Sports

SI.com, the official website of Sports Illustrated, featured an article on September 5 titled Border Showdown: Is Missouri Game the Biggest of Lance Leipold’s Career?

Leipold is the head football coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2021. He was the head football coach at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater from 2007 to 2014 and the University at Buffalo from 2015 to 2020.^[2] During his tenure at Wisconsin–Whitewater, the team won six NCAA Division III Football Championships: 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014 and were runners-up in 2008. During his time at Wisconsin-Whitewater, Leipold led the Warhawks to 5 undefeated seasons. [Wikipedia]

Per the article, it sounds like the national media has overhyped the September 6 game of Kansas vs. Missouri, but those who remember Leipold may enjoy reading an update on his career.

On Thursday, September 4, the Whippets traveled to Jefferson High School to compete in the Southern Lakes Conference Relay Championship. The team finished 5th overall and showed up with incredible swims, heat wins, and huge time drops throughout the night!

 Meet Highlights:

 200 Medley Relay (Maggie Maas, Atreya Wilson, Lucy Davis, Charlotte Hajewski) – 8th overall and won their heat by nearly 17 seconds!

 4×100 IM Relay (Kendra Serrano, Grace Coleman, Charlotte Hajewski, Emma Maas) – pulled off a thrilling comeback win in the final leg to take their heat!

 1000 Crescendo Relay (Grace Smith, Atreya Wilson, Maggie Maas, Lucy Davis) – 7th overall, winning their heat by nearly 40 seconds!

 50 Freestyle “Splash & Dash”  Two teams made their mark!

• Laken DePorter, Jalayne Hanson, Paige Kollwelter, Storm DePorter – 10th overall, dropping 11 seconds from their seed time!
• Emma Maas, Maya Davis, Grace Smith, Maggie Maas – 6th place with a time of 1:01.10.

 400 Backstroke Relay (Grace Smith, Caitlin Alford, Paige Kollwelter, Georgia Esch) – dominated their heat with a win by over a minute, with all four swimmers crushing their times!

The Whippets brought the energy, teamwork, and grit—what an amazing night of racing! 

Article and Photo Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach
ReynoldsSM07@uww.edu

The Whitewater Whippet Soccer Team played to a 2-2 tie with Fort Atkinson on Thursday, September 4.

Whippet goals were scored by Abdi Calvillo with an assist from Langdon Coburn (65’) and Elijah Gutierrez with an assist from Kevin Gonzalez (70’).  Fort Atkinson’s goals were scored by Connor Luebke (6’) and Tristan Dommershausen (50’).

Casey Schlicher had 7 saves for the Whippets and Ayden Schaller had 8 saves for the Blackhawks.

Comments from Coach Burns:
Your Whitewater Whippets fought hard to come back from a 2-0 deficit. After conceding a “one in a million” free kick and a slop goal from outside of the box, it appeared that your Whippets were in for a disappointing evening with only 19 minutes remaining. However, with strong second half performances from Kevin Gonzalez, Abdi Calvillo, Elijah Gunierrez, and the rest of the Whippet team, the comeback was on. The character this team displayed was really a sight to see. WHS created numerous chances to not only go even with Fort Atkinson but win it as well. In the end, the match finished 2-2, and Whippet Soccer remains undefeated. 

Article and Photos Submitted by Sam Burns
Whitewater High School Head Boys’ Soccer Coach
dburns@wwusd.org

The Whippet Soccer Team downed Brown Deer 3-1 on Tuesday, September 2.

Whippet Goals were scored by Kevin Gonzalez (21’), Kevin Gonzalez with an assist from Haniel Vilchez (30’), and Langdon Coburn (44’). The Brown Deer goal was scored by Chutiphon Ninlkang (9’).

Casey Schlicher made 5 saves in goal for the Whippets, and Robert Skebba had 7 saves for Brown Deer.

Information and Photo Submitted by Sam Burns
Whitewater High School Head Boys’ Soccer Coach
dburns@wwusd.org

The Whippets fell to Clinton 30-8 on Friday night, August 29.

Comments from Coach Bartlett:

We started this game slow, and Clinton took advantage. They came in with a strong game plan and executed it flawlessly. Credit to their offensive line for getting off the ball all night. They controlled the game by running the ball effectively, mixing in timely passes, and using time of possession to keep our offense off the field. That prevented us from establishing a rhythm and made every possession feel limited.

On our side, we simply made too many mistakes — the kind you can’t afford if you expect to win. We know we are capable of winning games, but it comes down to making the choices and taking the actions throughout the week that winning programs make. As we’ve said all season, our focus is to Pound the Stone daily — to keep improving and to become a better team each week.

There were a couple of standout performances for us. Quarterback Ty Bucholtz (#4) battled all night. Even though we didn’t protect him as well as we should have, he fought to extend plays and showed the leadership that makes him a captain. On defense, senior Casey Lyon was everywhere. He played with great effort, including a textbook strip and forced fumble after wrapping up the ball carrier. He continues to prove he’s the perfect fit for us at the Mike linebacker position.

Rushing:

• #4 Ty Bucholtz: 7 carries, 20 yards (2.9 avg)
• #21 Corbin Vaughn: 2 carries, -2 yards (-1.0 avg)
• #6 Brady Friend: 6 carries, 6 yards (1.0 avg)
• Team Total: 15 carries, 24 yards (1.6 avg), 0 TD

Passing:

• #4 Ty Bucholtz: 11 completions on 22 attempts, 133 yards (12.1 avg), 1 TD, 2 INT
• Team Total: 11/22, 133 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT

Receiving:

• #2 Casey Lyon: 3 catches, 47 yards (15.7 avg), 1 TD
• #3 Emmett Spear: 5 catches, 63 yards (12.6 avg)
• #15 Connor Brummeyer: 2 catches, 10 yards (5.0 avg)
• #10 Hayden Armstrong: 1 catch, 13 yards (13.0 avg)
• Team Total: 11 catches, 133 yards (12.1 avg), 1 TD

Notable Defensive Stats:

• #4 Ty Bucholtz: 4 Solo, 8 Assists, 1 FR
• #2 Casey Lyon: 3 Solo, 8 Assists, 1 FF
• #3 Emmett Spear: 3 Solo, 11 Assists, 2 TFLs

Article Submitted by Sam Bartlett
Whitewater High School Head Football Coach
barsa01@wwusd.org
File photos courtesy of Olivia Kowlaski.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s tennis team opened their 2025-26 campaign with a conference sweep over UW-Oshkosh. The win marks the first win for Head Coach Byron Balkin.

The doubles teams got rolling, quickly taking over the first three flights to give the Warhawks the team point. 

Molly Asfeld (Waukesha, Wis./West) and Crystina Lee (Downers Grove, Ill./Timothy Christian) took the first match of the season with a 6-2 victory at the second doubles flight. Abigail Weaver (Wakarusa, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) and Gracie Ha (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) grabbed the second necessary flight for the point with a 6-3 victory.

The freshman pair of Josie Wojcikiewicz and Kaitlyn Remke (Johnsburg, Ill./Marian Central) secured the third doubles flight with a 6-4 win.

Heading into the singles flights, the Warhawks and Titans had to play through the elements after a light misting of rain started at the Whitewater tennis courts. 

Remke would be the first singles flight to pick up a team point, taking the fifth singles flight with a straight set victory only dropping one game between the two sets.

Single flights #3 and #4 weren’t too far behind. Asfeld clinched her match in straight sets with a 6-0 victory in the second set. Lee took the fourth singles flight with a 6-3, 6-1 victory to put the Warhawks just one match away from Balkin’s first victory.

Gracie Ha (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) and Abigail Weaver (Wakarusa, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) clinched the match at the first and second flights. Weaver took her first set 6-0 and staved off a late push by UW-Oshkosh to win her second 6-3. Ha played a clean game as well, only dropping one game in the first set on her way to a 6-1, 6-0 victory. 

Abigail McIssac finished the sweep with a third set tiebreaker victory. McIsaac dropped the first set 3-6, but bounced back with a 6-3 second set. In the tiebreaker, McIsaac kept up the pressure and momentum and grabbed the tiebreaker 10-5.

Full Results
Doubles
#1 – Weaver/Ha def. Usui/Gibbs: 6-3
#2 – Asfeld/Lee def Gregory/Owens: 6-2
#3 – Wojcikiewicz/Remke def Pethan/Schaefer: 6-4

Singles
#1 – Ha def. Pethan: 6-1, 6-0
#2 – Weaver def. Usui: 6-0, 6-3
#3 – Asfeld def. Gibbs: 6-2, 6-0
#4 – Lee def. Owens: 6-3, 6-1
#5 – Remke def. Schaefer: 6-0, 6-1
#6 – McIsaac def. Gerl: 3-6, 6-3, (10-5)

Exhibition
Singles – Chloe Knutson (Deforest, Wis./Deforest) def. Dao: 6-0, 6-1
Singles – Julia Nill (Thiensville, Wis./Homestead) def. Longdin: 6-3, 6-2
Doubles – Ashley Adkisson (Licolnshire, Ill./Stevenson)/Megan Griswold (Oconomowoc, Wis./Oconomowoc) def. Dao/Longdin: 5-1

The Whippet Cross Country Team competed in the Palmyra Eagle Invitational on Thursday, August 28.

The boys’ race was led by freshman Tyler Carollo, who clocked a time of 20:14 and earned his first high school medal with a 24th-place finish (the top 25 received medals). Wyatt Esch and Isaiah Mendez were the team’s second and third finishers, each running within 30–35 seconds of their lifetime personal bests. Marcus Roselle and Quinton O’Toole rounded out the team’s top five, helping the Whippets place eighth out of 14 teams.

On the girls’ side, Virginia Nelson led the way with a 7th-place finish, earning a medal in 22:20—just six seconds off her lifetime best to start her sophomore season. Delaney Hammack ran strong in the No. 2 spot, finishing 31st. Melody Smith, in her first-ever 5K race, was the team’s third runner, finishing only 20 seconds behind Hammack. Ema Aranda claimed the fourth spot, while freshman Madelyn Taylor completed the team’s scoring five. The girls’ team placed sixth out of 14 teams.

Next up for the Whippets is the 22nd Annual Dirk Seibold Alumni Meet, hosted at Whitewater High School on Saturday. The boys’ race begins at 10:00 a.m. followed by the girls’ race at 10:40 a.m. This year’s course will be 1.5 miles. Fans are encouraged to come out, support the team, and reconnect with former Whippets.

Full results: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/258787/info

Article and Photos Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coach
ccarstens@wwusd.org

The following are excerpts from an article by Matt Ellis in The Gazette on August 28.

“Until the Sept. 6 season kickoff, UW-Whitewater head coach Jace Rindahl and his staff will be evaluating a quarterback competition between sophomore Justin Klinkner and transfers Jake Frantl and Aidan Lucero.

None of the three has received any meaningful snaps on a college football field.

The Warhawks’ season starts by hosting Carleton (Minn.) College at Perkins Stadium for a nonconference game.

Klinkner did not see the field as a Warhawk freshman in 2024. Frantl spent four years at Pittsburgh but did not see the field. Lucero spent three years at Grand Valley State (Mich.), where he redshirted as a freshman in 2022 and did not see the field in the two years since.

“We’re intentional,” Rindahl said about the process of determining the Week 1 starter, “You’ve got three guys fighting for it. So you make sure that you give (fairness) and balance. You give them equal reps with the ones. Then you just are very strategic when you go through fall camp.”………