By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information

Northfield, Minn. — The UW-Whitewater women’s cross country team finished sixth at the 2024 NCAA North Regional held in Northfield, Minnesota Saturday morning.

The top teams from each of the ten regional sites automatically qualify for the 2024 NCAA Division III Championship with 22 more teams receiving at-large bids. Additionally, the top seven individuals from each regional, 70 total, who did not qualify with their team will earn a bid to the national championship. The complete championship field will be announced Sunday, November 17 on ncaa.com. 

Ari De La Cerda (Pewaukee, Wis./) paced the Warhawks with a time of 22:25.4 to finish 13th in a field of over 200 runners. A four-time regional participant, De La Cerda’s 2024 time is her best mark and top career finish at the meet. Payton Scoggin (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trails) was clocked in 22:39.7 to finish 19th at the meet. Her mark is also a personal best at the regional. In her second regional appearance, sophomore Renee Forystek (Waukesha, Wis./North) crossed the line in 22:54.9 to claim 29th. As top 35 finishers, De La Cerda, Scoggin and Forystek all earn USTFCCCA All-Region honors. 

Katie Erb (Winnebago, Ill./) added a time of 23:18.0 to finish 43rd while Ella Hansen’s (Pewaukee, Wis./) time of 23:33.4 was good for 54th. Abbey Wedwick (Westby, Wis./) registered a time of 24:23.5 with teammate Carleen Snow (Rio, Wis./DeForest) crossing the line just .02 later – both rank among the top 100. 

The 2024 NCAA Division III Championship will be held at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terra Haute, Indiana on Saturday, November 23. 

Stevens Point, Wis. — The No. 7 UW-Whitewater volleyball team punched its ticket to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championship with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 28-26) sweep at UW-Stevens Point Thursday night. The Warhawks have advanced to the league tournament title match for the 11th consecutive time and will be seeking their third straight title on Saturday. UWW has won five of the last ten conference tournament championships.

In the other WIAC Tournament semifinal, top-seeded UW-Oshkosh defeated UW-Platteville in five sets. The Titans will host the title match Saturday at 7 PM in a rematch of the 2023 championship. 

UW-Whitewater registered a phenomenal performance in the rematch of a regular season loss in Whitewater Thursday night. On the Pointers’ home court, UWW hit .356 with three Warhawks tallying double digit kills. Meanwhile the defense limited UWSP to an attack efficiency of .202 bolstered by nine total team blocks in the contest. 

The Warhawks trailed through the majority of the first set but were able to capture their first lead of the match on a 4-0 run that forced a Pointer timeout with UWW leading 17-15. From there, the UW-Whitewater advantage hovered between one and three until a 3-0 spurt capped the set. A UWSP miscue was the catalyst on the run as Jenna Weinfurt and Alayna Jansky followed with two consecutive kills for the 25-21 final. 

The first set was the best for UWW offensively. The Warhawks hit .421 led by a fantastic six-kill set from Weinfurt. The powerful outside hitter hit .600 with zero errors in the opener. 

UW-Whitewater registered the first five points of set two before UWSP began whittling away at the lead. The Pointers came back to tie the set 9-9 and the squads traded points until UWW was able to put a small run together. With the gap pushed to three, 15-12, UWW maintained the advantage the rest of the way. Abbie Dix and Aubrie Krzus turned away a Pointer attack with a huge block to cap the set and secure the 25-22 win. 

Chloe Werner had the hot hand in set two with six kills. Dix showcased her blocking supremacy with five assist blocks in the second set. 

Set three was a battle from start to finish. The largest lead by either squad was a 7-4 UWSP advantage early in the set. The Warhawks staved off a first set point for the Pointers before UWSP held on match point to tie it up, 26-26. Weinfurt pounded down a kill to force a second match point and a UWSP error provided the final point. 

For the match, Weinfurt posted a team-high 14 kills followed by 12 each from Jansky and Werner. Jansky added three aces and led UWW with 12 digs on the night. Krzus notched 40 assists in the three-setter adding six blocks. 

Dix hit .462 with 6 kills in 13 attempts with no attack errors. Defensively, she was stellar matching Krzus’ six-block performance. 

According to an article on channel3000.com on November 13, “Chris Davis Jr. committed Arkansas State University Wednesday. Davis Jr scored more than 1000 high school career points last season at Sun Prairie West.”

“….He’s continuing the dreams of his father, Chris Davis Sr. He remains the only University of Wisconsin-Whitewater athlete to have a “player of the year” title. He also helped the Warhawks win two national titles and coached varsity basketball for Sun Prairie West High School.”

“….Davis Jr. plans to win a state championship at Sun Prairie East High School this season.”

Kacie Carollo from Whitewater, WI, who is studying Integrated Science-Business at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, has earned a roster spot on the Warhawk women’s basketball team for the 2024-25 season.

The Warhawks are coming off a run to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals (Elite Eight) in 2023-24. UW-Whitewater was ranked fourth in the D3hoops.com Preseason Poll entering the 2024-25 season.

Head coach Keri Carollo enters her 23rd season at the helm of the program in 2024-25. She has led the Warhawks to eight WIAC championships and 15 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including four Final Four bids (2008, 2013, 2014, 2022) and two appearances in the national championship game (2013, 2022).

UW-Whitewater is led by four-time All-American and Preseason All-America selection Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater). The senior guard, a two-time First Team All-WIAC pick, ranked among the top 10 in the league in multiple categories last season including scoring (14.7/game), rebounding (8.1/game), three-point field goal percentage (.338), three-pointers per game (1.8), free throw percentage (.789), assists (4.5/game) and steals (2.0/game).

Carollo is one of four starters returning for UWW this season. Senior forward Katie Hildebrandt (McFarland, Wis./McFarland) ranked among the top 20 in the conference in scoring (9.7/game), rebounding (4.6/game), field goal percentage (.428) and blocks (1.4/game) last season. Senior guard Maggie Trautsch (Sun Prairie, Wis./DeForest) and sophomore guard Bri McCurdy (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) were among the top 15 three-point shooters in the WIAC in 2023-24. The duo ranked among the top 16 in three-pointers per game and three-point field goal percentage. Trautsch added a top 10 average in blocks (0.5/game) and was among the top 20 in rebounding (4.5/game) and steals (1.1/game).

Mallory Oloffson (Normal, Ill./Normal Community) is also back for the Warhawks. The senior forward appeared in all 30 games for UWW last season. Junior forward Renee Rittmeyer (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) played in 29 games a year ago while sophomore forward Mia Gillis (Mundelein, Ill./Carmel Catholic) and sophomore guard Sylvia Fox (Edgerton, Wis./Edgerton) each saw the floor in more than 20 contests.

UW-Whitewater started the 2024-25 season with consecutive victories against nationally ranked DePauw (Ind.) and Lakeland on Nov. 8-9. The team continues action as it visits Carroll on Nov. 16. Visit uwwsports.com to view the complete game schedule.