WHITEWATER WEATHER

Swimmers Wrap Up Regular Season Events

October 24, 2023

Top 16 finishes (Top 8 Individual medal & Top 4 Relays medal)

200 Medley Relay

  • Georgia Esch, Atreya Wilson, Lucy Davis, Adalynn Frye (11th – 2:42.08)

200 Freestyle

  • Makayla Bazeley (1st – 2:00.26)
  • Lucy Davis (16th – 2:40.54) *dropped 6 seconds

100 IM

  • Charlotte Hajewski (11th – 1:19.08)
  • Atreya Wilson (15th – 1:26.57)

50 Freestyle

  • Maggie Maas (15th – 30.35)

500 Freestyle

  • Emerson Dunham (2nd – 6:05.21)
  • Charlotte Hajewski (8th – 6:31.85) *dropped 10 seconds

200 Freestyle Relay

  • Makayla Bazeley, Maggie Maas, Charlotte Hajewski, Emerson Dunham (5th – 1:56.69) – Makayla Bazeley’s lead off 50 time improved her Whippet Top 10 to number 6 overall
  • Adalynn Frye, Georgia Esch, Payton Peacock, Atreya Wilson (11th – 2:21.97)

100 Backstroke

  • Makayla Bazeley (1st – 1:00.06)

100 Breaststroke

  • Emerson Dunham (7th – 1:25.06)

400 Freestyle Relay

  • Makayla Bazeley, Charlotte Hajewski, Maggie Maas, Emerson Dunham (5th – 4:20.61)
  • Atreya Wilson, Georgia Esch, Payton Peacock, Lucy Davis (12th – 5:09.31)

Up next the Whippets head to the Conference Championship Meets. Tuesday, October 24th is JV Conference at Elkhorn, starting at 6 p.m. Saturday, October 28th is Varsity Conference at Delavan-Darien, starting at 11 a.m. Hope to see you there!

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

Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country Teams Both Headed to State

October 22, 2023

The year was 1996. The Spice Girls were popular, people went to Blockbuster to rent a movie, the Ford Fiesta was the most popular vehicle on the road, and 16% of homes owned a cell phone. It also happens to be the last time that Whitewater had both a girls’ and boys’ cross country team qualify for state in the same year. We can now add 2023 to that historical data. The boys’ and girls’ CC teams raced with passion and a purpose at the WIAA Sectional race held at UW-Parkside on Saturday, October 21st.

Girls’ Varsity Qualifiers

The boys raced first with cool temps, and calm winds, on a soft and muddy course. They quickly put people on notice that they were not messing around. With 4 runners in the top 10, their Whippet red jerseys were flying at the front of the race. Jack Hefty took an early lead, gapping the field within 600 meters and never looked back. His role was to secure one point for the team and he did just that by crossing the line first in 17:13 to claim his first sectional cross country title. Nate Holden held a top five position throughout the race and gutted his way to a fourth place finish with a time of 17:47. Miles Nickelsburg ran with the confidence of being surrounded by teammates and flourished in 7th place with a time of 17:52. Xavier Zei floated along and secured a top 10 finish by stopping the clock in 18:16. With such a strong tone set by the top four guys, Onyx Thompson was feeling ice in his veins and felt the energy from his teammates crushing it up front and ran a lifetime best as the team’s fifth runner, placing 25th overall to seal the team scoring. Quincy Boudreau was just 22 seconds off his lifetime best on this grueling course and placed 40th with a time of 19:49. Andrew O’Toole battled his way through the course to finish in 62nd with a time of 21:42. The final team scores showed Whitewater had won a sectional title with a team total of 47 points, with the next closest team being conference foe Clinton, with 74. That margin was a mere five points at the RVC meet a week earlier. The last time just the boys’ team had qualified for state was 2007.

Boys’ Varsity Qualifiers

The girls were in for a fight in their race as well. Mady Hefty was back on the starting line after missing conference and was not going to be denied the chance to compete at state. Battling through her recent setback, she paced the team by placing fifth overall with a time of 21:54, which would have guaranteed her a spot at state regardless of how the team performed. However, it was the team that shined the most on this day. Like the boys, Mady set the tone up front while Athena Soto and Nola Coburn weren’t far from her. Athena kept inching her way up place by place and was able to take 6th overall, 12 seconds back from Mady in 22:06. Nola Coburn looked fantastic and took 8th overall to wrap up a great 1-2-3 punch. Nola’s time was 22:29. Carley Boudreau gave the race all the grit she had and placed 20th with a time of 23:36. Ema Aranda was all guts as she not only ran a lifetime best time on this challenging course and conditions, but she did so after taking a fall. She continued to race with bloodied knees to a 25th place finish to seal the scoring runners with a time of 24:17. Ema’s sister Bella was the next Whippet across the line in 37th with a time of 25:57. Silvia Harris wrapped up the day for the Whippets with a 41st place showing and an overall time of 26:35. When the team scores were tabulated, Clinton came out on top with a score of 31 and Whitewater was second just ahead of a tough Jefferson team to take the final team qualifying spot. Whitewater scored 57 to Jefferson’s 69. The last time the girls’ team qualified for state was 2015.

It was a memorable day for the Whippets!

The teams will now prepare for the WIAA Division 2 State Meet in Wisconsin Rapids at The Ridges Golf Course which will be held on Saturday, October 28th. The boys will race first at 12:35 and the girls will race at 2:25. For all the WIAA State Meet Information, visit: https://www.wiaawi.org/Sports/Fall/Girls-Cross-Country/Tournament

BOYS’ RESULTS: https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Results/Cross_Country/2023/racinesectionalb.htm

GIRLS’ RESULTS:
https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Results/Cross_Country/2023/racinesectionalg.htm

Article and Photos Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coachccarstens@wwusd.org

#5 UW-W Football Tops UW-Stout at Home

October 21, 2023
Caden Straka and Matt Burba take down the Blue Devil quarterback (Michael Gouvion)

By Angela Kelm
Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information

The No. 5 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team downed UW-Stout 37-20 on a brisk day at Perkins Stadium Saturday afternoon. 

Box Score

The Warhawks put up 24 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a hefty lead and never looked back. UWW senior quarterback Alec Ogden (Marshall, Wis./Monona Grove) eclipsed the 1,000 passing yard mark with 281 yards on 23-40 passing. He added another 90 yards with his feet in the game. 

Warhawks celebrate a touchdown (Michael Gouvion)

Jeff Isotalo-McGuire put the Warhawks on the board with a 30-yard field goal to cap a 13-play, 82-yard drive in the second quarter. Ogden was the next to enter the scoring column on a six-yard scamper that made it 10-0. 

Just over five minutes later, Ogden found the end zone again, this time from 28 yards out to give UWW a 17-0 lead. With just under three minutes to go before the break, Ogden hit Steven Hein (St. Charles, Ill./North) in stride down the middle of the field for the biggest play of the game, an 80-yard touchdown. 

UW-Stout hit a 19-yard field goal to send the teams into the locker room and the Blue Devils tallied another one, this time from 32 yards, for the first score on the other side of the intermission to make it 24-6. 

The Blue Devils added seven more after capping a 10-play, 57-yard drive with a 20-yard passing touchdown to cut the margin to 24-13. 

UW-Whitewater responded with three straight scores, a pair of Isotalo-McGuire field goals including a 33-yarder and 30-yarder, and a nine-yard touchdown catch by Tommy Coates (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle Institute). That pushed the lead to 37-13. 

UW-Stout wrapped up the scoring with a touchdown run with 1:02 left. The Warhawks took a knee after the kickoff to run out the clock. 

Alijah Maher-Parr (Wauwatosa, Wis./Arrowhead) added 71 yards rushing to lead the corps of running backs. Hein hauled in three catches for 103 yards including the 80-yard TD. 

Defensively, Tyson Harvey (Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) had the Blue Devil receivers on lockdown with two tackles, three pass breakups and an interception. Caden Straka (Lancaster, Wis./Lancaster)Nehemiah Lomax (Park Forest, Ill./Crete-Monee) and Roy Panthier (Elgin, Ill./Elgin) all got to the Blue Devil quarterback in the backfield for sacks in the game. Panthier added three tackles and forced a fumble in the game. 

Next week, the Warhawks host UW-Platteville for the team’s annual Homecoming and Hall of Fame game. The contest is also the annual George Chryst Bowl with the teams battling for possession of the pickaxe. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. 

Local Student Named to UW-W Women’s Swimming & Diving Team

October 20, 2023

Brianna Zimdars from Whitewater, WI, who is studying Business at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, has earned a roster spot on the Warhawk women’s swimming and diving team for the 2023-24 season.

The Warhawks finished fourth at last year’s Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships. UW-Whitewater is coached by Elise Knoche, who enters her sixth season at the helm of the program. The team garnered the College Swimming Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America Award for the 10th straight season in 2022-23.

For the full 2023-24 schedule, visit https://uwwsports.com/sports/womens-swimming-and-diving/schedule.

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