First, let's take a look at the three major sports that made history by completing the Trifecta in 2013-2014. Let me just say shortly after it happened I thought about what each teams has coming back and let me just say there is a chance that what was impossible could be done two years in a row. With 17 of the 20 sports on the UW-Whitewater making NCAA Tournament play last year, anything is possible and the sky is the limit.
Teams that can repeat as National Champions in 2014-2015:
1. Football:
Head Coach: Lance Leipold (8th season, 94-6 overall)
After winning the 2013 National Championship against the other Division III power in Mount Union pretty easily (even though I expected Whitewater to score 38-48 points in that game with how bad Mount Union's defense was the second half of their season). Let me just say one thing though, I feel way more confident about the 2014 Warhawks than I did with last year's team. Last year, I was asking questions like who will be the clear number one running back and will that offense line that was so inexperienced be able to protect the quarterback. Well, thankfully those questions were answered. Now onto the 2014 Warhawk Football season, offensively they return basically everything. Senior Quarterback Matt Behrendt is back under center after an incredible first full season at quarterback last year where he threw for 40 touchdowns and just 1 interception (which was a pick six against UW-Platteville). He returns with some of the weapons he had last year including his go-to guy in Jake Kumerow, an explosive Justin Howard, and hopefully healthy Joe Worth. It will be interesting however who they replace Tyler Huber, Steve Morris, and Zach Howard with to fill the depth lost there. At the tight end position, Derric Junakin is back as the number one tight end along with a backup that made some key catches in the playoffs in Logan Solano. At the running back spot, what was so cluttered at the beginning of the year last year has become a position of depth. It will be interesting to see what sophomore running back Jordan Ratliffe does with a full season as the number one back. The other sophomore back in Booker Ross should man the #2 spot on the depth chart along with Ryan Givens at the #3 spot at the position. The question is how Nick Patterson and Dennis Moore will bounce back after injury riddled seasons a year ago and where they will fit in the depth chart at running back. They also return starting fullback Kyle Christensen as well. I feel a lot more confident about the offensive line with how they improved last year throughout the season and they return the whole starting offensive line from last year's squad led by the senior Lucas Skibba. Now onto the defense, which was the best in the Division III last year. Starting with the defensive front, they lost a big piece to graduation in former Stagg Bowl MVP Loussaint Minnett. So now that line will be anchored by senior Mykaell Bratchett. At the other two spots in the Warhawks 3-4 scheme are most likely going to be John Flood and Kenosha Bradford product Kevon Clunis. That defensive line will do OK even with the loss of Minnett. Now I'm going to move to the secondary, which is going to be the strength of the Warhawks defense this season. Starting at corner are two of Division III's best and both should be in the running for All-American honors this year in Marcus McLin and Brady Grayvold (who had a school record of 9 INT's last year). They have some good depth behind that with Zach Nellis and Ryan Givens (who could play both sides of the ball this season, but could be used more on defense with how much depth they have at running back). Now to the safety spot, they got some depth there with Dylan Morang and Ryan Winske starting at those spots. The biggest question on defense is replacing the linebacker corps. of Ryan Cortez, Kyle Wismer, Josh Williams, and the Gagliardi award finalist in Cole Klotz. That will be the tough task for head coach Lance Leipold to find out. I would expect juniors Spencer Jacque and Justin Dischler to lead the charge at those spots. The other two spots who knows who we could see to fill the rest of the linebackers out. On special teams, the Warhawks will have a slight adjustment to make but not really big at all in having Lake Bachar getting the kicking duties. Head coach Lance Leipold is also on the verge of some big milestones in his head coaching career as he is three wins away from becoming third in the program's history in wins as a coach as he'll pass Chick Agnew on that list. That will leave him with only Forest Perkins (190 wins) and his predecessor Bob Berezowitz (158 wins) to pass in the wins category. With that being said, I expect the Warhawks to win the conference easier than last year because they have the easiest schedule out of the teams in WIAC this year. Some of the teams in the WIAC have absolutely brutal schedules. When you look at Whitewater's schedule, it looks a lot easier than what the other teams in the conference have. I think UW-Platteville and UW-Oshkosh could still be up there despite losing some big pieces, but it will be tough for the WIAC to have two playoff teams this year with the schedules some of those teams have. Come playoff time, Whitewater will be back and with how dangerous they are should be back in the Stagg Bowl against possibly Mount Union (or someone else that Purple Raider defense was horrid that second half of their season).
2. Men's Basketball:
Head Coach: Pat Miller
Now to what was the second leg of that Trifecta with the Men's Basketball team. Looking at this team this is another team that has the strong potential to hoist a National Championship trophy in the 2014-2015. They did lose a few big pieces from last year's squad in Alex Merg, Eric Bryson, Patrick Souter, and Reggie Hearn. Despite that they still have a really good team going into this season. Quardell Young, who has some big moments in both National Championships the team has experienced lately, will be the facilitator of this team, who has led the team in assists the last two seasons. KJ Evans is poised to be an All-American in 2014-2015, after having a stellar 2013-2014 season, where he led the team in scoring and showed up when he was needed especially in the run towards the National Championship in 2014. Cody Odegaard returns to the starting lineup after being a bench player last year (He started for the team in 2012 and a little bit of 2013 before being injured). Steve Egan should start at power forward position after being part of the rotation last year. The big question coming into 2014-2015 for this team is figuring out, who will play that center position. Warhawks Men's Basketball head coach Pat Miller will have a variety of options at that spot with Terrance Bradley, Cole Van Schyndel, and Ron Patten. I would think Terrance Bradley would get the nod to start even though Cole Van Schyndel and Ron Patten can hit the three ball. Off the bench, look for Clay Stevens and Drew Bryson to make bigger impacts this year than last year at the guard and small forward spots. You could see Dylan Graf and Ryan McBride come in for Quardell Young when he needs some rest. The team also returns some players from injuries from the last year or so in Miles Chamberlin and Charlie Fischer. Both intend to be back, so it will be interesting to see where they fit in. I expect this team to be favorites to win the WIAC, but it could still be a dogfight with UW-Stevens Point despite the fact that the Pointers lost some big pieces in Tyler Tillema, Trevor Haas, and Clayton Ritchay.
3. Baseball
Head Coach: John Vodenlich
The last leg of the Trifecta from last year also has some National Championship potential heading into 2014-2015 for a potential repeat as well. The Warhawks still have the pitching even with losing Scott Plaza. Expect Connor Hurst and the now healthy Matt Roberts to anchor the rotation along with Curtis Morgan. With the rest of the pitching, expect Austin Jones and Colin Grove to still pitch at the back end. Vodenlich's bombers still return most of the artillery for 2015. Manning the battery will be junior Mike Mierow. The infield mostly intact being led by Mikole Pierce (who led the team in hitting in 2014), Nick Kulmann, and Casey Power. Adam Gregory should be the guy to replace Jared Fon at third place. Gregory could see some time at first base as well on the days that Casey Power plays catcher. So you could see a combination of Dylan Bersch and Jordan Kuczynski at that spot as well. One of those two players could see time as a designated hitter. In the outfield, here's how I see it: Kyle Haen back in left field and moving Trey Cannon to center. The only question is figuring out who will man right field, right now the front runner in that spot would be Daytona Bryden. Only time will tell if they get back to Appleton to repeat the feat.
4. Gymnastics
Head Coach: Jennifer Regan
The UW-Whitewater Gymnastics charge for a four peat will be led by National Qualifier Katie Fiorilli in 2015. Fiorilli was the only Division 3 gymnast to qualify for the Division 1 Nationals last year. The team will also look for big performances from Hannah Lee, Cici Talcott, and Jen McKiernan. Like other Warhawk teams, they have the depth to win National Championships. In the case of Gymnastics is that they can go for even longer than a four peat because they have that much depth.
Teams On the Horizon for National Championships in 2014-2015:
1. Softball
Head Coach: Brenda Volk
The UW-Whitewater Softball Team finished third last year, and they could be a team that could be back in 2015. The biggest strength on this team is the pitching as they'll return Bekka Houda and Kelynn Sporer. The Warhawks' pitching has been what they've depending on the last few years. Both Houda and Sporer starting most of the games last year, so they should be good at that spot. The team. however on the field, will be really interesting. After losing Mimi Ramirez, Samie Seamon, Morgan Krisch, Laura Eichenhold, Kelly McGrail, and Chelsea Schobert, a bunch of spots will be up for grabs. Only three offensive starters return for 2015 in outfielder Paige Evangelista, third baseman Jo Jablonski, and expect Amy Ricci (who was the designated player in 2014) to take the spot of Krisch at first base. The other spots are up for grabs, but they do have depth in all those spots. In the outfield spots, you could see combination of players with Elaina Caron, Deven Ducharme, Mackenzie Price, Haley Morelli, Morgan Parise, and Courtney Smith. In the infield at the other spots, Caitlin Synder could man shortstop and Maggie Hansen could man second base. Sophomore Alyssa Fernandez will be the catcher for this team in 2015. We'll see what this team gets from their offense in 2015 with how much they are losing to graduation. This team could be back in the mix for a national championship, should the pitching take it there.
2. Women's Basketball
Two years in a row and two Final Four appearances, somethings gotta give. This team has to get over the hump of finishing 2nd (2013) and third (2014) and get their first National Championship in the Women's program history. It will be a tough task as eight players are gone to graduation including their top four scorers. Yes that is a big loss, but with Lisa Palmer coming back (she missed all of last year with an ACL injury) that will help mend what they are losing. They still have a good team with the projected starting lineup of sophomore Reilly Stewart, junior Abbie Reeves, and sophomore Andrea Olsen manning the guard/small forward positions. Junior Emily Jensen should start at center this year. It is huge that they are getting Palmer back because she was a big piece the in 2013 runner-up finish. Other big pieces for another run at a Final Four appearance in 2014-2015 that should see some time in 2014-2015: Clare Gloede (who had some big time off the bench last year), Erin Schuler (the daughter of a former Warhawk wrestler), and Kirsten Hammer. They do have some players that could be on the court, but won't see significant time but maybe in a year or so with Kate Bemis, Samantha Ahr, Michele Molini, Mandy Frey, Dani Fugate, and Caity Coleman. Despite being a younger team, they could be back with big years from Reeves, Stewart, Olsen, and Palmer.
3. Volleyball
Head Coach: Stacy Bourdeau
Besides football, this is the other team with an amazing run the last decade or so at UW-Whitewater. The volleyball program at UW-Whitewater has been the most amazing run the last two decades plus as they have made it to the NCAA tournament every year since 1992. The big pieces for 2014 for the Warhawks Volleyball include some players that have gained All-American honors the last two years in Kelsey Nobilio, Alivia Holman, Kim Frei, and Ariel Freitag (who are all seniors). Nobilio has been nothing but a beast at digging out digs the last few years. In addition to that, big impacts should be made by senior Kristen Ruchti, juniors Katie Gray, Jessica Sabey, Stephanie Cherwin, Brittany Langley and Mackenzie Jordan sophomores Staci Hasler, Lauren Pheiffer, Morgan Parker, Jaclyn Krizka and Haley Hintz. This team could also get a big piece back in Leanna Lillge, who missed all of last year with an injury. This team should be in the mix for NCAA Tournament with the run of that they've been on lately.
4. Women's Soccer
Head Coach: Ryan Quamme
This is the dark horse (or surprise) for a team that could win a National Championship at Whitewater in the next few years in my opinion. Reason why is the youth on the team. I was doing a few UWWTV broadcasts of their games, and the thing impressed me during those was a group of the freshman from last year. I'm talking about Carina Krausert, Emma Guilfoil, Carolyn Nash, Sierra High, Carly Pottle, and Brianna Reid. Most of that group scored a majority of their goals last year. In fact, Brianna Reid led the team in goals scored. It will be interesting to see where this group is at a few years down the line. Other big contributers for 2014 are their All-Americans from last year in Jenna Woodson, Kelsey Beld, and Sarah Sedlar. Their goalie is a beast at goalie in Jordan Myers, who already has the career shutout record at Whitewater. The team finished 18-1-8 last year (with the only loss being to Capital in the NCAA Tournament). A lot of promise with this team and they could be one of big programs at Whitewater in a few years.
5. Wrestling
Head Coach: Ned Shuck
The Warhawks Wrestling team also had a high finish in the 2013-2014 school year. They finished 2nd in Division III Wrestling to Wartburg last year. Just like most of the sports at UW-Whitewater, they return a bulk of what they had last year as well. With them, the biggest impacts on their team are going to be the guys that made the biggest impacts last year. Guys like Shane Siefert and Elroy Perkin, who were both one and two respectively in leading the team in Pins last year. Wrestlers like Matt Adcock, Ryan Aprahamian, and Andrew Pettit, who were all in the top ten in wins on the team last year. Talent wise this team should be as good as last year, so expect them to be back up there this year. The big question will be who the coach is as now former Warhawks wrestling coach Tim Fader was asked to resign due to a recruitment violation.
6. Women's Track and Field
The UW-Whitewater Women's Track and Field finished with third place finishes in both the indoor and outdoor season in 2014. So that is another team that could be up there to win a National Championship, which is hard to do in Track and Field with any team. The team still has a young team with losing only four seniors from last year's roster. The standouts for this team for 2015 would be Lexie Sondgeroth, Shelby Mahr, Amanda Brom, Mary Kate Bernier, and Candice Wayne.
The Other Sports (where we could see some individual National Champions):
With these other sports, it will tough to win National Championships with these (and I'm not saying it can't be done). It is definitely possible that we could see a few individual National Champions in these sports.
1. Women's Tennis
Head Coach: Frank Barnes (coaches both Men's and Women's)
Returning Players: Emily Sodemann (senior), Madeline Benhoff (junior), Caitlin Fitzgerald (junior), Erika Williams (junior), Kristin Zeilinger (junior), Amy Upthagrove (sophomore), Rachel Siemon (sophomore), and Megan Humphreys (sophomore).
To me with Women's Tennis, there aren't as many standouts as last year. Obviously with this team there is a lot of youth on this team. To me the player that will have the biggest impact is one that had a huge year as freshman last year in sophomore Megan Humphreys. I expect her to once to continue her good start as an athlete at Whitewater, which her freshman year included an All-American honor. Of everyone on this team, this is the player that I expect to make ITA's and the Small College Championships in the Fall along with NCAA's in the spring.
2. Men's Tennis
Returning Players: Cam Laktash (senior), Ben Shklar (senior), Michael Schnarr (junior), Jake Humphreys (junior), Matt Bisbee (junior), Martin Beck (sophomore), Justin Bowman (sophomore), Scott Butler (sophomore), Rithwik Rajshekhar Raman (sophomore), and Venkatesh Yuvaraj (sophomore).
Now with Warhawks Men's Tennis, there are a lot more standouts that could end up with being at ITA's and at all the Championship stuff in the Fall and Spring. Laktash, Shklar, Schnarr, Beck and Humphreys all had good years last year. Ben Shklar and Jake Humphreys had All-American years, where they made it to ITAs and the Small College National Championships. These would be the five that are going have the biggest impacts on the team for the 2014-2015 school year.
3. Men's Cross County
Head Coach: Jeff Miller (coaches both Men's and Women's Cross Country)
Returners: Dawson Miller (senior), Jason Revels (senior), Matthew Rudquist (senior), Connor Markgraf (senior), Ryan Adamski (junior), Quinn Farley (junior), Brandon Hinneberg (junior), James Koene (junior), Ryan Maes (junior), Casey Merrill (junior), Kent Miehe (junior), Joe O'Neil (junior), Tony Urbanski (junior), Scott Wolter (junior), Ryan Mindham (sophomore), and Cody Oudinot (sophomore).
Last year for Men's Cross Country, they had 12 runners reach the Conference meet. Five of those runners made the NCAA Regional as well. The runner to look out for the 2014 Cross Country season is the coach's son in Dawson Miller. Dawson Miller has been up there in terms of All-American honors throughout his first three years at Whitewater. Even though he did not make the NCAA regional last year, he still had a strong showing in the conference meet. He is usually up there in terms of performances. Matt Rudquist, Kent Miehe, Ryan Maes and Quinn Farley are also runners to watch out for as they had the team's top four finishes in the NCAA Regional last year.
4. Women's Cross Country
Returners: Amanda Brom (senior), Alex Howell (senior), Kathleen Riordan (senior), Nicole Bartel (junior), Mary Kate Bernier (junior), Megan Buse (junior), Mayzee Hurst (junior), Amy Kahl (junior), Emily Kahl (junior), Sarah Kasiurak (junior), Lauren Lutz (junior), Jaclyn Rowe (junior), Tori Ruf (junior), Katelyn Pena (sophomore), Carrie Frank (sophomore), and Leeana Liska (sophomore)
Last year for Women's Cross Country, they also had 12 runners reach the Conference meet. Seven of those that made the Conference meet made the NCAA Regional meet. The runner to look out for out of the group would be Amanda Brom, who had the team's best finishes in most of the meets last year. Mary Kate Bernier, Amy Kahl, Emily Kahl, and Jaclyn Rowe are also some runners to look out for as they also had some of the team's top finishes at the Conference meet and the NCAA Regional last year.
5. Men's Soccer:
Head Coach: Tony Guinn
Returners: Kody Mielde (senior), Michael Montanye (senior), Josh Rohde (senior), Ed Horrocks (senior), Sam Kuchenreuther (senior), John Gottwald (senior), Ty McCoy (senior), Ryan Reid (senior), Alex Buchman (junior), Jordan Kavser (junior), Xander Lien (junior), Sam Novak (junior), Michael Salm (junior), Austin Saari (junior), Jordan Wilkins (junior), Kyle Ricely (junior), Dominic Pisciotti (junior), Justin Loncaric (junior), Ben Morales McQuaid (junior), Matt Klug (sophomore), Chris Roche (sophomore), Owen Thompson (sophomore), and Dante Schiro (sophomore).
The Warhawks Men's Soccer team was one of three teams that didn't make it to NCAA Tournament play last year. The team was 14-6-1 overall and 3-1 in the WIAC in 2013. The weird thing with Men's Soccer in the WIAC is that there is no WIAC postseason tournament (Every other sport does). The team has a lot of youth just like a lot of the teams at Whitewater do as they return all but three players. A lot of senior and junior leadership going into the 2014 season. There are quite a few standouts going into the season. Senior goalkeeper Josh Rohde will be one of them in 2014. Rohde was the goalie last year and 47 saves (11-6-1 in 2013) in 18 starts. Look for two more seniors John Gottwald and Ryan Reid. Gottwald led the team in 2013 in goals scored (6), points (15), and shots (40). Ryan Reid was third on the team in those categories last season. Kuchenreuther and Sam Novak are also some guys to look at for big impact.
6. Women's Swim and Dive
Head Coach: Joel Rollings (coaches both Men's and Women's Swim and Dive)
Returners: Sarah Arteaga (sophomore), Dani Baron (junior), Sierra Becker (junior), Willow Becher (senior), Kristy Bessler (junior), Stephanie Bitz (sophomore), Kaitlyn Brooks (sophomore), Alma Burwell (senior), Cheyenne Carbone (senior), Natalie Colon (sophomore), Grace Devine (sophomore), Mariah Fitz (sophomore), Brooke Flesher (senior), Maggie Gomberg (senior), Stacey Kincade (junior), Kelsey Kohlbeck (senior), Jaime Kohnke (sophomore), Margaret Lotzer (sophomore), Kayla Martin (senior), Dayna Mohr (sophomore), Autumn Mulgrew (junior), Taylor Schaeffer (senior), Sommer Semanek (sophomore), Sam Sloan (junior), Amy Spaay (senio) Kelsey Stamm (senior), Gabriela Swider (sophomore), Kim Trenn (junior) Katelyn Vaughn (senior), Emily Werve (sophomore), Camille Yip (sophomore), and McKenzie Asplund (sophomore).
After a 2012 season, where Women's Swim and Dive had an individual National Champion in Amy Spaay, they also were a team that did not qualify for NCAA meets or tournaments. As with a lot of the individual stat sports, you could some individual National Championships with Women's Swim and Dive as well. Amy Spaay is one of those people that you could again see that from in 2014-2015. The team returns 14 swimmers that made the WIAC conference meet last year.
7. Men's Swim and Dive
Returners: Kyle Amundsen (sophomore), Tony Benz (sophomore), Dan Bielski (sophomore), Sam Bowman (sophomore), Glen Brinkman (sophomore), Alex Carroll (sophomore), Jacob Chartrand (junior), Joe Devroy (senior), Alex Gidlow (sophomore), Jared Gruenwald (senior), John Heat (sophomore), Tony Heilberg (senior), Paul Hill (sophomore), Josh Kanute (sophomore), Keefer Kuhl (junior), Riley Maher (junior), Alex Mikolewski (senior), Austin Mrkvicka (senior), Austin Muehschlegel (sophomore), Rav Polar (senior), James Rodney (sophomore), Derek Scheible (senior), Jake Shackelford (senior), Andrew Staszak (sophomore), Andrew Sterger (junior), Ryan Stuart (senior), Spencer Twining (sophomore), Theo Vergis (sophomore), and Bradley Wilson (sophomore).
Another team that did not make NCAA meets or tournaments last year was Men's Swim and Dive. They did have several swimmers make the WIAC meet. The standouts on this team would Alex Gidlow, Paul Hill, Kyle Amundson, Ryan Stuart, Spencer Twining, Josh Kanute, Sam Bowman, and Jacob Shackleford among others. Gidlow made the WIAC in majority of his events last year, so he might be the guy to watch out for.
8. Women's Bowling
Head Coach: Leann Eimermann
The Women's Bowling team at UW-Whitewater had their highest finish in 2013. So this team could be up there again. They face a lot of Division 1 and Division 2 schools, so that makes the chances to win a National Championship a bit tougher. Not saying it can't be done. This team has some big losses from last year's team in Ashley Bell and Katie Zweifelhofer, who were two of their best bowlers that last few years. The team also lost Tracy Fakes, Katie Kleinmaier, and Melissa Molbeck, all of which were seniors last and all had 180+ averages. The team returns only one 200+ average bowler from last year's team in sophomore Amanda Van Duyn. They have a few bowlers from last year that were just under 200 for an average: Sage Greenwood (195.7) and Lindsay Rusch (192.9). So we'll see where their high averages come next year.
9. Men's Track and Field
Head Coach: Mike Johnson (coaches both Men's and Women's Track and Field)
The UW-Whitewater Men's Track and Field team finished sixth in the indoor season and 13th in the outdoor season in 2013-2014. So they could be a team that is up there in 2014-2015. The team into the 2015 with only losing five seniors. The standouts for 2015 would be Dawson Miller, Matt Rudquist, Alex Urban, Ryan Adamski, and Justin Bowers.
Whitewater is a joke of a school that's taking advantage of its size and public status to build an athletic superpower to paper over the fact that it's a garbage school.
ReplyDeleteAnd now we find out at least one sport (I'm sure that's all...ha!) was cheating. Hopefully the NCAA brings this joke of a school down and ends this facade.