Today is Thursday, October 8, 2026
By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
Madison, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s tennis team claimed the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title for the 18th consecutive time Sunday. The Warhawks won four singles flights and swept the titles in doubles play en route to the championship.
The WIAC champion is determined by using a combination of the regular season dual meet standings and the WIAC Championship results. The Warhawks entered the championship tied for first with six points from dual meet results. UW-Whitewater added 14 points from the championships for a total of 20 to claim the title by two points over UW-La Crosse.
SINGLES
No. 1: Gracie Ha secured her second straight singles title (No. 2 singles champion in 2023) after defeating UW-Eau Claire’s Samantha Fuchs 6-2, 6-1 in the title match. To get to the title, Ha received a bye before defeating UWO’s Mana Usui 6-3, 6-3 in the second round.
No. 2: Molly Asfeld battled back from a 6-2, 6-4 loss in round two to eventual champion Shelby Roth (UWL) to secure bronze. In the third place bout, Asfeld took down Maya Kunze (UWSP) 6-3, 6-4. Her first round win was a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Alexis Budzinski (UWRF) Saturday.
No. 3: Abby Weaver picked up a pair of wins Sunday to claim gold in the third singles flight. After topping Morgan Dekan (UWEC) 6-0, 6-2 in the second round, Weaver bested UWL’s Lauren Lindow 6-1, 7-5 for the championship. She was 3-0 in singles play with a first round win over Ella Lamppa (UW-Stout) 6-1, 6-2 on day one.
No. 4: Alex Repplier won her second consecutive title in singles play Sunday. The top seed defeated Brianna Owens (UWO) 6-1, 6-1 before securing the title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Maia Samuelson (UWL). She adds the 2024 championship to a No. 5 singles gold from 2023.
No. 5: Sarah Ferguson went 2-0 after receiving a first round bye for the title. She took down Allie Brosteau (UWSP) 6-0, 6-1 in the second round and defeated Emma Heinert (UWL) 6-4, 6-0 in the championship.
No. 6: Crystina Lee battled hard in the No. 6 singles championship match. After taking the first set against top-seeded Hannah Cady (UWL), she dropped set two 6-4. Lee finished as the runner-up after the tiebreak went to the Eagles 10-2. On her way to the title match, Lee defeated Lexie Stein (UW-Stout) in straight sets and Tea Armstrong (UWEC) 3-6, 6-1, 10-5 in the second round.
DOUBLES
No. 1 – Gracie Ha & Abby Weaver: The Warhawk tandem in the top doubles flight came in as the No. 1 seed and punched their ticket into the championship with an 8-1 win over a UWSP pair. Ha and Weaver took down UWL’s Tasha Bailey and Roth 8-5 for the title. The championship is the second consecutive at No. 1 doubles for Ha.
No. 2 – Molly Asfeld & Alex Repplier: As the top seed in the second doubles flight, the Warhawks received a first round bye. In round two, Asfeld and Repplier defeated Morgan Dekan and Liv Herzog (UWEC) 8-6 to secure their spot in the championship. UW-Whitewater won the title with an 8-5 victory over UWL’s Samuelson and Cady. The doubles title is the second straight for Asfeld.
No. 3 – Ava Andrae & Crystina Lee: The Warhawks’ pair in the third doubles flight entered as the No. 2 seed. The duo defeated Hailey Reuvers and Mykela Hanson (UWRF) 8-1 and the UWEC tandem of Armstrong and Aubrey Wittwer 8-3 to punch their ticket to the title match. Andrae and Lee won a thrilling battle for the championship defeating Lindow and Heinert (UWL) 8-7(4).
Following the completion of the championship, the WIAC announced Cassie Lee as the Judy Kruckman Scholar Athlete. A full release on Lee’s accomplishments will be published in a separate story. She is the fourth Warhawk to earn the honor in the last five seasons and thirteenth in program history. Gracie Ha was selected as UW-Whitewater’s representative on the All-Sportsmanship Team.
UW-Whitewater has now won 25 WIAC titles in program history. The top four teams from the conference championship (UWW, UWL, UWEC, UWSP) advance to the team tournament that will determine the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Championship. The team tournament will be hosted by UWW on April 26, 2025.
The Whippet Boys’ Cross Country Team emerged as sectional champions once again after supreme races from top to bottom on Friday, October 25 on the campus of UW-Whitewater. In a very controlled, dialed-in effort, Jack Hefty once again led the team to his second individual sectional title in 16:39. Xavier Zei ran perfectly and closed the door on his race very well and finished fifth overall. Miles Nickelsburg had the race of the day for the team placing in sixth overall. He methodically made his way through the upper crust of the pack passing two runners in the second mile and five runners in his final 1.1 miles of the race to stop the clock in 17:47. Luc Pomazak will get his first taste of the state meet after never seeing a varsity race all last season. Having improved significantly this season, he was the team’s fourth runner today and placed 17th in 18:28. Andrew O’Toole rounded out the team scoring with a strong 23rd place finish and an overall time of 18:47 on this difficult course. Onyx Thompson mowed down at least five guys in the final 200m finish straight and placed 31st with a time of 19:06. Isaac Straight was the final Whippet to finish today in 54th with a time of 19:56, twenty-four seconds faster than he ran on this course a week earlier.
The girls’ race proved to be a good day overall for the team as they finished in sixth place. Nearly every girl ran faster than they did a week earlier on the same course at the conference championship. Today the team was led by senior Carley Boudreau who stopped the clock at 22:37 for a final placing of 21st. Fellow senior Athena Soto was a few steps behind her in 22:39 and placed 22nd. Virginia Nelson completed her first high school season as the team’s third runner and placed 23rd in 22:42. Mady Hefty moved up little by little throughout the race and was the team’s fourth runner in 28th with a time of 22:58. Senior Nola Coburn placed 41st with a time of 24:25. Ema Aranda placed 44th in 24:35, and senior Sami Van Daele placed 47th in 24:57. The team wraps up their season having finished second in the Valley division, third overall in the RVC, and with numerous seniors that have dedicated themselves to the sport of cross country for four years. The coaching staff is very thankful for the seniors and the leadership they have provided over the years. They are Isabella Aranda, Carley Boudreau, Nola Coburn, Athena Soto, Lucy Troxel and Sami Van Daele.
The WIAA State Meet will be held on the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday, November 2nd. The boys will be competing in the Division 2 race which is slated to begin at 2:35.
Full results: https://wi.milesplit.com/meets/628524-wiaa-d2-sectional-whitewater-2024
Article and Photo Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coach
ccarstens@wwusd.org
On Tuesday, October 22, the Whippet Swim Team finished out their regular season schedule against Beloit Memorial. The night was spent celebrating our seniors and all their success in the pool as a Whippet! The girls swam fast on senior night and put up many new best times!
Senior Makayla Bazeley swam a lifetime best in the 200 IM beating the rest of the field by nearly 13 seconds with at time of 2:14.43. With that time, she moved her up to third all-time on the Whippet Top 10 List. Makayla also swam the 100 Fly in dominating fashion as she went just on her season best time of 1:00.75.
Senior Emerson Dunham won the 500 Freestyle by over 1 minute. In her win she went a season best time of 6:03.45. Emerson also put on a fun performance battling back and forth with the competition in the 100 Breaststroke to go a time of 1:24.08!
A special shout out goes to Senior Adalynn Frye as she has been everyone’s biggest supporter and loudest cheerleader this season!
The Whippets went 22 of 27 best times on the night! Charlotte Hajewski went 2/2 on best time dropping 6 seconds in the 200 IM and 4 seconds in her 100 Freestyle with a time of 1:05.92! Zoe Zei also went 2/2 dropping 23 seconds in the 200 Freestyle and 7 seconds in the 100 Freestyle. Atreya Wilson continues with the 2/2 best times, dropping 3 seconds in the 200 Freestyle and improving her 100 Breaststroke time to a 1:35.18. Maria Pena and Caitlin Alford both posted new best times in the 50 & 100 Freestyles!
We are looking forward to seeing them drop even more time as we head into our Championship Season. First up we have JV Conference on Tuesday, October 29, in Elkhorn starting at 6 pm. We hope to see you there! Go Whippets!
Article and Photos Courtesy of Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach
ReynoldsSM07@uww.edu
By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
Platteville, Wis. — The No. 19 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team fell to No. 8 UW-Platteville 17-10 in the annual George Chryst Memorial Bowl in Platteville Saturday afternoon.
The Pioneers scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to claim the lead and secure the win. The Warhawks are now 25-4 in the George Chryst Memorial Bowl. Per tradition, offensive and defensive Players of the Game are selected from both teams after the game. UW-Whitewater was represented by running back Noah Battle and linebacker Ethan Gallagher. The Pioneers claimed possession of the Miner’s Axe for the fourth time in the 29-game bowl series.
After a scoreless first, UW-Whitewater got on the board early in the second quarter. The drive started with 6:18 left in the first from UWW’s own seven. The Warhawks marched 99-yards with Jackson Fox splitting the uprights from 25-yards out for the 3-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
UW-Platteville responded on the next drive. Following a 16-yard kick return, the Pioneers started their drive at the 20. Two 40-yard pass plays bolstered the four-play drive to give the host school the 7-3 advantage.
Late in the second, the Warhawks would reclaim the lead – this time on an 89-yard scoring drive. Tamir Thomas burst through the line for a 16-yard gain early in the drive. Jackson Chryst found Nick Wind for 19-yards down to the UWP 43 later in the series. After a nine-yard gain, Chryst found Brian Wilterdink in the end zone from 34-yards out for the touchdown strike. Fox hit the point after for a 10-7 UWW lead.
That score held until midway through the fourth quarter. The Warhawks had an opportunity on their second drive of the quarter, marching down to the UWP eight but the drive stalled and UWW turned the ball over on downs.
The Pioneers capitalized on the ensuing drive. Faced with third-and-ten from their own eight, Michael Priami found Brandt Stare on a pass hauled in at the Warhawks’ 45. He sprinted up the sideline for the 92-yard score. The point after gave the Pioneers a 14-10 lead.
On UW-Whitewater’s next drive, Chryst was hit as he threw causing an underthrown ball that was picked off by UWP. The turnover led to a field goal and the final score, 17-10.
Still, UWW had a chance … a late Hail Mary on the final play of the game. Chryst eluded one tackler and heaved the ball downfield, but the jump ball fell incomplete.
Chryst was 18-39 for 254 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Battle paced the Warhawk ground game with 80 yards on 11 carries. Wilterdink was the top target through the air with 75 yards on five receptions. Tyler Vasey also hauled in five catches for 71 yards.
Defensively, Gallagher led the Warhawks with 11 tackles including five solo.
With three games left in the regular season, UW-Platteville, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stout are all tied for the league-lead with a 3-1 mark in conference play. UW-Whitewater, UW-River Falls and UW-La Crosse are all 2-2 while UW-Eau Claire holds a 1-3 record and UW-Stevens Point is 0-4.
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