Whitewater's Kraft Named Conference Athlete of the Week at UW-Whitewater

Whitewater’s Kraft Named Conference Athlete of the Week at UW-Whitewater

Posted on: March 31, 2021

WHITEWATER, WI (03/31/2021)– Olivia Kraft, a native of Whitewater, WI, and student-athlete at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, was one of seven Warhawks who were named Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Kwik Trip Athletes of the Week for their performances from March 22-28, 2021.

Matt O’Sullivan (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland) of the baseball team is now a three-time WIAC Pitcher of the Week for his career. Paige Nierman (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Stevenson) and Olivia Kraft (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community) are each two-time winners of the WIAC Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week in doubles. Nierman is a first-time honoree in singles.

First-time selections include Dwayne Ford (Racine, Wis./Case), the WIAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week, Kaleigh O’Brien (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge), the WIAC Softball Position Player of the Week, Kate Cleveland (DePere, Wis./Ashwaubenon), the WIAC Softball Pitcher of the Week, and Morgan McEntire (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral), the WIAC Gymnastics Specialist of the Week.

Baseball – Pitcher

Matt O’Sullivan (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland), Senior

O’Sullivan tallied 17 strikeouts, tied for the second-most in one game in program history, and retired the first 13 hitters of the game via strikeout during the Warhawks’ 10-0 victory over Finlandia (Mich.) in seven innings on Friday at Prucha Field at Miller Stadium. He allowed only one hit in the contest, was perfect through 6 1/3 innings and faced the minimum number of batters (21) after UW-Whitewater turned a double play to end the seventh. He induced three groundouts and no flyouts, and did not allow a ball in play until there was one out in the top of the sixth inning. O’Sullivan’s performance helped the 18th-ranked Warhawks complete a 4-0 week.

Gymnastics – Specialist

Morgan McEntire (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral), Sophomore

McEntire tied for first on vault with a personal-record score of 9.550 to help UW-Whitewater to a 188.675-187.075 win at UW-La Crosse last Tuesday. Her new vault included a Yurchenko full, which she taught herself over the summer in the middle of the pandemic. Determined to learn the new vault and perform it this year, McEntire worked on the vault with only 20 days of team practice in the fall and over Thanksgiving and Christmas break in a new gym with no coaching due to capacity restrictions at her facility. She won the event Tuesday performing that vault for the first time this year.

Softball – Pitcher

Kate Cleveland (DePere, Wis./Ashwaubenon), Freshman

In three appearances last week, Cleveland posted a 2-0 record with a 0.93 earned run average and five strikeouts to help the Warhawks finish the week with a 6-0 record. She started the week Monday with a complete-game, 3-1 victory over nationally-ranked Carroll, allowing only one run on five hits without a walk. On Sunday, Cleveland allowed only one earned run on five hits and one walk in a complete-game, 8-2 triumph over Wisconsin Lutheran. She added a scoreless inning of relief in UW-Whitewater’s first game of a doubleheader on Saturday against Chicago.

Softball – Position Player

Kaleigh O’Brien (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge), Senior, First Base

O’Brien batted .867 (13-of-15) with four doubles, two home runs, an on-base percentage of .889 and a slugging percentage of 1.533 last week to help the Warhawks to a 6-0 record. She also didn’t commit an error in the field and tallied 55 putouts. In the team’s first game of the week, a 3-1 win over nationally-ranked Carroll on Monday, O’Brien finished 3-for-3 with one double and two runs scored. She finished the doubleheader with two more hits and one run scored in the nightcap. In UW-Whitewater’s doubleheader sweep over Chicago on Saturday, O’Brien finished 6-for-6 at the plate with three doubles, two homers, one walk, two runs scored and four runs batted in. One day later, she registered two more hits in UW-W’s 8-2 victory over Wisconsin Lutheran, and drew two walks and scored a run in the second game of the twin bill, a 17-0 Warhawk win in five innings.

Women’s Tennis – Singles

Paige Nierman (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Stevenson), Senior, and Olivia Kraft (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community), Junior

Nierman and Kraft paired for an 8-2 triumph over Mackenzie Novak and Sydney Rott at No. 2 doubles to help the Warhawks to a 5-4 win over Bethel (Minn.) in a dual on Sunday in Eau Claire. The duo’s win was especially timely as UW-Whitewater dropped its other two doubles matches. Nierman and Kraft have combined for a 2-2 record so far this spring.

Women’s Tennis – Doubles

Paige Nierman (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Stevenson), Senior, and Olivia Kraft (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community), Junior

Men’s Track

Dwayne Ford (Racine, Wis./Case), Junior

In the team’s first outdoor meet of the season, Ford posted a personal-record 10.63 seconds in the 100-meter dash to win the event Saturday at the Warhawks’ Spring Opener at Rex Foster Track. His time currently leads NCAA Division III by seven-hundredths of a second and topped his previous career best of 10.67 set at the 2019 WIAC Outdoor Championships. Ford also helped UW-Whitewater’s 4×100-meter relay team tally the nation’s No. 3 time of 42.12 seconds. He is a two-time All-American in the relay event.

For more than 150 years, UW-Whitewater has provided students with the education and training to begin their careers with a solid foundation behind them. The UW-Whitewater is committed to the development of the individual, the growth of personal and professional integrity and respect for diversity and global perspectives. These are met by providing academic and co-curricular programs that emphasize the pursuit of knowledge and understanding and a commitment to service within a safe and secure environment.