WHITEWATER WEATHER

Whippet Gymnasts Score New Team High

February 15, 2022

The Whippet Varsity Gymnastics Team competed at the Platteville Invitational with 12 other teams on Saturday, February 12th. The girls had such an amazing meet, scoring their highest team score of 110.425, improving their old team score by almost 2 points! Breaking that 110-barrier is a big deal! We had our highest team Beam score of the season which was really awesome to see.

Halee Peters made the podium with her no-fall Beam routine – earning herself a medal.  She also was right on her best scores for Vault, Floor, and All-Around.

Makayla Bazeley scored a personal best on Beam with a no-fall routine and also improved her All-Around score to 29.5. She tied her personal best on her Bars routine and was right on her best score for Vault.

Myia Cobbs had season bests on Vault and Beam and tied her best score on Bars. She also scored her highest in All-Around. Miyu competed varsity for Vault for the first time and scored a season best.

Our next meet is our Conference meet in Elkhorn on Friday, February 18th.

Article and Photos Submitted by Shawnda Peters
Whitewater High School Head Gymnastics Coach
speters@wwusd.org

WHS Wrestlers Bring Home Regional Title

February 14, 2022

On Saturday, February 12, the Whitewater Wrestling Team achieved one of their goals that they set out to accomplish after last season, win a Regional Wrestling Championship. After the dust settled in a great tournament held at Jefferson High School, the Whippets brought home their first Regional Championship since 2017 by outdistancing Delavan-Darien. As a team, the Whippets wrestled very well and proved it was a team effort, as everyone did their part. If a teammate had a hiccup, others were there to step up and make up for it. Of the 14 competitors, 13 finished in the top four, with our sole 5th place finisher, Sebastian Cuellar, wrestling his heart out to finish his day with a pin in the 5th place match. He had a tough first round loss to the young man who ended up coming in 2nd place for the weight class.

Jarvis Porcaro

Individually, the Whippets had 3 champions in Jarvis Porcaro, Marcus DePorter, and Mason DePorter. Each of these champs had big wins on the day to help push the points more into Whitewater’s favor.

Coming in runner up and also earning a trip to Individual Sectionals on Saturday were Traysen Thomason, Aaron Porras, Carter Friend, and Leo Ortiz. Each of these gentlemen lost tough ones in the championship round, but were able to hold onto their position as a qualifier.     

Just missing out on qualifying and finishing in 3rd place were CJ Tomomitsu, Connor Friend, Cooper Hammond, and Hector Arnodo. CJ, Connor, and Cooper each had an opportunity to wrestle for true second but came up just short, so they are alternates for Saturday in case of injury to a wrestler that finished ahead of them.

Last but definitely not least, as they brought in great team points, were Jason Villegas and Jesus Barajas. Jason wrestled outstanding all day and continued to show the great improvement he has all season long, dropping a good match to his opponent for 3rd. Barajas also wrestled well on the day, knowing he had an uphill battle, as he was bumped up a weight to help the team win a title. He did not back down in the 3rd place match, but came up short.

The coaching staff is extremely proud of the accomplishments of this team. As an underclassman said afterward, “Yes, we get to spend another week competing with these seniors. I love this team!” 

The team is in action on Tuesday night, February 15, when they travel to participate in the Team Sectional at River Valley High School in Spring Green. Their first dual is at 6:00, and then the championship dual will be at 8:00. The winner on Tuesday night in the two duals qualifies for Team State.

Article Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka

Swimmers Wrap Up Season at Sectionals

February 13, 2022

The Whippet Boys’ Swim Team traveled to Baraboo on Saturday, February 12, to compete in the WIAA Sectional Meet. They came to swim fast and did just that; they went 8 for 10 in individual best times! 

Miles Nickelsburg, Tyler Arnett, Andrew O’Toole, Zach Tomomitsu, Jack Hefty

Senior Zach Tomomitsu finished off his swim career with some spectacular swims in the 100 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke! In the 100 Free, Zach nailed down some perfect flip turns. In the 100 Back, he went a best time by 4 seconds! 

Tyler Arnett continues to flourish in the 200 and 500 Freestyle. Tyler started off the day going a best time in the 200 Free by dropping 4 seconds and earned himself a spot on the Whippet Top 10 List! Tyler also had a lifetime best swim in the 500 Free where he had a 6 second drop going 5:24.97 and placing 5th overall at the meet! Tyler also had a season best split in the 400 Freestyle Relay going 56.04!

Jack Hefty improved his time in the 200 IM, dropping 2 seconds. He also continues to improve his time in the 100 Freestyle, going a 57.91. Later in the meet, during the 400 Freestyle Relay, Jack dropped his time even more from the leadoff spot, going a 57.31! 

Miles Nickelsburg had a wonderful swim in the 100 Backstroke, where he had a 4 second drop. He also had a season best relay split in the 400 Freestyle Relay, going a 1:09.39.

Andre O’Toole improved his overall 50 Freestyle time, going a 30.67! He also had a season best time in the 100 Breaststroke, where he had a 2 second drop! 

Congratulations to the boys’ swim team on an amazing season. We can’t wait to see what they can accomplish next year!

Article and Photo Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Co-Head Boys’ Swim Coach
sreynolds@wwusd.org

No. 7 UW-Whitewater Women’s Hoops Clinches WIAC Title Outright

February 12, 2022

By Chris Lindeke, Assistant Athletic Director, Strategic Communications and Branding, UW-W

Box Score

The No. 7 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s basketball team secured the program’s 10th Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship outright on Saturday with an 87-56 win against UW-Stout at Kachel Gymnasium.

The Warhawks (22-2 overall, 12-1 WIAC), who have now won three conference regular season titles in the last five years, also honored Courtney Oomens, Rebekah Schumacher and Johanna Taylor on Senior Day presented by Educators Credit Union in a halftime ceremony.

Aleah Grundahl registered a game-high 18 points to go with three rebounds and three steals to pace a group of seven UW-W scorers with eight or more points in the contest. Veronica Kieres collected 13 points and five rebounds, and Abby Belschner posted 12 points and five rebounds.

Taylor recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with four blocks and two steals. Schumacher and Kacie Carollo totaled nine points apiece and Yssa Sto. Domingo added eight points.

UW-W turned 28 turnovers into 36 points on the other end and added 20 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds.

The Blue Devils (13-9, 8-4) scored the first four points of the game and held an 8-3 lead three minutes into the opening quarter. UW-Whitewater rallied for 11 straight points and never trailed again in the contest.

The Warhawks’ lead increased to double digits in the final minute of the period, and Taylor’s put-back layup made the score 24-13 through 10 minutes of play.

UW-Stout scored the first basket of the second before UW-Whitewater’s 8-0 run made it 32-15 just past the midway point of the quarter. The Warhawks maintained a double-digit advantage and led 47-32 by halftime.

UW-Whitewater scored six consecutive points to start the third quarter, including buckets by Schumacher, Kieres and Grundahl, for a 21-point advantage with 8:42 on the clock. UW-W led by as many as 27 points in the period and held a 69-46 advantage heading to the fourth.

All 19 players saw action in the fourth quarter for the Warhawks and eight of them found their way into the scoring column.

UW-Whitewater closes the regular season Wednesday at UW-Oshkosh. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

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