Gio Anello, age 15 of
Whitewater High School, has qualified for the National Jr. Olympics in three
events by his performances in the recent National Regionals held over the
weekend.
Gio Anello
Gio placed 2nd in both the 3000 and 800 meter races and won the 1500 meter race in the 15/16 year old category to earn his way to Nationals.
While Gio had earned the
right to participate in the 100 meter qualifications by his performance at the
District meet the prior week, he chose to focus his efforts on the distance
events.
Congratulations are in
order to both Whitewater State Farm and Whitewater Ketterhagen Motors 10u
Baseball Teams. Quad County North Division All-Star Game selections are in, and
Whitewater has six players starting (Ty Bucholtz, Tristen Kolb, Caleb
Jagodzinski, Emmett Spear, Marcus Roselle, Archie Briggs), 2 reserves (Evan
Jagodzinski, Blake Robb) and a player coach (Jessie DeMarasse) selected to
represent the North vs South Saturday, June 29th, in East Troy. The Whitewater
State Farm coaching staff, Ray Bucholtz, Eric Cutshall, and Jen Hutchison, were
selected to coach the South All-Stars.
“I am very happy with how hard these kids have worked and how far they have come. A sincere thank you to our team Sponsors State Farm and Ketterhagen Motors. Also, for the support of Fort Jr Blackhawk Baseball Club, Coburn Co, and Premier Bank. The Jr Blackhawks and Coburn Company were generous enough to allow our players to share their training facility free of charge this winter. Premier Bank also sponsored a speed and agility training group for a good majority of the players over the winter,” says Head Coach Ray Bucholtz. “Youth sports in Whitewater has not experienced much success in recent years. A good majority of these young kids are experiencing the fruits of their labor by being a part of a positive winning team for the first time in their lives.”
Bucholtz also states, “It’s not a coincidence that both Whitewater teams are in 1st and 2nd place in the division. No other team has worked harder than our kids over the year. It is a great community collaboration addressing the need for building a positive success mindset in our youth. We don’t want the kids to focus on wins and losses to measure success at this age. We focus on getting better every day in baseball and in life. For every kid that means something different. It took winning a few games to start getting the kids to believe they are worthy of winning and to buy into our daily growth mindset.”
The big match-up is Friday, June 28th, at 6pm, on Treyton Field, between 1st place Whitewater State Farm and 2nd Place Whitewater Ketterhagen Motors.
Pictured left to right are Elizabeth Katzman, Bryce Hibbs, Morgan Gransee, Alyssa Schumacher, and Kiyla Kopecky.
The Whitewater High School Softball Team recently wrapped up an excellent season – finishing 14-4 in conference and 16-7 overall. They set new program records – most homeruns in a season (15), most doubles in a season (35) and most conference wins (14) – and batted .364 as a team. Four Whippet players received First Team All-Conference honors – senior Sara Johnson (pitcher) and juniors Morgan Gransee (outfield), Bryce Hibbs (infield) and Alyssa Schumacher (catcher). Sophomores Elizabeth Katzman and Kiyla Kopecky received Honorable Mention All-Conference.
On Monday the Whitewater Whippets traveled to Delavan for a non-conference matchup and defeated the host Comets 1-0 on a first half goal by Sierra Brunner, assisted by Carmen Kraayvanger. The Whippets maintained possession in the first half with solid midfield play enhanced by a formation change practiced on Friday. The Comets brought three attackers in the second half forcing the Whippets to revert back to a more defensive structure. Delavan dominated possession but the shorthanded Whippets did not break. Cora Linos recorded 12 saves in goal. The Whippets completed their regular season with an overall 6-10-2 record. Up next, WIAA regional play with Whitewater, a tenth seed, traveling to East Troy, a 7th seed, for a first round game on Thursday May 30 at 4:00 p.m.
The Whitewater girls’ softball team finished the regular season with a win against Edgerton by a score of 12-2. The Whippets scored 1 run in the first inning but Edgerton took the lead with 2 runs in the top of the second. Whitewater exploded for 7 runs in the bottom of the second to take an 8-2 lead. The Whippets added 3 runs in the 3rd inning to go up 11-2 and won the game in the 5th inning as Bryce Hibbs hit a homerun to put Whitewater up by 10. Sara Johnson pitched a complete game to earn her 11th win of the season. Bryce Hibbs (photo) and Sara Johnson had 3 hits each while Morgan Gransee and Alyssa Schumacher had 2 hits each. Hibbs scored 4 runs while also hitting a double and a homerun. Liz Katzman, Alyssa Schumacher and Sara Johnson each drove in 3 runs.
This was also Senior Day so Whitewater honored 5 seniors for their contributions over the last 4 years. Honored were Autumn Lesar, Jocelin Beecroft, Sara Johnson, Catherine Yang and Kailey Ruhl.
Whitewater ended the season tied with East Troy for second place in the Rock Valley Conference with a 14-4 record. Overall the Whippets finished with a 15-6 record.
The Whippets start regional play next Tuesday, May 21st , as they travel to Waukesha to take on Waukesha Catholic Memorial. Game time is 5:00.
The Whitewater Whippet Golf Team concluded regular season play on Tuesday, May 14th competing in the final Rock Valley Conference (RVC) match of the season. The Whippets turned in a team score of 231. Wesley Abramson and Jaden Condon each shot a score of 50 to lead the Whippets. Abramson continued his consistent play, while Condon bounced back from a tough round on Monday at Abbey Springs. Camden Frye fired a 62. Dane Hillmer and Hogan Alexander finished out the scoring for the Whippets with a 69 and 74 respectively. Tomorrow, May 15th the Whippets will compete in the RVC Invitational at Riverside Golf Course in Janesville. Tee times are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
The Whippet Golf Team began championship play on Wednesday competing in the Rock Valley Conference Invitational. The team finished with a 447. Entering the invite, freshman Dane Hillmer (photo) found himself playing from the team’s number 5 position having battled an inconsistent driver all season long. Hillmer shot some balls on his family farm on Tuesday night, unable to find the right stroke. With the season struggles and the practice experience on his mind, Hillmer decided to leave the driver in his bag for most of the day. “I knew if I used my driver I was just going to get myself in trouble, so I just left it in the bag,” said Hillmer. The decision paid off for Hillmer who posted a career low round and led the team with a score of 106. Hillmer shot 60 on his front nine and 49 on the back nine. Fellow freshman Jaden Condon, having added a few new clubs to his bag over the weekend, found a groove to shoot 107. Condon shot 55 on the front and 52 on the back. Condon walked off the last green, feeling confident. “I feel that I did pretty well and am accomplishing most of my goals,” said Condon. Sophomore Wesley Abramson, the team’s number one golfer all season shot 113 with a 57, 56. Rounding out the scoring for the Whippets was Maddie Arnett and Camden Frye with a 121 and 137 respectively. The Whippets aim to build off of this momentum next Tuesday, May 21st at the WIAA Regional competition at Grand Geneva Highlands.
The No. 12 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team will make its 12th straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament and host the four-team Whitewater, Wisconsin Regional starting this Friday at Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium.
The second-seeded Warhawks (34-10 overall) will face No. 3 seed North Central (Ill.) in their opening game Friday at 3 p.m. No. 1 seed Webster (Mo.) will take on fourth-seeded Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) to open the day at 11 a.m. UW-Whitewater earned a Pool “C”, or at-large, bid for its 22nd appearance in the national tournament.
See below for the regional’s complete schedule.
Friday, May 17 (home teams listed first): 11 a.m. – Game 1 – Webster vs. Bethany Lutheran 3 p.m. – Game 2 – UW-Whitewater vs. North Central
Saturday, May 18: 11 a.m. – Game 3 – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 3 p.m. – Game 4 – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 6 p.m. – Game 5 – Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 3
Sunday, May 19: 12 p.m. – Game 6 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5 4 p.m. – Game 7 – Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6 (if necessary)
Ryan Callahan, a member of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus community for more than 15 years, has been named Interim Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. The announcement was sent to all university faculty, staff and students by Interim Chancellor Cheryl Green.
Callahan most recently served as Assistant Athletic Director for Internal Operations, a position he held for the last two years. In that role, Callahan maintained operating budgets for all 20 sport programs and oversaw event management, NCAA/postseason reporting and campus purchasing. He also played a role in capital projects and strategic planning.
“Ryan brings a wealth of experience to this important position for our campus and Warhawk Athletics,” Green said. “For a number of years, he has been a strong and collaborative leader at UW-Whitewater. I believe the breadth of his experiences – from his roles as Assistant Athletic Director for Internal Operations and Director of Continuing Education, to his time as a Warhawk student-athlete – will enhance the solid foundation that exists in our athletics department. He is committed to creating an environment of excellence for our student-athletes, inspiring them to excel in the classroom, the community, and their chosen sports.”
Callahan began working at UW-W in 2007, serving in multiple campus roles before being named Director of Continuing Education. He began working in intercollegiate athletics after serving as Director of Continuing Education from 2012-17. In that role, he assisted with the campus-wide effort in identifying, planning and providing non-credit programming that addresses needs and opportunities among regional constituencies and their communities. His role included oversight of all UW-Whitewater Camps and Clinics, where he worked closely with the UW-W athletic department.
Callahan was a member of the Warhawk baseball team from 2000-01 and 2003-04, helping the team reach the NCAA Division III World Series in 2003 and claim Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004. A three-time all-conference and two-time all-region honoree as a pitcher and outfielder, Callahan is among the top 10 in the program record book in career shutouts, innings pitched, strikeouts and walks allowed per nine innings. After graduation, Callahan played several years within the San Francisco Giants organization as a pitcher. He served as an assistant baseball coach at UW-Whitewater upon arriving back on campus.
The Whitewater girls’ softball team improved to 8-3 in conference and 9-5 overall with a 10-2 win over the Big Foot Chiefs on April 23.
Whitewater
got behind 2-1 after the first inning but pulled away with 5 runs in
the third inning and 3 runs in the fourth. Morgan Gransee and Liz
Katzman had 2 hits each while Katzman also scored 3 runs. Kailey Ruhl
drove in 3 runs while Kiyla Kopecky and Catherine Yang each drove in
2 runs.
Sara
Johnson pitched an outstanding game as she gave up only 2 hits while
striking out 13 Big Foot batters. Johnson improved to 7-3 on the
season.
Next
up for the Whippets is a game against Brodhead on Thursday April
25th.
This game will be played at Brodhead.
