Today is Sunday, April 13, 2025
The Whippet Cross Country team headed to Kenosha to compete in the 56th annual Angel Invitational hosted at the nationally recognized cross country course at UW-Parkside on Saturday, September 21. The weather was a touch better than it had been the last two weeks with the course running mostly through woods and shady sections, which was a welcome variation. Although this course was challenging, it didn’t stop the team from giving their best efforts on this day.
Jack Hefty ran a strong race and looked good doing so. His effort secured the individual title, the first ever Whippet to win this meet in the 46 years that Whitewater has competed in the Angel Invitational. His time of 16:04 tied him for the 18th best time ever run on this course in the 56 years the meet has been held. Xavier Zei also ran a very strong race and finished in 30th place with a time of 17:28. Other varsity runners had a strong day including Onyx Thompson, who nearly ran a lifetime PR stopping the clock in 19:24, and Isaac Straight, setting a lifetime best of 19:47, to finish in 128th. The varsity boys’ team placed 11th out of 35 teams.
In the JV race, Wyatt Esch was the team’s top finisher in 41st with a time of 21:16. Marcus Roselle was firing on all cylinders and ran a lifetime best to be under 22 minutes for the first time in his life and stopped the clock in 21:54, good enough for 64th. The JV team also placed 11th overall.
Virginia Nelson stepped up her game and ran a new lifetime best by just one second but on a much more challenging course. This speaks volumes about her growth and continued improvement from week to week. Her time of 22:19 was strong enough to be 45th. Mady Hefty and Carley Boudreau ran together for much of the race before Mady emerged as the team’s second runner in 82nd with a time of 23:49, and Carley was 87th in 23:55. The varsity girls’ team placed 13th out of 34 teams.
The JV team was led by Lucy Troxel who was just a handful of seconds off her lifetime best on this hilly course. Her time of 25:18 placed her 25th overall. Delaney Hammack tied her previous lifetime best and placed 34th with a time of 25:41. As the team’s third runner, Mya Graves-Koran also tied her previous lifetime best in 26:45 to place 53rd.
Full Results: https://wisconsinrunner.com/results/2024/St__Catherine___s_Angel_Invite/
Next up for the team will be the Midwest Invitational in Janesville on Saturday, September 28th.
Article Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coach
ccarstens@wwusd.org
Photo Courtesy of Caroline Pate-Hefty
By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men’s and women’s cross country teams won the annual Tom Hoffman Invitational in Whitewater Saturday morning. Warhawk runners swept the top three places in both races.
The women’s race featured six teams and 74 runners while the men’s race was comprised of eight teams and included 122 runners.
The women were the first to take to the course Saturday morning. Ari De La Cerda led the way and was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 23:16.7. Payton Scoggin finished just two seconds later, and Katie Erb secured third with a time of 23:52.2. Renee Forystek, Ella Hansen and Marlee Nichols added top 10 finishes for UWW. Forystek registered a time of 24:2.6 for sixth while Hansen came in eighth with a time of 24:32.4. Nichols was 10th with a clocking of 25:02.6.
Four Warhawk runners claimed 11th-15th with Carleen Snow (25:08.7) taking 11th and Brinley Everson (25:17.9), Abbey Wedwick (25:21.8) and Miranda McNally (25:35.0) sweeping 13-15th.
Also competing for UW-Whitewater Saturday were Nicole Brown (25:47.1), Jocelyn Ramirez (26:01.0), Jeana Roscoe (26:10.6), Abby Motz (26:41.6), Kaitlyn Burke (27:22.6), Kayla Fogarty (27:37.5), Bella Delgado (29:04.3) and Mollie Bennett (29:11.2).
Gunner Schlender, Christian Patzka and Dan Anderson paced the Warhawk men. They swept the top three places and finished within two seconds of Schlender’s top time of 25:44.5. Chris Allen, Alex Metko and Tucker Johnson claimed 7-8-9th with times of 26:27.0, 26:27.4 and 26:29.4 respectively.
Connor Murphy added an 11th-place finish with a clocking of 26:34.9 while Brandon Gang came in 15th with a time of 27:04.4.
Also competing for the UWW men were Landen Bratt (27:08.2), Tommy Conklin (27:09.8), Johnah Block (27:18.4), Bryce Faith (27:24.4), Matt Andreano (27:28.7), Kody Wassman (27:54.9), Nick Wendl (27:56.7), Ryan Van Dam (28:12.4), Adrian Ahuatl (28:14.3), Aiden Johnson (28:22.1), James Belus (28:44.8), Will MacCudden (29:03.4), Brandon Massman (29:03.5), Andrew Beyer (29:29.4) and Jordan Loferski (30:16.4).
By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
St. Louis, Mo. — The No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s volleyball team swept No. 15 Gustavus Adolphus College 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 26-24) at the Bear Invite hosted by Washington University in St. Louis Saturday. The Warhawks are now 12-1 on the season.
UWW rolled through the first two sets hammering down 13 and 17 kills respectively. Meanwhile the defense held the Gusties to a negative attack percentage in the first set and limited GAC to 10 kills in set two. UW-Whitewater mounted a comeback late in the third to secure the match.
After UW-Whitewater dominated the first two sets, GAC came back to grab and hold the lead for the majority of set three. The Gusties led by five, 21-16, when an attack error made it 21-17. GAC responded with back-to-back points to push the gap to 23-17. Following a Payton Kuepers kill, the Gusties forced set point with a kill of their own to make it 24-18.
From there, the Warhawks rattled off the next eight points to take the match. An Abbie Dix kill gave UWW the serve as Ally Longden headed back to the service line. A pair of GAC miscues pulled UWW to within three. Longden registered an ace and Aubrie Krzus and Dix cut the margin to one, 24-23, with a block. Jenna Weinfurt capped the match with three consecutive kills to seal the victory.
Weinfurt was the only player to tally double digit kills with 16. She added a solo and five assist blocks and seven digs in the contest.
Krzus dished out 31 assists adding five kills in six attempts and a pair of aces on the day.
Defensively, Dix posted five assist blocks while fellow middle Hannah Proctor registered a solo and three assisted. Jaedynn Evans led all players with 26 digs.
UW-Whitewater continues their tough stretch against ranked opponents next weekend at the Transylvania Invitational. The Warhawks will take on No. 4 Hope College and #24 Transylvania in a pair of matches in Kentucky.
By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
The No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team suffered its first loss of the 2024 campaign Saturday at Perkins Stadium. Despite stellar special teams play, the Warhawks fell to [unranked] Mary Hardin-Baylor 35-17.
Defense and special teams dominated Saturday at the Perk with more scoring coming from those two facets of the game than from either offense.
The first two scores of the game went to the Crusaders courtesy of pick-6s. The first came on UW-Whitewater’s first drive of the game as Durand Hill jumped a passing lane at the Warhawks’ 18 and went the distance. UWW’s second drive ended with a 32-yard interception return for touchdown.
Following a three-and-out for the Warhawks, the UWW defense stepped up with a big play causing a turnover. On the third play of UMHB’s next drive, Bryson Clarson forced a fumble from the Cru’s quarterback and Luke Hagedorn jumped on the loose ball to bring the Warhawk offense back onto the field at the UMHB 30. Despite the good field position, a Warhawk miscue led to another fumble that was recovered by the Crusaders at their own 20. That turnover led to an offensive score on a 30-yard touchdown pass and an early 21-0 UMHB lead.
The second quarter featured scores from both squads and more turnovers. Deven Magli intercepted a UMHB pass on third-and-six at the Warhawks’ 35 early in the quarter. The next big play would come from UW-Whitewater’s special teams unit. After forcing a punt on fourth-and-14 at the Cru’s own 16, Karsten Libby was able to get into the backfield and block the punt back to the end zone. Eli Hoelke pounced on the ball in the end zone for the special teams score. Jackson Fox hit the extra point to get the Warhawks on the board, 21-7.
Nearing the two-minute warning of the first half, the Warhawks forced another turnover – this time it was Matt Burba that knocked the ball loose and Jaden Hendrickson was credited with the recovery at the UWW 45.
The Crusaders got the ball back on a controversial call. Jackson Chryst attempted a short pass to the right side of the line and receiver Brian Wilterdink was hit as the ball reached him. The officials signaled for a catch and fumble with UMHB recovering at their own 40. That led to a touchdown for Mary Hardin-Baylor and a 28-7 advantage at the break.
The Warhawks seemed to get some momentum early in the second half after scoring on their first drive of the third quarter. Chryst found Wilterdink on a deep ball down the middle for a 43-yard gain down to the UMHB 21 on the second play of the drive. Brian Stanton gave UWW first-and-goal from the 10 on an 11-yard rush, but the drive stalled in the red zone. Fox drilled the 21-yard field goal to make the score 28-10.
UW-Whitewater’s special teams unit continued to try and spark the Warhawks with big plays. The defense forced another three-and-out and Libby got to the punter once again to give UWW great field position at the UMHB 42, but the Cru defense stiffened and kept the Warhawks off of the board.
On UMHB’s next drive, the Cru running back bounced a rush outside and bolted up the sideline for a 96-yard touchdown and a 35-10 lead.
The special teams unit for UW-Whitewater wasn’t done yet. This time it was Nic Hall getting to the UMHB punter for the block. Patrick Lippe notched the scoop-and-score picking the ball up at the UMHB 14 with a clear path to the end zone. Fox made it 35-17 with the point after and the final score of the contest.
Chryst was 20-33 for 236 yards. Stanton led the Warhawks in the ground game with 59 yards on 17 attempts. Tyler Vasey took a couple of direct snaps and bolted through the line for 32 rushing yards. He added three catches for 40 yards.
Blake Haggerty was the favorite target on the day with six receptions for 78 yards while Wilterdink posted 51 yards on three catches.
Defensively, Kyle Koelblinger led UWW with nine tackles including six solo and a tackle for a loss of four yards.
The Warhawks will rest up with a bye week before returning to the gridiron on Saturday, October 5. UW-Whitewater will host UW-Oshkosh for the annual Family Fest game presented by PremierBank at 1 p.m.
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