Sports

Whitewater Traveling Basketball Club is excited to announce the details of the 2024 shot club.  Registration is currently open and the spring portion of the Club starts April 7. Registration closes April 30. 

1.  Registration must be completed by completing the Google Form: https://forms.gle/JGjzDLAVBUG8W5N78

2.  In order to receive recognition at a game next season, the player will need to make 10,000 game like shots and participate in four (4) shot club training sessions between June 15 and August 31.

The rules of the Whitewater Shot Club are:

1. Every game like shot made counts as “1 make”;

2. Every 10 minutes of focused ball handling counts as 10 makes (limit of 2000 makes for the 2024 with ball handling);

3. Students in grades 9-12 for the 2024-25 school year have until August 31 to get 10,000 makes. Students in grades 5-8 have until October 31 to get 10,000 makes. 

4. Makes are submitted weekly. Information on recording and submitting makes will be sent out to athletes that sign up. Workouts will be run by Coach Dowden and Coach McCabe and more information will be coming to families that sign-up. Open gyms begin Sunday, April 7 at 5 pm. In May, Open Gyms run from 4-6pm. There is no open gym on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day; otherwise gym is open at 4 pm starting on Sundays in May until basketball season starts. 

This programming is new for the community, and we look forward to answering questions and working to get better at basketball!

Coach Dowden and Coach McCabe

Editor’s note: The above announcement was provided by the Whitewater Traveling Basketball Club. The Banner appreciates having permission to use the homepage image by Schorsch from Pixabay.

Congratulations are in order for Mr. Paul Majors! Majors was named the 2024 Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association District 6 Wrestling Assistant Coach of the Year. This is an award voted on by the WWCA Coaches in District 6 which includes the area from Clinton, north to Markesan, to Fond Du Lac, to Mukwonago, and to Lake Geneva.

Mr. Majors has been involved in the wrestling program as a volunteer or paid coach for over 20 years and is very deserving of this award. The student-athletes love how well he connects with them and the advice about not only wrestling but more importantly life that he provides. Congratulations, Coach Majors. Job well done!

Article and Photos Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org

Whitewater High School Booster Club auction event on April 27th at McGrath’s in Fort Atkinson.  Tickets are $30 apiece and include food, a drink, a live auction, silent auction/baskets, money raffle and most importantly a great time! Please consider purchasing one or two, the proceeds go to supporting the Whitewater High School Athletics Booster Club. You do not need to be present for the cash raffle. Get ahold of any Booster Club member for tickets! Also sold at the door. Thank you.

Editor’s note: The above announcement was provided by the WHS Booster Club.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Warhawk Athletics will hold a Parade of Champions Wednesday, April 3 at 3 p.m. The parade, led by the Whitewater Fire Department, will honor the 2023-24 UW-Whitewater Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team, along with individual national champions Christian Patzka (men’s track and field), Shelvin Garrett II (men’s track and field) and Hayden Gough (women’s gymnastics). 

Parade Information

Start: Perkins Stadium at 3 p.m. 

Route: From Perkins Stadium down Warhawk Drive, east on Starin, south on Prairie, east on Main Street and will loop through downtown Whitewater before returning to Perkins Stadium on Fremont Street

2023-24 UW-Whitewater Men’s Wheelchair Basketball

The Warhawk men’s wheelchair basketball team claimed the 2024 National Wheelchair Basketball Association title with a 74-67 victory over Arizona on March 16 in Marshall, Minnesota. The title is the 14^th national championship in program history. Six current or former Warhawks – including head coach Jake Williams and student-athletes Talen Jourdan and AJ Fitzpatrick – will represent the university as part of Team USA men’s wheelchair basketball at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games this summer.

Christian Patzka

Christian Patzka (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) won the 5,000-meter title at the 2024 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 8. He recorded a time of 13:59.92 – winning the race by just four-tenths of a second in a thrilling finish. 

Shelvin Garrett II

Shelvin Garrett II (Beloit, Wis./Memorial) brought home the national title in the men’s triple jump at the 2024 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 9. His mark of 15.97 meters broke the UW-Whitewater program record, set the facility record and meets the minimum standard for the 2024 Olympic Trials. 

Hayden Gough

Hayden Gough (Dallas, Texas/Dallas International School) captured the individual national title on the uneven bars at the 2024 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Championship on March 23. Her mark of 9.85 is the second highest in program history. Gough is the seventh national champion on the uneven bars in program history and first in the event since 2016. 

By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
UW-Whitewater

Click here for the schedule.

The 2024 schedule features six teams that were ranked or received votes at the end of the 2023 campaign including UW-La Crosse (4th), John Carroll (20th) and UW-River Falls (24th). UW-Platteville, UW-Oshkosh and Mary Hardin-Baylor all received votes in the poll. The Warhawks were ranked 5th in the final D3football.com poll of 2023.

The Warhawks will open the 2024 campaign at home against John Carroll University on September 7 at 1 p.m. UWW defeated the Blue Streaks 27-23 on the road last season. UW-Whitewater will follow with a first-ever meeting with Roosevelt University in Arlington Heights, Illinois September 14 before wrapping up the non-conference slate at Perkins Stadium against Mary Hardin-Baylor on September 21. The Warhawks will celebrate the alumni during the UMHB game that is scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff. 

After a bye week, the Warhawks return to action with the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener against UW-Oshkosh on October 5th. That contest has been designated as UW-Whitewater’s annual Family Fest. 

UWW will head to Menomonee for a meeting with the Blue Devils on October 12 before returning home for another “Friday Night Lights” game. The Warhawks will host UW-Stevens Point Friday, October 18 under the lights at The Perk at 7 p.m. 

UW-Whitewater is back on the road headed to Platteville on October 26. The Warhawks will celebrate Homecoming and the Hall of Fame in the team’s regular season home finale against UW-River Falls on November 2. UWW wraps up the regular season with back-to-back road games at UW-La Crosse (November 9) and UW-Eau Claire (November 16). 

By Chris Lindeke 
Marketing and Communications Manager
University Marketing and Communications
UW-Whitewater

Two coaches of NCAA Division I men’s basketball programs with ties to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will lead their teams Thursday night in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Nate Oats, who worked as an assistant coach for the Warhawk men’s basketball team from 2000-02, will lead fourth-seeded Alabama against top-seeded North Carolina in a West Region semifinal at 8:39 p.m. in Los Angeles. The game will air live on CBS.

TJ Otzelberger, who played for the Warhawks from 1999-2001 and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the university, coaches No. 2 seed Iowa State, which takes on No. 3 seed Illinois at 9:09 p.m. in Boston for an East Region semifinal.

Oats helped the Warhawks win back-to-back Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season championships as an assistant coach. He worked under head coach Dave Vander Meulen during the 2000-01 campaign and under Pat Miller for the 2001-02 season.

Otzelberger was a member of the 2000-01 title winning team. He graduated in 2001 with a BBA in general business and an M.S. in curriculum and instruction in 2004.