WHS competed in 5 (of 12) events at the WIAA Div 2 Swimming Championships on Friday, Nov 9. Sixteen schools compete in each event and the top six schools in each event make it to the podium and receive medals. WHS reached the podium in 4 of the 5 events in which they competed — 2 individual races and 2 relays. Sophomore Ella Houwers swam in each of these four events. Ella finished third in the 200 Yard Individual Medley and was Champion in the 100 Yard Breaststroke.

From the Janesville Gazette: 

A Whitewater High athlete reached the top of the podium Friday for the first time in the 49-year history of the WIAA girls swim meet.

The performance of sophomore Ella Houwers highlighted a hugely successful night for the Whippets during the WIAA Division 2 state meet at the UW-Madison Natatorium.

Houwers won a state title and set a school record in the 100-yard breaststroke, topping a 16-swimmer field in a time of 1 minute, 5.34 seconds to become the Whippets’ first girls champion.

For the complete story at the Gazette, 

From Coach Foucault:

Whippets posted a new School Record in the 200 Medley Relay and earned medals for their 6th place finish.  Congrats to Sophia Fanshaw, Ella Houwers, Brianna Zimdars, and Morgan Radaj! 1:51.94!  These ladies were seeded 11th going into the race and had a plan to win their heat and throw down the best time they could to try to medal.  It was great to see how confident the girls were that they could do this, they went out with incredible determination to make this happen and succeeded.  This is our first girls’ relay to ever medal at State.

Ella Houwers was able to go a lifetime best in the 200 Individual Medley finishing in 3rd place with a new School Record time of 2:09.12!  Way to go Ella!

Brianna Zimdars swam to an 8th place finish in the 500 Freestyle, going a lifetime best 5:19.07!  Brianna also posted her best 200 time during this swim, 2:03.97!  Brianna is now 6th all-time in the 200 and 4th all-time in the 500!  Awesome!

DREAM BIG!  We were a bit of a State Meet Cinderella story in the 200 Freestyle Relay with the girls going from the 16th seed to a 6th place medal-winning performance!  Way to go Morgan, Brianna, Amber Krebs, and Ella!  New School Record 1:41.13!  It was a great team effort from all of the girls.

Ella Houwers – STATE CHAMP, 100 Breaststroke – 1:05.34!  With not a lot of rest, Ella was able to focus and hold off a very strong field of competitors to earn the title.  Ella finished the night with 4 medals at State!  What a night!

The girls finished the evening in 8th place!

Thanks to everyone who supported us throughout the whole season!

Thirteen-year-old Reese Brantmeier was selected as one of three girls to represent the US at the World Junior Tennis Finals, the world’s premier 14-and under team competition in Prostejov, Czech Republic, August 6-11.  The team, along with the US boys team, secured their spots by going undefeated in the qualifier earlier this spring in Mexico City, Mexico.

The girls team was comprised of Katrina Scott (14, Woodland Hills, California; personal coach Marc Lucero), Robin Montgomery (13, Washington DC; personal coach: Ali Agnaba) and Reese Brantmeier (13, Whitewater, Wisconsin; personal coach: John Reed) with USTA National Coach Jean Desdunes as captain.

The boys team was comprised Bruno Kuzuhara (14, Coconut Creek, Florida; personal; coach Michael Bennett), Victor Lilov (14, Raleigh, N.C.; personal coach: Paul Goode) and Evan Wen (14, Morristown, New Jersey; personal coach: Rich Reyes) with USTA National Coach Jon Glover as captain.

In all, 16 teams competed, first in round robin matches, then in knock out brackets.  The girls remained undefeated in the round robin matches with wins against Venezuela, Thailand, and Turkey. In the knock out bracket the girls won their matchup with the Ukraine with their only loss being to Russia in the semifinals. The US girls finished 3^rd place overall.

The boys team won all their matchups to take 1^st place in this prestigious event.

By John J. Schimming

This past weekend the Quad County League had their 12U softball tournament in East Troy. The Whitewater Toppers team closed out the season in fashion taking second place in the silver bracket. The girls won their first two games of the tournament 16-8 and 12-7 on Saturday. The team came back on Sunday morning to take on East Troy for the championship game, however, had to settle for second place.

The coaching staff was very happy with the girls’ performance, especially during the second half of the season. The girls started the season 0-7 however the staff continued to see improvement and just told the girls they were getting better and the wins will come. This came true as the team finished the season 7-2 to close out the season with an overall record of 7-9. The girls learned great fundamental softball throughout the year to help them prepare for upcoming years.

Coach Schimming would like to thank the girls and parents for a great year. It was a very enjoyable time working with the girls. Thank you also to Jim Gosh and Josh Kubicz with their coaching expertise this year. It was great working with these two gentlemen as well.

Article by Ron Sdano

Alyssa Schumacher recently was named to the WFSCA All-State Second Team for softball. The sophomore catcher hit .551 this spring which places her third on the Whitewater softball all-time list for batting average. Schumacher passed Michelle Haines .549 (1984) to move into third place. Anna Lisa Lawton .558 (1991) holds the record with Missy Fojtik .554 (1983) in second.

Alyssa was also named to the All-District First Team as well as being placed on the Janesville Gazette’s All-Area Team.

Alyssa is the daughter of Mike and Shannon Schumacher