Editor’s note: The following announcement was made by the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC).

MADISON, Wis.–University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the two-time defending champion, has been picked to secure the 2024 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) women’s basketball title.

The Warhawks, ranked No. 9 nationally in the D3hoops.com Preseason Poll, have secured 11 regular season titles in program history and captured their third WIAC tournament championship a year ago. UW-Whitewater brings back three starters from last year’s squad that advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Championship. Among the returners is two-time WIAC Player of the Year Aleah Grundahl. She received the honor in 2022 and 2023, after claiming Newcomer of the Year distinction in 2020.

UW-Whitewater is followed in the conference predictions by: UW-Stout; UW-Oshkosh; UW-Eau Claire; UW-La Crosse; UW-River Falls; UW-Platteville; and UW-Stevens Point.

Moran Lonning takes over the head coaching role at UW-La Crosse. She was the head coach at Central College (Iowa) a season ago. 

The 14-game conference schedule will begin on Jan. 4. The top-six teams in the league standings will qualify for the WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver’s). The event will be held Feb. 19, 21, and 23, with all contests hosted by the higher-seeded team. The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic NCAA bid.

2023-24 Preseason Predictions – Voted on by WIAC Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors

	2022-23 Record
1. UW-Whitewater	(23-7 overall, 10-4 WIAC)
2. UW-Stout	(18-8, 10-4)
3. UW-Oshkosh	(20-9, 8-6)
4. UW-Eau Claire	(20-9, 9-5)
5. UW-La Crosse	(19-7, 8-6)
6. UW-River Falls	(14-11, 4-10)
7. UW-Platteville	(11-15, 4-10)
8. UW-Stevens Point	(11-14, 3-11)

UW-Whitewater Capsule
Head Coach:  Keri Carollo; 22nd season at UWW; 414-167
Letter winners Returning/Lost:  9/11
Starters Returning/Lost:  3/2
Returning All-WIAC:  Kacie Carollo, Jr., G (2022-Honorable, 2023-First, 2023-Defensive); Aleah Grundahl, Grad., F (2020-Honorable/Newcomer of the Year, 2021-First, 2022-First/Co-Player of the Year, 2022-Defensive, 2023-First/Player of the Year); Maggie Trautsch, Sr., G (2023-Honorable)
 
Notable Returning Players:  Mallory Oloffson, Jr., F

The volleyball program held its end of season banquet on Tuesday, October 30th at Whitewater High School.

The program thanked several people who helped make the season so successful!

The families who support athletes and coaches, and for the car rides, the snacks, the dinners, bus food, and love! There has never been a time when this program has not felt the love and support of all of our families and we are thankful!

To team parents- Nikki Amundson and Nicole Grosinske who have been so supportive of anything we have needed this season, from scheduling concessions, hosting pasta and taco parties, and helping wherever we needed! We thank them for all their support this season!!

Bob Mischka, Pictures

Bob is ever present supporting Whippet Athletics. We are so fortunate to have him capture these moments for our student athletes and thank him for his support of Whippet Athletics and our Volleyball program!

Justin Crandall, Athletic Director, Kendra Riddle, Assistant

A huge thank you to our AD who works behind the scenes to ensure we are scheduled correctly, have the right bus times, have the gym set up, announcers, etc. The program would like to thank our Athletic Director, Justin Crandall, for his support of our program all year long, and Kendra for her support of athletics!

Our Coaching Staff and Managers:

Coach Tori Miller-JV2, Coach Amarion Isbell, JV1, Coach Ariel Feiertag, Varsity Assistant, Coach Rosie Jaskolski, Varsity Assistant

Managers: Jasmine Kilar and Chloe Crandall were thanked for their work as junior managers this year!

The Athletes:

The JV1 and JV2 athletes were honored by their coaches for their commitment to the team. Many great attributes were shared about each individual athlete, and we are so proud of the growth each one has shown within the season!

The varsity squad and seniors were honored! The Varsity squad ended up 3rd in conference behind East Troy and Delavan and in front of Jefferson and Monroe. The athletes were each honored for their commitment to the program. In addition, several awards were received.

The members of the varsity volleyball program were:

• Grace Coleman, Sophomore, Setter/Right side
• Kaia Jones, Sophomore, Outside Hitter
• Savannah O’Neil, Junior, Defensive Specialist
• Sydney Schilt- Junior, Right Side
• Ava Alvarado, Junior, Defensive Specialist
• Zoe Kohl, Junior, Defensive Specialist, Pin Hitter
• Cali Grosinske, Junior, Setter/Outside Hitter
• Falyn Krahn, Junior, Outside Hitter
• Ella Spear, Junior, Libero
• Marina Linos, Senior, Setter and RS
• Aidyn Amundson, Senior, Middle Blocker
• Meg Roselle, Senior, Middle Blocker
• Manny Mbifi, Senior, Middle Blocker

Several Post Season awards were also handed out:

Whippet Growth goes to a player who soaked up any information coaches could give and always strived to get better every chance she could. Whippet growth and Captain award went to Manny Mbifi.

Whippet Spirit goes to an athlete who selflessly gave to her teammates, and was a positive supporter of her teammates. The Whippet Spirit Award and Captain award went to Meg Roselle.

Whippet Heart goes to an athlete who gave their entire self to this program. They showed heart to their teammates in word and action. This Whippet Heart and Captain award went to Marina Linos.

Whippet Perseverance goes to an athlete who never quit no matter how hard things got. Never complaining, always keeping a positive mindset even when the injury took her senior season away. This Whippet Perseverance and Captain award went to Aidyn Amundson.

Defensive player of the year goes to an athlete who refused to let balls hit the ground. We would often hope to direct the hits toward this defender. She led us in digs (127) and attitude! Defensive Player of the Year goes to Ella Spear. Ella also made her mark in the record books- she entered into the TOP TEN list for single season digs at 9th with 127, and career digs at 9th!

Offensive Player of the Year goes to someone whose stats speak for themselves. Leading us in kills with 114 (3.86 per set), Offensive Player of the year goes to Calli Grosinske. Calli Grosinske also garnered her 1000th assist this season and ended with 1021 assists, launching her to 4th in our TOP TEN record books!

All Conference selections were also made by the coaches within the Rock Valley Conference.  

The Whippets had two athletes receiving All Conference Honorable Mention and they were: Falyn Krahn and Marina Linos.

The Whippets had two athletes receive All Conference FIRST TEAM Honors and they were Calli Grosinske and Ella Spear!

It was a pleasure coaching these athletes and they are all set to do great things in the future! After roughly 20 years coaching in some capacity at Whitewater High School, this was head coach Mary Kilar’s last year. It has been an absolute pleasure working with the athletes, coaches, staff and families! I will now become a super fan! Thank you for all the wonderful memories! Go, WHIPPETS!

Article and Photos Submitted by Mary Kilar
Whitewater High School Head Volleyball Coach
mkilar@wwusd.org

The Whitewater Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country Teams competed well against the state’s best athletes on Saturday, October 28th at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. The conditions were the coolest they were all season hovering in the mid 30’s with overcast skies and the course in great shape despite all the heavy rainfall leading up to the event.

The boys’ team raced first, and all seven runners were doing their jobs and establishing position early to begin preparing to endure the discomfort that eventually would set in. Jack Hefty ran a really great tactical race and put himself in a medal position for much of the race (top 10) but lost one of his spikes just over halfway into the race. This caused him to lose a few places by the finish; he ran an incredible race overall to place 13th in 16:28. This was his best place and time of all the three years he has competed at the state meet. Miles Nickelsburg moved up nicely in the back half of the course and eventually caught his teammate Nate Holden. He continued to motor to the finish line in 91st with a time of 17:47, the second-best time of his career. Nate was out strong and in the top 40 at the mile mark. Battling through a cold, he mustered everything he could for the team and placed 95th overall with a big improvement over his previous year’s state meet performance. Nate’s time was 17:48. Xavier Zei had a solid day in his first state meet race placing 126th with a time of 18:32. A year ago Xavier wasn’t even running under 20:00 minutes. Onyx Thompson ran a strong race only 14 seconds off his lifetime best and placed 143rd with a time of 19:30. Quincy Boudreau and Andrew O’Toole had nice efforts to place 142nd and 151st overall with times of 20:14 and 20:29. The boys’ team placed 14th overall with 311 points out of 16 in the event.

The girls were up next and did not disappoint. They came to race, and it showed from the get-go. From the early indicators, we were in a battle with Clinton with only a few points separating the two teams at each mile checkpoint. Clinton was the sectional champion in our sectional one week earlier by a fairly large margin. Mady Hefty once again led the team and placed 93rd with an overall time of 21:37. She completed a really nice comeback after an injury that derailed her season for a few weeks as we approached the championship phase of the season. Athena Soto wasn’t far behind and placed 101st in 21:52 in her third-best time of the season. Her improvement overall from last year to this year was huge in the team’s growth. Nola was moving up well in the later stages of the race and at the finish placed 116th in 22:16. Carley Boudreau rebounded well from a tougher sectional race a week earlier. Given the course conditions and terrain, this was far and away her best race of the season. Her previous PR was 22:10 on a flatter and faster course, and today she ran 22:17 and was 126th overall. Ema Aranda ran her lifetime best on the biggest stage and placed 144th in 24:10. Her previous best was last weekend when she helped the team qualify for state. Silvia Harris ran her second-best time of the season to stop the clock in 25:02, good enough for 147th. Isabella Aranda ran her second-best time of the season and placed 150th in 25:27. However, relative to the PR she set earlier in the season, this was the best effort she put together on race day. When the dust settled, Whitewater beat sectional champion Clinton from a week earlier and placed 15th with 393 points.

Coach Carstens added, “Overall both teams performed very well! There is so much to be proud of and incredible memories were made that will stick with these athletes as long as they live. They served the Whitewater community very well and should be proud of all they have accomplished. These two teams were able to rewrite history and qualify for state in the same year, a feat that has not been done in this town since 1996! Great job, Whippets!”

Full Results: https://live.pttiming.com/xc-ptt.html?mid=5912

Article Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coach
ccarstens@wwusd.org
Photos courtesy of Bob Mischka and Jeff Hefty