gave UW-Whitewater field position inside Blue Devil territory, Gasienica knocked a 38-yard field goal through the uprights to make it 16-3 with 12:28 remaining in the third quarter.

UW-Stout posted a 15-play, 96-yard drive to draw within 16-10 with 1:25 to go in the third. The Warhawks responded quickly as Meylor found Wisniewski for a 39-yard pass before completing the three-play drive with an 18-yard touchdown run up the middle for a 23-10 lead with 10 seconds left in the period.

The Blue Devils started the fourth with another touchdown to make it 23-17 with 13:27 to play.

After a UW-W turnover and a UW-Stout punt, Meylor completed four passes in five plays to move the Warhawks 54 yards, capping the drive with a 7-yard pass to Wisniewski for a 30-17 advantage at the 8:04 mark.

UW-Whitewater came up with a defensive stop on fourth-and-1 near midfield, and following a punt, tallied another fourth-down stop.

Meylor’s 14-yard pass to Wisniewski capped the scoring with 2:25 on the clock.

Next Saturday’s game at UW-Oshkosh will kick off at 6 p.m. and air live on television on My24.

State Bound after 6th place finish at Sectionals! The Whippets will be sending 2 relays and 4 individual events to the State meet on Friday, November 15th at the UW-Madison Natatorium. The State meet will start at 6:30 p.m.

Starting the meet off right was our 200 Medley relay team of Grace Foucault, Ella Houwers, Brianna Zimdars and Amber Krebs. These girls qualified for the State meet by racing incredibly hard finishing just out of 1st place by .04 seconds with a 1:52.10.

Our 200 Freestyle swimmers went three for three on best times. Hailey Murphy swam a lifetime best dropping 5 seconds. Elle Treder dropped 4 seconds and finished with a best time in 16th place, while Grace Foucault finished in 7th place with a lifetime best time, putting her 5th all-time on the Top 10 Times list for Whitewater High School.

Amber Krebs and Ella Houwers both raced well in the 200 Individual Medley. Amber finished in 16th place earning points for the team. Ella Houwers won the event by 5 seconds and dropped 4.5 seconds to swim a lifetime best going into the State meet next week.

Brooke Bazeley and Caroline Crowley raced hard in the 50 Freestyle; Brooke was able to drop another half second off her lifetime best time.

Our 100 Butterfly swimmers, Sophia Fanshaw and Brianna Zimdars, both dropped a second off the time. Sophia is now fourth all-time on the Top 10 Times list. Brianna set a new School Record with her lifetime best time and will be competing in this event at the State meet this coming Friday.

Caroline Crowley was our lone 100 Freestyler and she put in a strong race, right on her best time.

Our 500 Freestyle swimmers were very aggressive and all four were able to earn best times. Brooke Bazeley dropped 11 seconds, Ellie Treder dropped 12 seconds, Amber Krebs dropped 7 seconds and Brianna Zimdars dropped 7 seconds. Brianna earned a trip to the State meet in this event also and bettered her time on the Top 10 times list.

Our 200 Freestyle relay (Ella Houwers, Grace Foucault, Amber Krebs, Brianna Zimdars) made history becoming the first Whitewater relay to WIN at Sectionals. When you win an event, you are an automatic qualifier! The team set a new School Record time of 1:40.96. These girls swam amazing! Grace Foucault split a 24.69!

In the 100 Backstroke, Sophia Fanshaw had an outstanding race. Sophia won her heat and posted the 3rd fastest time on the Top 10 list with a 2 second drop. Grace Foucault dropped another half second and is now 2nd all-time on the Top 10 times list with her strong performance.

Hailey Murphy raced to a best time in the 100 Breaststroke and dropped 2 more seconds off her time. Hailey is now 5th all-time in the 100 Breaststroke. Ella Houwers continued to dominate with a win in the 100 Breaststroke and another season best time. Ella was able to beat the field by 3 seconds and earned her fourth swim at the upcoming State meet.

Our 400 Freestyle relay (Sophia Fanshaw, Hailey Murphy, Brooke Bazeley, Ellie Treder) clocked a best time with outstanding splits to finish out the meet. It was a great group effort!

Congratulations Whippets and good luck at State!

“It is a great time to be a Warhawk. We are thrilled about the five conference championships our teams have combined to win so far this fall and look forward to the continued success of our teams at upcoming conference and NCAA tournaments,” Assistant Athletic Director Chris Lindeke shares along with two new championship wins to celebrate.

In the WIAC Championship Finals UW-Whitewater Women’s Volleyball ranked No 23 wins over UW-River Falls in a score of 3 to 0. Find additional game information on the UW-Whitewater Athletics page here.

Also in a WIAC Championship final, UW-Whitewater Women’s Soccer won their game against UW-River Falls in a score of 3 to 1. Find additional game information on the UW-Whitewater Athletics page here.

Congrats to Ella Houwers on earning Conference Swimmer of the Year for the Southern Lakes Conference!  Ella earned two first place finishes at the Conference meet in addition to her strong performances in all the events throughout the season!  Ella beat the field by 4.5 seconds in the 200 Individual Medley and won the Breaststroke by 1.5 seconds.  

The Whippets ended their Conference portion of the season with a fourth place finish in this nine team conference with both Division I and II teams.  Our relays stepped up and scored lots of points to help earn our 4th place finish.   The B Medley Relay (Fanshaw, Murphy, Hackney, Treder) rocked it right away moving up four spots from their seed time.  The A Medley Relay (Foucault, Houwers, Zimdars, Krebs) earned medals for their 3rd place finish and dropped another second off their time.  The B 200 Freestyle Relay (Crowley, Fanshaw, Bazeley, N Amos) raced hard and dropped time on their way to scoring points for the team.  The A 200 Freestyle Relay (Houwers, Foucault, Krebs, Zimdars) races their way to 2nd place medals and dropped over a second off their time.  Both 400 Freestyle Relays, (A – Crowley, Treder, Hackney, Bazeley and B – Truesdale, L. Amos, Ortiz, Murphy) dropped time with the A relay finishing in the top 16 and scoring points.

In individual events, the Whippets were able to earn 8 more medals:

Ella Houwers – 1st, 200 IM and 1st, 100 Breaststroke

Brianna Zimdars – 3rd, Butterfly and 2nd, 500 Freestyle

Grace Foucault – 6th, Butterfly and 3rd, Backstroke

Sophia Fanshaw – 5th, Butterfly and 5th, Backstroke

Additional finishes that scored points were:

Ellie Treder – 12th, 200 Freestyle and 13th, 500 Freestyle

Lexi Hackney – 15th, 200 Freestyle

Amber Krebs – 11th, Individual Medley and 9th, 500 Freestyle

Hailey Murphy – 10th, Breaststroke

Swimming best times for the Whippets: Hailey Murphy (2), Ellie Treder (2), Lexi Hackney, Ella Houwers, Amber Krebs, Lucy Amos, Brooke Bazeley (2), Caroline Crowley, Raquel Ortiz, Brianna Zimdars, Sophia Fanshaw (2), Natalie Amos and Mina Truesdale.

The Whippets had a great night at the JV Conference meet.  Raquel Ortiz and Natalie Amos both earned medals in their individual events.  Raquel finished 7^th in the 100 Butterfly while Natalie Amos finished in 6^th place in the 100 Freestyle.  Two Whippet relays were also able to medal, the 200 Freestyle Relay of Mina Truesdale, Raquel Ortiz, Natalie Amos and Emily Radaj finished in 8^th place overall.  The 400 Freestyle Relay of Lucy Amos, Karime Velazquez, Josie Treder and Raquel Ortiz finished in 7^th place overall to earn their medals.  What a fun way to end their season!

In addition to those outstanding performances, all eleven swimmers were able to post best times:

Lucy Amos, 200 Freestyle -5 seconds

Ashley Xochipa, 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle – 4 seconds

Vanessa Falcon, 50 Freestyle

Giselle Ramirez, 50 Freestyle

Karime Velazquez, 50 Freestyle -2 seconds and 100 Butterfly -3 seconds

Natalie Amos, 50 Freestyle -2 seconds and 100 Freestyle -6 seconds

Emily Radaj, 50 Freestyle

Vanessa Falcon, 100 Freestyle -3 seconds

Matt Zingheim, 100 Freestyle

Josie Treder, 100 Freestyle -4 seconds and 100 Breaststroke – 5 seconds

Mina Truesdale, 400 Freestyle – 16 seconds

Raquel Ortiz, 100 Backstroke -12 seconds

The No. 3 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team rushed for 207 yards and registered 21 second-half points Saturday in a 21-17 victory over UW-La Crosse in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game in front of 7,522 fans at Perkins Stadium.

Trailing 17-14 five minutes into the fourth quarter, the Warhawks (8-0 overall, 5-0 WIAC) connected on a big play as junior quarterback Zach Oles hit junior wide receiver Ryan Wisniewski for a 57-yard pass down to the Eagles’ 18-yard line. Two plays later, senior running back Jarrod Ware busted up the middle for a 10-yard touchdown to give UW-Whitewater the lead with 8:36 on the clock.

UW-La Crosse (5-3, 3-2) drove 53 yards down to the Warhawks’ 18-yard line. On second-and-10, junior defensive back Mark McGrath tallied his team-leading fourth interception of the year to give UW-W the ball back with 4:41 to play.

UW-Whitewater converted on a third-and-5 on the fifth play of the next drive when Oles hit freshman wide receiver Sam DeLany for nine yards. On fourth-and-5 from the UW-W 41-yard line, the Eagles were flagged for an illegal substitution, and the Warhawks knelt out the clock.

Junior running back Alex Peete led the Warhawks with 26 carries for 145 yards and one touchdown, and Wisniewski collected five receptions for 111 yards. Oles finished with 171 passing yards and one score.

Junior linebacker Kaleb Kaminski led the defense with 10 tackles, including three for a loss. McGrath and senior linebacker Matt Anderson posted seven tackles apiece, and senior defensive back Nate Tranel added six stops.

UW-Whitewater was held scoreless in the first half for the first time this season as UW-La Crosse took a 3-0 advantage into halftime on a field goal kicked on the first drive of the contest. The Warhawks drove deep into Eagle territory on two occasions, but were stymied in both trips.

UW-La Crosse was first on the board in the second half, taking a 10-0 lead midway through the third quarter.

On the ensuing drive, UW-Whitewater drove 85 yards in only six plays as Oles completed two passes to Wisniewski for 48 yards and Peete rushed three straight plays for 40 yards, including a 37-yarder and a 2-yarder for a touchdown with 5:29 remaining in the period.

The Warhawks took their first lead at the 14:14 mark of the fourth quarter as Oles found Holte in the corner for a 10-yard touchdown. The drive was set up by a key defensive stop on fourth down near midfield.

The Eagles took the lead right back at 17-14 with 9:51 to go, setting the stage for UW-Whitewater’s second comeback of the day.

The Warhawks conclude their regular season home schedule next Saturday, Nov. 9, as they host UW-Stout. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. at Perkins Stadium.

On Saturday, 10/26, the Whippet CC program hosted its first ever double CC sectional which include their own Division 2 level tournament race as well as Division 3 races after. It was a spectacular day to showcase cross country at a high level in our own backyard. The event was a great success!

The girls raced first and ran very strong in perfect racing conditions. In fact, many runners ran significantly faster on the same race course than they did a little over a week ago at the Rock Valley Conference Meet. Freshman Sabrina Bomberg once again led the team as the first girl across the line from Whitewater. Her time of 24:31 was good enough for 59th place and mere seconds off her season best on arguably the toughest course the team races on all year. Olive Coburn broke 25 minutes for the first time on the UWW course stopping the clock in 24:55 which placed her 64th. Gwen Truesdale placed 69th in 25:20 after battling some injuries late in the season. Senior Morgan Stillwagon ran her lifetime best by 42 seconds to take 72nd in 25:40. Sophie Walton was 81st in 27:05 and Jenny Villarreal took 85th in 28:42. The girls program placed 11th in the race. This official marks the end to the girls CC season for 2019.

The boys raced next which were led by Sophomore Gio Anello. Gio punched his ticket to state for the first time as he was one of the top 5 individuals to cross the line that were not on the two qualifying teams. Gio had to do a serious gut check with 1000 meters to go to see his dreams become reality as he dug deep to not let anyone pass him and hold onto his position in the field. His 10th place finish was the fifth and final position to train and race one more week. His finish time for the 5K course was 17:47. Cooper Hammond was the next Whippet across the line in taking 42nd in 19:35. Running close together as a pack again were fellow Whippets Peter Zimdars and Manny Rodriguez. They placed 46th and 49th with times of 19:43 and 19:48. Will Hofmann placed 59th in 20:08, CJ Tomomitsu was 63rd in 20:17 and Mason West ran his last race in a Whippet jersey running 21:24 which was good enough was 76th. Junior Trenten Zahn did not compete due to injury. The boys team finished in 8th place overall.

Gio will be racing at the WIAA State XC Meet on Saturday, Nov. 2nd in Wisconsin Rapids, located on the Ridges Golf Course. His race time is 2:00. 
State Meet Information: https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Sports/Cross_Country/2019/State%20Meet%20Info.pdf?ver=2019-10-24-155250-707

Women’s Soccer: UW-Whitewater 2, UW-Platteville 0 (10/23 at Whitewater)

• Head coach Ryan Quamme earns his 127th career win to pass Greg Henschel as the program’s all-time leader in coaching wins

Volleyball: No. 7 UW-Whitewater 3, UW-Oshkosh 2 (10/23 at Oshkosh)

• The Warhawks clinch their league-leading 17th WIAC regular season championship outright.

Men’s Soccer: North Park (Ill.) 2, UW-Whitewater 1 (10/23 at Chicago)