Article Submitted by Laura Masbruch, Banner Volunteer
RVC Coach of the Year Kathy Bullis and RVC Player of the Year Emme Bullis
Congratulations to members of the Whippet Volleyball Team for their recent RVC Honors and All-State Honors!
Senior Emme Bullis was named Rock Valley Conference Player of the Year, and Coach Kathy Bullis was named Rock Valley Conference Coach of the Year.
Earning First Team All-Conference Honors were Bullis, Kindyl Kilar, and Cora Linos. Cali Kopecky earned Second Team All-Conference Honors, and Kiyla Kopecky and Caleigh Yang earned RVC Honorable Mention.
Emme Bullis also earned First Team Wisconsin All-State. Kindyl Kilar was named Second Team All-State, and Cora Linos received an All-State Honorable Mention.
It was an extremely busy night for Whippet athletics on Tuesday evening, May 4. Check out reports on all of the action!
Boys’ Soccer Comments Courtesy of Bob Mischka
The Boys’ Soccer Team won their playoff game against Edgerton in a penalty kick-off after it was still tied 1-1 after two 10-minute overtime periods. Next up for them is a game against #1 Fort Atkinson at Fort on Thursday, May 6.
Girls’ Soccer Comments Courtesy of Coach Blain
The Whitewater Girls’ Soccer team took on the McFarland Spartans Tuesday night in their first conference game of the season. The Whippets played a tough game against a fast McFarland team, and fell 11-0. Senior goalkeeper Cora Linos worked hard in goal and ended the night with 13 saves. The coaches and players look forward to continuing to compete each game.
Softball Comments Courtesy of Coach Sdano
The Lady Whippets took the lead in the first inning against Brodhead as Shyan Lesperance hit a single, stole second, and went to third on the catcher’s throwing error. Lexi Juoni laid down a nice bunt that scored Lesperance.
Brodhead came back and scored 5 runs in the second inning to take the lead. Brodhead continued to add to their lead as they had 11 hits and took advantage of 6 Whippet errors to tally 13 runs.
The final score was 13 to 1 Brodhead. Cheyenne Bohmann did a nice job of pitching as she went 6 innings, giving up 11 hits, and striking out four Cardinal batters. Only 5 of the 13 runs off Cheyenne were earned.
Shyan Lesperance had both of Whitewater’s hits as she went 2 for 3 with 2 stolen bases.
Next up for Whitewater is a game at Evansville on Thursday, May 6th. Game time is 5:00.
Baseball Comments Courtesy of Coach Hookstead
The Whippet Baseball Team lost to Evansville by a score of 8-0 on Tuesday night. The team played hard and made some great plays defensively, but unfortunately, they could not get the bats going. Ian Marinaro was the starting pitcher and pitched a solid three innings. The team will be in action again on Thursday, May 6, at home against Evansville at 4:45.
Track and Field Comments Courtesy of Laura Masbruch Photos Courtesy of Bob Mischka
The Whippets hosted Jefferson and East Troy on Tuesday evening for a triangular. Due to the overlap of sports seasons, the schools were not fielding full teams, but there were some outstanding individual Whippet performances, especially from the jumpers.
On the girls’ side, Kacie Carollo and Crystal Chan finished one and two in the long jump, Kindyl Kilar and Crystal Chan finished one and two in the high jump, and Amanda Tovar and Jenna Caldwell went one and two in the pole vault. Kindyl Kilar and Kacie Carollo also finished one and two in the 200 M Dash.
On the boys’ side, Jon Aron took the high jump, and Aaron Porras finished first in the 200 M Dash.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team extended its active win streak to eight games Tuesday with back-to-back, one-run wins at UW-Platteville in a non-conference doubleheader.
The Warhawks (24-8 overall) tied the first game in the seventh inning and tallied the go-ahead run in the eighth for a 6-5 triumph in extra innings. UW-W registered runs in the sixth and seventh innings to take Game 2 by a 2-1 score.
In the opener, first baseman Kaleigh O’Brien hit a game-tying single with one out to make it 5-5, and centerfielder Vera Pflugradt put UW-Whitewater ahead for good with an RBI single in the eighth.
Pitcher Marissa Adams retired eight straight batters over the final 2 2/3 innings to pick up the win, improving to 4-1 on the year. Kate Cleveland started and pitched one inning, and Mallory Hollatz took the middle 4 1/3 frames, pitching into the sixth inning.
Third baseman Meg Cohrs gave UW-W the lead with a double to right center in the top of the first before the Pioneers (15-15) took a 3-1 advantage in the bottom of the inning.
The Warhawks tallied three straight hits to start the top of the sixth, tying the game on a two-run triple to right by second baseman Delaney Becker and taking the lead on an RBI groundout by right fielder Taylor Briehl.
UW-Platteville took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth before UW-Whitewater fought back to tie the game and take the lead for good.
Pflugradt led the offense with three hits and one runs scored. Cohrs, O’Brien, designated player Kennedy Cox and catcher Nikki Mikosz each finished with two hits.
In the second game, neither team scored until the bottom of the fifth, when the Pioneers took a 1-0 advantage on a groundout.
Shortstop Meghan Dunning homered to lead off the top of the sixth and tie the game, and pitcher Annie Morelli left a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the frame to set up the Warhawks for another late rally.
Pflugradt recorded her second go-ahead hit of the day with an RBI triple to right center to score Briehl.
UW-Platteville put the leadoff hitter aboard in the bottom of the seventh, but Adams shut the door, stranding the tying run in scoring position for her third save of the season.
Morelli was credited with the victory, moving to 3-0 for the season. Starter Rhiann Dick struck out six batters over five innings of work.
O’Brien collected a team-high two hits, and Briehl reached base twice with two walks.
UW-Whitewater wraps up the regular season this Saturday with a pair of Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games at UW-River Falls. First pitch of the doubleheader is slated for 2 p.m. The Warhawks are one game out of first place in the conference standings heading into the weekend.
By Lynn Binnie Whitewater Banner volunteer staf whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
Packers fans have heard plenty of rumors in recent days regarding Aaron Rodgers’ dispute with management and his desire to either be traded or retire. Here’s one of the latest rumors: that one of the major factors was the release of former Warkawk Jake Kumerow from the team.
Kumerow originally attended Illinois. He caught 3 passes for 15 yards with the Illini. He then transferred to UW-W. Kumerow finished with 158 receptions for 2648 yards and 36 touchdowns for the Warhawks, and was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He has also been a member of the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, and New Orleans Saints. He was released by the Packers during final roster cuts on September 5, 2020. (Source: Wikipedia)
Article Submitted by Chad Carstens Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coach ccarstens@wwusd.org Photo Courtesy of Peter Mischka
On Saturday, May 1, the Whippet CC teams competed against some of the state’s best D1 teams in a WIAA Sectional hosted by Whitewater on the WHS campus. The weather was some of the wildest that we have experienced in recent memory with recorded gusts at 39 mph in the area. Teams traveled from as far away as Gibraltar, Fond du Lac, and the Oshkosh area to earn a trip to the WIAA State Meet to be held on Saturday, May 8th. The top two teams and the top five individuals not on those two teams would earn a trip to the State Meet.
Trenten Zahn Approaches the Finish Line
Trenten Zahn was the highlight of the day as he executed perhaps his best race ever in a Whippet uniform. As he detailed the night before, he put himself in 11th place in the first mile, worked his way up to 7th in the second mile, and between 2.1 and 2.5 miles he throttled his way into 4th. Trenten knew finishing in the top 5 would automatically punch his ticket to state, but he wouldn’t settle. Whippet CC runners don’t settle; they strive for excellence and the pride that comes from within that giving your best is the only option. Furthermore, representing the Whitewater name is both a privilege and an honor. A runner from Kewaunee passed Trenten in the last 60 meters pushing him to fifth, but Trenten found another gear and took his 4th place spot back to finish in a time of 18:18.2. His racing strategy was simply flawless. Trenten certainly made the Whippet faithful proud with his efforts, and he will be rewarded with one more week of training and the joy that State week brings. Trenten will be competing at 11:00 am in Janesville at Blackhawk Golf Course which is a special place as that is the site of the famed Midwest Invitational that the team travels to annually, except this year, due to COVID. However, Trenten will get one last chance to race there along with many other D1 athletes. Trenten more than earned his spot on this extremely wild weather day. This will be Trenten’s second State CC meet as he competed there in 2018 as a sophomore.
Also racing for the boys was Junior Cooper Hammond who turned in a strong effort to finish in 30th. Sophomore CJ Tomomitsu fought off hip pain to take 35th. Freshman Nate Holden placed 46th, and Senior Will Hofmann placed 47th. Senior Evan Schepp placed 61st, and Sophomore Keith Cameron placed 62nd. The boys’ team placed 6th overall out of the 12 teams represented.
On the girls’ side, Junior Sophie Walton resumed the #1 runner position and redeemed herself after a tough race at conference the week prior. She finished in 39th place with a time of 25:23.8. Junior Gwen Truesdale placed 46th, followed by junior Olive Coburn in 52nd, junior Trinity Nickels in 55th, sophomore Caelyn Caputo in 56th, freshman Lauren Buehler in 57th, and rounding out the team at sectionals was Jennifer Villarreal in 61st. The team finished in 9th place out of 12 competing teams.
Coach Carstens would like to thank Athletic Director Justin Crandall, Dr. Pate-Hefty, WUSD Administration, Russ Walton, maintenance workers, WUSD Staff, meet day workers, Jeff Miller, CC Parents, Mark Maas, Steve Johnson, Shannon Cushman, and countless others that helped to not only make this day a great day for the sport of cross country but to pull off four home events in a pandemic season at an untested site and passed with flying colors.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater golf team claimed its fourth straight conference title and sixth overall Sunday on the third and final day of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship Presented by Culver’s at Reedsburg Country Club in Reedsburg, Wis.
The Warhawks carded a three-day total of 925 (303-312-310) to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship, which is scheduled for May 11-14 at Forest Akers Golf Course in Lansing, Mich.
UW-Whitewater is the only program in WIAC history to win four consecutive conference championships.
Kristin Bowe led the Warhawks and the 55-player field to become the team’s sixth medalist in program history and third in the last five seasons. Bowe fired a 223 (71-73-79) for the weekend to win the tournament by four strokes and set a program record for lowest individual 54-hole score in program history. Her first-round 71 tied the school record for 18-hole score.
Bowe was also named the WIAC Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete for women’s golf following play. Head coach Andrea Wieland joined her as an award winner, garnering WIAC Coach of the Year accolades for the first time in her career.
CheyAnn Knudsen, the 2017 medalist, placed third with a 228 (77-76-75). Ashton Sinak and Kelly Storti tied for fifth with matching scores of 238. Sinak posted her best round of the weekend on Sunday (79-84-75), and Storti tallied a sequence of 76-81-81 for the weekend.
Playing in her first conference tournament as part of the lineup, Lily Sheppard finished the weekend with a 253 (79-82-92), good for a tie for 15th.
Grace Westerman led all individuals by tying for 11th place with a 243 (82-76-85) for an impressive conference tournament debut. Madi LaPaz tied for 15th with her 253 (83-85-85), and Lauren Winter totaled a 254 (84-82-88) to tie for 17th.
Sydney O’Hearn finished 28th overall with a 266 (84-96-86) in her first WIAC Championship.
UW-Whitewater will make its third appearance in the NCAA Championship. The Warhawks finished 12th in 2018 and 13th in 2019.
UW-W also qualified for the national championship in 2020, but the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team moved into sole possession of second place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings Saturday afternoon with back-to-back victories over UW-Eau Claire on Senior Day at van Steenderen Softball Complex.
The Warhawks (22-8 overall, 8-4 WIAC) bested the Blugolds 4-1 in the opener before posting a 3-0 shutout in the second game.
UW-Whitewater honored seniors Marissa Adams, Alexis Addante, Taylor Briehl, Meg Cohrs, Sam Lattner, Nikki Mikosz, Kaleigh O’Brien and Vera Pflugradt following the final home regular season games of the year. The team also recognized 2020 graduates Dani Biesiada, Mattie Klingenmeyer, Bella Matthias and Nicole Neitzel.
In Game 1, UW-Eau Claire (21-13, 7-5) took the early lead with a run in the top of the first, but the Warhawks responded with four unanswered runs over the next three frames.
Cohrs tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first on a run-scoring groundout, and Krista Sbarra hit an RBI single to put UW-W ahead for good in the second.
UW-Whitewater added two in the third on a sacrifice fly by O’Brien and a wild pitch.
Pitcher Kate Cleveland scattered five hits and one walk over seven innings for the complete-game win. She improved to 8-3 on the year.
O’Brien and Sbarra led the offense with two hits apiece, and shortstop Meghan Dunning scored two runs and posted one hit.
In the nightcap, pitcher Mallory Hollatz tossed a three-hit shutout with four strikeouts to move to 3-0 on the season.
The Warhawks grabbed the lead with a run in the bottom of the first on a bases-loaded walk by designated player Sophia Kinjerski.
Pflugradt doubled the UW-W lead with one out in the fourth on an RBI single through the right side, and two batters later, Cohrs made it a three-run game with a two-out, RBI hit near the left field line.
Pflugradt finished 2-for-4 with one run scored, while Dunning reached base three times with one hit and two walks. Cohrs totaled two hits, and Mikosz collected one hit and one walk.
UW-Whitewater visits UW-Platteville for a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday at 3 p.m.
The No. 8 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team maintained its first-place standing in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings Saturday with a pair of conference victories at UW-Stout.
The Warhawks (25-4 overall, 17-3 WIAC) defeated the Blue Devils 12-1 in seven innings in the first game before tallying 11 unanswered runs for an 11-5 triumph in the nightcap.
In Game 1, UW-Whitewater broke open a 0-0 game with eight runs in the top of the fourth inning, and Warhawk pitchers combined to strand nine UW-Stout runners.
Left fielder Matt Korman drove home three runs to lead the offense and socked a two-run homer in UW-W’s big fourth inning.
Right fielder Jacob DeMeyer, catcher Ryan Norton and shortstop Nick Santoro each tallied two runs batted in. DeMeyer reached base three times with two hits and one walk and scored two runs, while Norton posted two hits and one run scored. Santoro knocked a two-run double in the fourth and scored one run.
Second baseman Sam Vomhof totaled three hits, one run scored and one RBI, first baseman Ben Wilkins reached base three times with two walks and one hit while adding two runs scored, and designated hitter Taylor White registered one hit, one walk, one run scored and one RBI.
Pitcher Donovan Brandl recorded the win to improve to 4-1 on the year. He scattered five hits over six innings and struck out four in the outing. Trey Bretl pitched the seventh.
In Game 2, the Warhawks trailed 5-0 through three frames before plating two in the fourth, four in the fifth and five in the seventh. Santoro mashed a two-run homer to left to put UW-W ahead for good in the fifth. He finished with three RBIs.
Norton finished 2-for-4 with one walk, one run scored and three RBIs, and Vomhof collected two hits, one walk, one run scored and two RBIs.
White reached base four times with three walks and one hit while scoring two runs, and Wilkins and Korman each tallied two hits and one run scored.
Pitcher Connor Spear improved to 3-0 with the victory, allowing only one hit and one walk over 3 1/3 innings of relief. Kade Lancour and Connor Moroder tossed scoreless relief outings of two innings and one inning, respectively.
UW-Whitewater hosts Finlandia (Mich.) for a WIAC doubleheader Friday at Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
Article submitted by Michael Hookstead Whitewater High School Head Baseball Coach mhookstead@wwusd.org
The Varsity Baseball Team was handed their second loss on the season on Thursday night, April 29. Beloit Turner defeated the Whippets 10-0 in 6 innings.
Marc Jones was the starting pitcher and threw a solid game.
The team is still growing and learning what the expectations are.
The Whippets will be in action again on Friday, April 30th, against the Jefferson Eagles at Whitewater High School.
