​The Whitewater Girl’s Swim Team competed in their final dual meet against Beloit Memorial on Tuesday (10/17). The team left with some best times as we enter into championship season.  

Some best times include: 

• Maggie Maas – 200 Freestyle (2:26.48) and 100 Freestyle (1:07.21)
• Charlotte Hajewski- 200 IM (2:51.87) with an impressive finish! 
• Lucy Davis – 200 IM by dropping 13 whole seconds (3:08.63) and 100 Backstroke (1:36.29)
• Sanibel Fox-Simes – 50 Freestyle (50.85) and 100 Freestyle by dropping 4 seconds (1:50.45)
• Adalynn Frye – 50 Freestyle (34.79) 
• Makayla Bazeley- 100 Backstroke (1:00.99) which improves her time in the Whippets Top 10!
• Emerson Dunham – 50 Freestyle (30.20) 
• Marijose Verduzco – 100 Freestyle (1:26.33) and 100 Backstroke by dropping 4 seconds (1:34.88) 
• Atreya Wilson – 500 Freestyle by dropping 18 seconds (7:46.01)
• Georgia Esch – 200 Freestyle dropping 4 seconds (2:53.56) 

The Swim Team is back in the pool on Saturday, October 21, at UW-Platteville. We hope to see you all as we head into our championship season.

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

12th seeded Whitewater Volleyball team lost to 5th seeded Stoughton in the first round of regionals (7-25, 12-25, 14-25) on Tuesday, October 17.

We tried a different line up after losing the first two sets to see if we could get some momentum, and we certainly hung with them the first half of set three, but then costly service and serve receive errors cost us several points and we couldn’t recover.

Zoe Kohl was called upon to play a 6 rotation outside in set three, and added 2 kills in that set to go with her 3 digs. Ava Alvarado was asked to change up her defensive position in set three. Both players did their jobs. I was pleased with Ava’s defensive presence on the court. She passed a 2.5 on the night and added 5 digs. Ava has certainly grown in her confidence and has held steady for us all year. She has a great volleyball IQ and definitely became a leader in the backcourt.

Statistical leaders on the night included Calli Grosinske with 8 kills and 11 digs, Falyn Krahn with 3 kills and 4 digs, Ella Spear with 1 ace and 2 digs, and Marina Linos with 7 assists, 2 aces, and a block. Manny Mbifi added 1 block on the night as well.

This was the final match as a Whippet for our four seniors Manny Mbifi, Meg Roselle, Marina Linos, and Aidyn Amundson. These seniors were exemplary leaders on and off the court. They certainly set a high standard for our younger players about team culture, work ethic, and dedication. They came day in and day out giving their all to this team and program, and certainly have grown into fine student athletes over the last four years. They will all be deeply missed by this program.

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

By Angela Kelm
Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information

River Falls, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team, ranked seventh according to D3football.com, took down fourth-ranked UW-River Falls on their home field Saturday afternoon. 

Box Score 

Tommy Coates dives into the end zone for a touchdown (Olivia Zinanni)

The Warhawks were dominant in the first half. The Falcons generated more offense in the second half, but two statistics stood out and sealed the game for UWW — the Warhawks tallied four takeaways and owned the possession game with the offense on the field for 38:14 in the contest. Two of those takeaways led to points and a hefty UWW lead in the first half. 

After a three-and-out on the first drive of the game, the Warhawk defense forced a punt and the offense capitalized. UWW went 55 yards in 14 plays capped by an Alec Ogden six-yard touchdown scamper.

The UWW defense got the offense back onto the field in a hurry. Six plays into the Falcons’ next drive, Joey Antonietti picked off UWRF quarterback Kaleb Blaha, one of the best in the nation, for his third interception in as many games. Once again, the UW-Whitewater offense capitalized. Ogden hit Tommy Coates for a 13-yard reception on the first play. Two snaps later, Nick Wind hauled in an Ogden pass for a 36-yard gain. Two plays later, the Ogden-Coates connection was good from 21-yards out for the passing score. The Warhawks opted to go for two to make up for a missed extra point on the first touchdown, but the try was unsuccessful leaving UWW with a 12-0 lead. 

The next series of drives was more of the same – a UWW takeaway that led to more points. This time Cole Yocum scooped up a fumble and returned it 32 yards to set up the Warhawk offense at the River Falls 30. The UW-Whitewater drive stalled sending out the field goal unit. Jeff Isotalo-McGuire split the uprights from 44-yards out to make it 15-0 Warhawks with over 10 minutes to go before the half. 

The defense forced a punt with the offense getting into field goal range on UWW’s next drive, but the 53-yard attempt was no good giving the ball back to the Falcons at their own 26 with 5:27 left. 

UW-Whitewater’s stingy defense nearly held UWRF off the board in the first half forcing 4th down and 12 from the UWW 18 but Blaha was able to find a receiver in the end zone for the score. The extra point made it 15-7. The teams traded interceptions with Kyle Koelblinger picking off Konnor Aufenthie’s pass as time expired.

On the other side of the break, the defense continued to frustrate the Falcon offense, forcing a punt on the first drive of the half. Ogden went up the middle for 37 yards on UW-Whitewater’s first play of their drive. Tamir Thomas broke off the right side of the line and upfield for 22 more. He would cap the drive five plays later with a five-yard run. Another two-point attempt was unsuccessful to keep the score at 21-7. 

That score held through the third. Early in the fourth the Falcons recovered a fumble and turned the takeaway into points to pull within a touchdown, 21-14, with over 13 minutes remaining. 

Neither team was able to put up points in their ensuing drives and UWRF took over at their own 20 with 2:45 on the clock. 

The Warhawk defense came up big, like they had been doing the whole game. After back-to-back incomplete passes for Blaha, Hawk Heffner came flying past the end of the line and straight to the quarterback for a sack and a loss of six yards to make it 4th and 16. Blaha’s next pass fell incomplete and the Warhawk offense took to the field in victory formation. 

Ogden was 15-22 for 180 yards and a passing touchdown. He added 73 yards and a touchdown on the ground. 

Thomas was UWW’s leading back with 68 yards and a touchdown. Nick Wind hauled in three catches for 63 yards while Coates caught five passes for 46 yards and the score. 

Defensively, Heffner tallied seven tackles and the late sack. Antonietti posted seven tackles and had the i

River Falls, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team, ranked seventh according to D3football.com, took down fourth-ranked UW-River Falls on their home field Saturday afternoon. 

Box Score 

Photo 1: Tommy Coates dives into the endzone for a touchdown (Olivia Zinanni)

Photo 2: Kyle Koelblinger looks up the field after hauling in an interception (Olivia Zinanni)

The Warhawks were dominant in the first half. The Falcons generated more offense in the second half, but two statistics stood out and sealed the game for UWW — the Warhawks tallied four takeaways and owned the possession game with the offense on the field for 38:14 in the contest. Two of those takeaways led to points and a hefty UWW lead in the first half. 

After a three-and-out on the first drive of the game, the Warhawk defense forced a punt and the offense capitalized. UWW went 55 yards in 14 plays capped by an Alec Ogden six-yard touchdown scamper.

The UWW defense got the offense back onto the field in a hurry. Six plays into the Falcons’ next drive, Joey Antonietti picked off UWRF quarterback Kaleb Blaha, one of the best in the nation, for his third interception in as many games. Once again, the UW-Whitewater offense capitalized. Ogden hit Tommy Coates for a 13-yard reception on the first play. Two snaps later, Nick Wind hauled in an Ogden pass for a 36-yard gain. Two plays later, the Ogden-Coates connection was good from 21-yards out for the passing score. The Warhawks opted to go for two to make up for a missed extra point on the first touchdown, but the try was unsuccessful leaving UWW with a 12-0 lead. 

The next series of drives was more of the same – a UWW takeaway that led to more points. This time Cole Yocum scooped up a fumble and returned it 32 yards to set up the Warhawk offense at the River Falls 30. The UW-Whitewater drive stalled sending out the field goal unit. Jeff Isotalo-McGuire split the uprights from 44-yards out to make it 15-0 Warhawks with over 10 minutes to go before the half. 

The defense forced a punt with the offense getting into field goal range on UWW’s next drive, but the 53-yard attempt was no good giving the ball back to the Falcons at their own 26 with 5:27 left. 

UW-Whitewater’s stingy defense nearly held UWRF off the board in the first half forcing 4th down and 12 from the UWW 18 but Blaha was able to find a receiver in the endzone for the score. The extra point made it 15-7. The teams traded interceptions with Kyle Koelblinger picking off Konnor Aufenthie’s pass as time expired.

On the other side of the break, the defense continued to frustrate the Falcon offense, forcing a punt on the first drive of the half. Ogden went up the middle for 37 yards on UW-Whitewater’s first play of their drive. Tamir Thomas broke off the right side of the line and upfield for 22 more. He would cap the drive five plays later with a five-yard run. Another two-point attempt was unsuccessful to keep the score at 21-7. 

That score held through the third. Early in the fourth the Falcons recovered a fumble and turned the takeaway into points to pull within a touchdown, 21-14, with over 13 minutes remaining. 

Neither team was able to put up points in their ensuing drives and UWRF took over at their own 20 with 2:45 on the clock. 

The Warhawk defense came up big, like they had been doing the whole game. After back-to-back incomplete passes for Blaha, Hawk Heffner came flying passed the end of the line and straight to the quarterback for a sack and a loss of six yards to make it 4th and 16. Blaha’s next pass fell incomplete and the Warhawk offense took to the field in victory formation. 

Ogden was 15-22 for 180 yards and a passing touchdown. He added 73 yards and a touchdown on the ground. 

Thomas was UWW’s leading back with 68 yards and a touchdown. Nick Wind hauled in three catches for 63 yards while Coates caught five passes for 46 yards and the score. 

Defensively, Heffner tallied seven tackles and the late sack. Antonietti posted seven tackles and had the interception. Koelblinger added five tackles and three pass breakups to his interception on the day. Matt Burba registered four tackles and a sack for a loss of 16 yards. 

nterception. Koelblinger added five tackles and three pass breakups to his interception on the day. Matt Burba registered four tackles and a sack for a loss of 16 yards. 

Whitewater High School hosted the Rock Valley Conference Cross Country Meet at UW-Whitewater on Thursday, October 12th, and absolutely shined on what was a cloudy rainy afternoon.

The varsity boys got things going first with Jack Hefty claiming his first individual conference championship in cross country. Jack battled with the top runner from Monroe for much of the race before pulling away with 1000 meters to go and was simply all gas at that point. He was the only runner to break 17 on this challenging course to stop the clock at 16:58. Nate Holden took advantage of the top Monroe runner faltering late in the race and passed him with 850 meters to go. Nate never looked back to claim third overall with a time of 17:36. These two earned first team all-conference honors for finishing in the top 8. With two runners in the stable, the team was riding high. Miles Nickelsburg ran lights out and took 9th overall with his best race of the season yet. He stopped the clock in 17:53. Not to be outdone, Xavier Zei took 2nd team all-conference honors as well by placing 15th with a time of 18:25. Onyx Thompson accelerated through the field late taking 44th and completed the team total of 72 points. Quincy Boudreau and Andrew O’Toole ran gutsy races to wrap up the Whippet finishers and placed 51st and 54th overall. These two ran 20:26 and 20:39. The team gave Monroe everything they had and caused them to be nervous. The cheers that the Monroe fan base let out at the awards ceremony indicated as such. Monroe took the title with 65 points, just 7 ahead of Whitewater. The team improved on its third-place finish from a year ago.

The varsity girls competed next with a slightly different look as the usual top runner, Mady Hefty, was unable to race today. This decision was made as a cautionary measure due to an injury with hopes of having her on the starting line at sectionals next Saturday. Nola Coburn assumed the number one position for the team as the top Whippet finisher. Nola ran a strong, smart race and sliced her way through the field and finished just outside first team all-conference, placing 9th overall. This was a very strong race for her! Nola’s time was 21:54. Athena Soto earned an honorable mention all-conference honor and placed 17th in 22:20. Carley Boudreau earned honorable mention all RVC honors by placing 23rd in her first year of cross country. Her time was 22:49. Ema Aranda and Sami Van Daele were the next two Whippets to cross the line in 44th and 45th with times of 25:43 and 25:50. The next two girls to get to the line were Bella Aranda and Silvia Harris in 48th and 49th with times of 26:11 and 26:23. The team raced with courage and toughness and came away with a fifth place finish out of 11 teams with a point total of 122.

The JV boys were led by Isaac Straight who had a great day and stopped the clock at 20:36, good enough for 7th overall. Wyatt Esch wasn’t far behind and placed 9th in 21:06. Isaiah Mendez really poured it on late in the race and placed 12th with a time of 21:12, good enough for a 25 second season best time improvement. Marcus Roselle ran a great race for 29th in 22:12. Quinton O’Toole and Parker Genskow were together much of the race but saw Quinton ahead at the end with a 37th place finish over Parker’s 41st position. Gavin LaFlash finished in 47th. Sam Nickelsburg placed 55th. Luc Pomazak and Angel Kilar ran significant personal bests today with Luc shaving 25 seconds off his season best and Angel cutting four and a half minutes off his previous season’s best on this day. Wow! Alex Clarksen placed 61st and cut 5 seconds off his season best time, Dante Baker was 63^rd, and Sterling Truesdale finished 67th. Like the varsity boys, the JV squad placed 2nd overall with a point total of 82 points.

The JV girls were paced by Lucy Troxel who placed 23rd with a time of 27:04. Payton Brautigam easily ran the best race of her season and cut nearly a minute off her previous best and placed 25th in 27:17. Haley Keltesch ran a lifetime best and placed 32nd in 29:37. Danielle DePorter ran her second best time of the season in her final race in a Whippet uniform to place 36th in 31:31. Taiya Kolb completed the JV scoring as the team’s fifth runner in 37th with a new season best of 32:42. The girls team placed third overall with 85 points.

Full Results: https://my.raceresult.com/265906/

The team will now shift their focus to the WIAA Division 2 Sectional meet hosted at UW-Parkside on Saturday, October 21st. The varsity boys will race first at 12:25 and the girls will follow at 1:10. The top 2 teams and the top 5 individuals not on those two teams will earn a trip to the WIAA State Meet the following weekend.

Go, Whippets!

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