Sports

WHIPPETS FLY AT THE EAGLEJAY INVITE!

The Whippets traveled to Jefferson on Saturday, September 26th to compete at the EagleJay Invite! The girls put together some fantastic races with lots of Top 16 finishes, lifetime bests, and more big-time drops!

200 Medley Relay
4th — Emma Maas, Maya Davis, Maggie Maas & Grace Smith — 2:18.17
Emma got things started with a strong 35.93 Backstroke split, while Maya threw down a speedy 38.75 Breaststroke split!

10th — Caitlin Alford, Finley De Porter, Storm De Porter & Laken De Porter — 2:43.99
Caitlin improved her 50 Backstroke to 45.13, while Finley continued to chip away at her 50 Breaststroke split!

200 Freestyle
9th — Grace Smith — 2:37.58
Talk about a tough turnaround! After finishing the Medley Relay, Grace had to get right back on the blocks for the 200 Free. She responded by winning her heat AND swimming a season-best time!

10th — Storm De Porter — 2:37.89, dropping another 4 seconds!
12th — Laken De Porter — 2:56.11
13th — Caitlin Alford — 2:58.98, dropping 3 seconds from her previous time!

50 Freestyle
7th — Maggie Maas — 29.41
Finley De Porter continues to find more speed, dropping her time again to 32.85!

100 Butterfly
11th — Storm De Porter — 1:38.64

100 Freestyle
7th — Maggie Maas — 1:04.59
9th — Emma Maas — 1:05.95 — LIFETIME BEST!

500 Freestyle
10th — Maya Davis — 7:23.66, knocking another 8 seconds off her previous time!

200 Freestyle Relay
9th — Finley De Porter, Caitlin Alford, Laken De Porter & Maya Davis — 2:15.95
Maya brought the relay home with an impressive 31.42 anchor split!

100 Backstroke
14th — Grace Smith — 1:31.29, dropping 5 seconds!
15th — Caitlin Alford — 1:31.69, dropping 7 seconds for a LIFETIME BEST!

100 Breaststroke
This group was MOVING!
6th — Emma Maas — 1:26.16 — LIFETIME BEST!
8th — Maya Davis — 1:26.23 — LIFETIME BEST!
14th — Finley De Porter — 1:45.84, dropping another 5 seconds!

400 Freestyle Relay
6th — Grace Smith, Storm De Porter, Maggie Maas & Emma Maas — 4:35.19

Another meet full of fast racing, Top 16 finishes, lifetime bests, and swimmers continuing to chip away at their times! This group keeps finding ways to get faster, and it’s been a lot of fun watching the progress show up in the pool.

NEXT UP: BACK HOME!

The Whippets take on Delavan-Darien on Tuesday, September 29th!

HOME
Swimming starts at 5:30 PM

Come out, get loud, and cheer on your Whippet swimmers!

Article Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach
Photos Courtesy of Tom Ganser

The Whippets continued their steady improvement Saturday, September 26, at the 88th Annual Midwest Invitational in Janesville, putting together another strong performance against the deepest field they will see all season.

Racing in near-perfect conditions, Whitewater lined up against a field of 50 teams, with the overwhelming majority competing at the Division 1 level. The Midwest Invitational provides a level of competition that is arguably even more challenging than the WIAA State Meet, giving the Whippets an opportunity to race alongside some of the best teams and athletes in the state. The Whippets took full advantage of the opportunity, recording numerous lifetime and season-best performances.

Girls

• Virginia Nelson continued to lead the way, running a lifetime personal record of 21:32.
• Melody Smith clocked 23:18, her second-fastest time of the season.
• Ema Aranda finished in 23:44, her third-fastest time of the year.
• Peyton Comfort ran 25:36, her fastest time of the season.
• Madelyn Taylor also posted her fastest time of the year, finishing in 26:59.

The girls finished 36th.

Boys

• Tyler Carollo continued his strong season with a lifetime personal record of 18:12.
• Marcus Roe continued his impressive improvement, running a lifetime PR of 19:24.
• Marcus Roselle finished in 20:03, his second-fastest time of the season.
• Wyatt Esch ran 20:33, his second PR of the season.
• Angel Kilar posted a lifetime PR of 21:29.
• Jameson Rothwell ran a lifetime PR of 21:53.
• Hunter Runnoe continued his progress with a lifetime PR of 23:19.
• Horatio Nelson also recorded a lifetime PR of 23:31.
• Ian Agen finished in 28:01, his second-fastest time of the season.  

With the regular season winding down, the Whippets have one final opportunity to put their progress on display before championship racing begins.

Next up: the Whippets travel to Green Lake on Friday, October 2, for their final regular-season race. The unique night race will be contested entirely under the lights, illuminating the course as athletes complete two laps of the 2,500-meter loop.

The championship season is almost here—and the Whippets are continuing to build momentum at exactly the right time.

Article Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coach
ccarstens@wwusd.org
Photos courtesy of Coach McKenzie and Mike Kilar.

The Whippet Girls’ Tennis Team had its last match of the conference season. The team celebrated its last game with its Senior Night. Jordyn Weeden and Mady Joseph were the seniors the team honored in the match.

Photo and Article Submitted by Greg Stewart
Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Tennis Coach
gstewart@wwusd.org

Your Whitewater High School Boys’ Soccer Team returned to their winning ways with a dominant 5-1 victory over conference rivals Jefferson. The first half was a very even contest with both teams pushing for a win. Elijah Gutierrez opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a great strike on a beautifully played ball from Wesley Baker. 3 minutes later Jefferson equalized when a ball split the Whippet defense and a communication error led to the ball in the back of the net. Wesley Baker reestablished the lead in the 24th minute with yet another set piece goal for him, and after that, Whitewater never looked back. 

The remainder of the first half and the entire 40 minutes of the second were one way traffic. Dahlton Vogel scored in the 44th minute with an assist from Elijah Gutierrez, and then 7 minutes later, Elijah scored a brace with a beautifully placed penalty. Ben Crone scored his first goal of the season and ended Whitewater’s scoring at 5. Anjay Manana played a perfect ball through the center that Ben converted with ease. 

Defensively, WHS picked up 3 yellow cards, which is never ideal, but the defending itself was sound. A back 4 led by Frank Mbifi helped to keep Jefferson scoreless; Jefferson only registered 2 shots in the entire second half. 

Your Whippets travel to Monroe on Tuesday (9/29) and Big Foot on Thursday (10/1) where they look to turn this conference win into a winning streak.

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

Whitewater 6 Catholic Central 1

1 Singles Taryn Rothwell (WW) def Brett Proctor (BCC) 6-0, 6-1

2 Singles Maddie Joseph (WW) def Nikki Neu (BCC) 6-1,6-0

3 Singles Jordyn Weeden (WW) def Emma Pechous (BCC) 6-1,6-0

4 Singles Ruth Lopez Lopez (WW)  def Jenny Pechous (BCC) 6-2,6-0

1 Doubles Claire Bergsma/Cerice Dempsey (BCC) def Abby Treder/Izzy Lawton 6-4,6-3

2 Doubles Isabel Serna/Sophia Walenton (WW) def Sophie Pastiu/Emily P (BCC) 6-0,6-0

3 Doubles Serina Soto/Emma Schultz (WW) def Tatum Beio/Johana Benitez (BCC) 6-0,6-0

Scores Submitted by Greg Stewart
Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Tennis Coach
gstewart@wwusd.org

In a late-week adjustment due to Saturday’s storms, the St. Cat’s Invite was moved up a day and raced on Friday. With just two days of recovery following Tuesday’s strong race day, the Whippets wrapped up a very good week of racing on the prestigious course at UW–Parkside.

With good temperatures and a mild breeze, the girls took to the course first on Friday evening and continued to show strong improvement and consistency.

Virginia Nelson once again led the way, finishing 37th out of 250 runners. Her time was 22:19. Her consistency from race to race will continue to pay dividends as the season progresses. Melody Smith had a particularly strong day in her return to the lineup, running 23:00 and finishing 62nd. She was just seconds off her lifetime best on a challenging Parkside course.

Ema Aranda followed with a 23:43, good for 81st. Peyton Comfort continued her impressive consistency, running her second race of the week within 10 seconds of her Tuesday performance. She finished 153rd in 26:28. Madelyn Taylor recorded a season-best time of 27:00 to place 165th, while Liz Ramirez continued her improvement by cutting 25 seconds off her lifetime best, finishing in 31:34 and placing 220th.

As a team, the girls finished 15th out of 32 teams.

The boys turned in a similarly strong effort, with much of the team finishing just off their times from Tuesday despite racing on a more difficult course. Several runners also managed to set personal bests.

Tyler Carollo continues to lead the Whippets with one consistent and reliable performance after another. He finished 66th out of 328 runners with a time of 18:48.

Marcus Roe and Marcus Roselle continued to push each other throughout the race as Whitewater’s second and third runners. Roe finished 157th in 20:18, while Roselle was right behind him in 168th at 20:28.

Wyatt Esch turned in another solid race, running 21:27 for 215th. Angel Kilar was one of the day’s standout performers and came through as Whitewater’s fifth and final varsity scorer. Angel ran a lifetime best of 21:41, continuing to close the gap on Wyatt and giving the team another runner capable of contributing to the varsity lineup as the season progresses.

Preston Miller finished 259th in 22:36. Jameson Rothwell and Carson Miller battled stride for stride all the way to the finish, with Jameson edging Carson by just one-tenth of a second. Rothwell ran 22:56.1, while Miller finished in 22:56.2. That razor-thin finish earned Jameson the final varsity spot for next week’s race in Janesville.

Hunter Runnoe continues to put together strong races in his first season with the team, setting another lifetime best by six seconds and finishing 289th in 23:38. Horatio Nelson placed 309th in 24:26, while Ian Agen finished 340th in 28:06.

The varsity boys finished 25th out of 36 teams competing.

After two races in one week, the Whippets now get some time to recover, train, and prepare for their next opportunity: the Janesville Midwest Invitational on Saturday, September 26.

Full results: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/276803/info

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

Tuesday night, September 15, was Youth Night in Whitewater, and Whippet Soccer returned to their winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Division 2 opponent Beaver Dam.

WHS started off very slowly but eventually managed to pull themselves together and play some really effective soccer. The final 20 minutes of the first half saw an almost complete domination of possession, completed passes, chances created, and shots taken by your Whippets. Wesley Baker opened the scoring in the 34th minute with an assist from Niko Valadez.

The Golden Beavers fought hard in the second half and had a few chances to level the score but due to some great defense and strong saves by keeper Asher Bangert, WHS managed their first clean sheet of the season.

Derick Martinez kept his streak going with his 6th game in a row in which he scored at least one goal. His 73rd minute goal was assisted by Wesley Baker.

Whitewater will host Evansville this Thursday at 5:00 (JV1) and 7:00pm (Varsity), and we hope to see you all there. Go, Whippets!

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

Putting together their best day of the season so far, the Whippets crushed their races in Cottage Grove at the Dana Waddell Invitational, hosted by Marshall.

The girls came ready to race, with all five Whippets in the lineup posting either a lifetime personal best or a season best on a challenging course that was redesigned last year to add even more hills.

Virginia Nelson led the way with a lifetime personal best of 21:44, finishing 16th overall and bringing home a medal. Ema Aranda also ran a lifetime best, crossing the line in 23:00 to place 30th. Peyton Comfort delivered one of the biggest improvements of the day, dropping just over two minutes from her previous season best to run 26:18. Madelyn Taylor continued her upward trend, cutting an impressive 78 seconds off her previous season best. Lia Ramirez saved her biggest breakthrough for this race, dropping 2:50 from her previous best and establishing a new lifetime best of 31:59.

As a team, the girls placed 9th out of 10 teams, despite racing without Melody Smith in the lineup.

The boys had a similarly outstanding day, with strong performances from the front of the pack all the way through the lineup.

Tyler Carollo once again led the Whippets as the team’s #1 runner, turning in a strong 18:48 to finish 25th overall. Behind him, the pack of Marcus Roselle and Marcus Roe continues to prove how valuable pack running can be. For the first time, both Marcus runners broke the 20-minute barrier, with Roselle running 19:26 and Roe close behind in 19:36.

Wyatt Esch had another massive breakthrough, cutting nearly two minutes from his previous season best and finishing in 20:51. Jameson Rothwell also posted a lifetime best, running 22:09. Angel Kilar shaved several seconds off his lifetime best, crossing in 23:03.

Carson Miller had a terrific day as well, running a lifetime personal best and finishing 9th overall in the JV race to earn a medal.

Not to be outdone, Hunter Runnoe and Horatio Nelson raced their way around the challenging course together, pushing and encouraging each other to massive lifetime personal bests. Hunter got the best of Horatio on this day, running 23:44 to Horatio’s 23:52.

Ian Agen capped off the day with another banner performance, crushing his season best to date and finishing in 27:51.

When the dust settled, the boys finished 7th out of the scoring teams.

From breakthrough performances to lifetime bests, medals, and some serious pack racing, the Whippets showed just how much progress they are making. This was a huge step forward for the team—and easily our best day of racing so far this season!

Next up, the Whippets head to UW-Parkside on Saturday for the Angel Invitational, hosted by Racine St. Catherine’s. The team will look to carry this momentum into another big race!

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

The Whippets had an eventful week!

On Thursday, September 10, the Whippets opened conference action by hosting a triple dual against Badger Co-op and Platteville/Lancaster! We saw some awesome improvements throughout the meet, including:

 Emma Maas dropped 13.5 seconds in the 200 IM and another 11 seconds in the 100 Freestyle!

 Kamor Douglas dropped 4 seconds in the 50 Freestyle.

 Caitlin Alford dropped time in the 50 Freestyle, finishing in 37.81.

 Maggie Maas dropped 7 seconds in the 100 Butterfly.

 Storm De Porter continued her incredible progress, dropping 12.3 seconds in the 100 Breaststroke in just one week!

The Whippets were back in the pool on Saturday at the Elk Invite, where they finished 7th overall out of a competitive field! 

 200 Medley Relay: Emma Maas, Maya Davis, Maggie Maas, and Grace Smith finished 6th overall to bring home some hard-earned hardware!

200 Freestyle

• Maggie Maas finished 10th overall with a time of 2:24.27.
• Laken De Porter dropped 7 seconds from her time earlier in the week!

200 IM

• Storm De Porter swam a fantastic race in her first-ever 200 IM!

50 Freestyle

• Caitlin Alford posted a lifetime best with a time of 35.95!
• Finley De Porter won her heat with a time of 33.24.

100 Freestyle

• Laken De Porter, Maya Davis, and Finley De Porter all recorded new personal bests!

400 Freestyle

• Maggie Maas finished 13th overall with a time of 5:48.60.

200 Freestyle Relay

• Laken De Porter, Storm De Porter, Caitlin Alford, and Finley De Porter finished 11th overall.
• Storm posted a strong split of 33.36, while Finley finished with a 32.99 split!

100 Backstroke

• Caitlin Alford posted another lifetime best, finishing in 1:38.06!

100 Breaststroke

• Emma Maas finished 10th overall with a new best time of 1:28.00!
• Maya Davis finished 11th overall with a time of 1:29.71.

400 Freestyle Relay

• Maggie Maas, Grace Smith, Maya Davis, and Emma Maas finished 8th overall to bring home another medal! 
• An impressive lead-off split from Maggie, who posted a 1:06.90!

 The Whippets are back in action tonight! 

 Tuesday, September 15
 5:30 PM
 Jefferson High School

Come cheer on the Whippets as they take on Jefferson/Cambridge! 

Hope to see you there! 

Article and Photos Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach

UW-Whitewater defeated St. Xavier 49-14 on Saturday. The Warhawks scored 28 unanswered points across four scoring drives from late in the second quarter into the fourth.

A third-down fumble set up the Warhawks’ first score, with Noah Moris (Union Grove, Wis./Union Grove) forcing the ball loose and Carson Clausen (Freedom, Wis./Freedom) recovering at the St. Xavier 27 before Justin Klinkner (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) ran for a 27-yard touchdown on the next play. Hunter Liszka’s (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) PAT made it 7-0, and the Warhawks’ defense added a sack by EJ Gritzner (Lake Geneva, Wis./Badger) and Jayden Fowler (Morton Grove, Ill./Niles Township West) while holding St. Xavier to minus-12 rushing yards in the first quarter. The Warhawks finished the quarter ahead 7-0 with possession at the St. Xavier 28.

In the second quarter, the Warhawks created separation with two rushing touchdowns, first on Tommy Novotny’s (Milwaukee, Wis./Marquette) 61-yard run at 11:53 and later on Justin Klinkner’s (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) 3-yard keeper with 40 seconds left. After St. Xavier cut the score to 14-7, the Warhawks kept it there when the defense held St. Xavier to a missed 40-yard field goal, then Klinkner led a 76-yard scoring drive. Karsten Libby (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) added an interception in the closing seconds, and the Warhawks finished the quarter ahead 21-7.

The Warhawks scored on their first and last possessions of the third quarter, starting with Tyler Vasey’s (Crystal Lake, Ill/Prairie Ridge) 2-yard touchdown run and ending with Klinkner’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Vasey as time expired. The defense held St. Xavier scoreless in the quarter and came away with two interceptions, including Ashton Maney’s (Three Lakes, Wis./Three Lakes) pick with seven seconds left that preceded the final touchdown. Liszka made both extra points, and the Warhawks finished the quarter ahead 35-7.

In the fourth quarter, the Warhawks turned two takeaways into touchdowns, first when Drew Kortz (Freedom, Wis./Freedom) intercepted Dominic D’Ambrosio and Klinkner hit Luke Roeder (Collierville, Tenn./Collierville) for a 65-yard touchdown on the next snap to make it 42-7 after Liszka’s kick. After St. Xavier answered with a 9-yard touchdown pass, Andrew Dawson (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) forced a fumble that Jayden Daniel (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) recovered at the SXU24, and Cole Warren (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah) found Kade Sainz (Goshen, Ind./North Ridge) for an 8-yard touchdown two plays later. Grant Urban’s (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) extra point supplied the final score in a 49-14 Warhawks win.

Klinkner completed 13 of 24 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns and added 24 rushing yards with two rushing scores. Novotny rushed 15 times for 120 yards and a touchdown and added a 14-yard reception. Vasey caught three passes for 66 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for 19 yards and a score. Libby recorded seven tackles and added an interception with an 18-yard return.

Editor’s note: The box score and other stats may be found here.