When head swim and dive coach Whitney Hite recruited his current class of seniors in the fall of 2012, he had no idea how successful the group of six would be four years later.
As snow was falling in Madison, school records were falling in Texas. Sophomore Cierra Runge demolished three individual marks and was part of a record-breaking relay en route to a strong showing for the Badger women at the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational. On Wednesday night in Austin, Texas, in the first event of the meet, the ‘A’ relay of sophomore Jess Unicomb, redshirt sophomore Abby Jagdfeld, sophomore Emmy Sehmann and Runge shattered the four-year-old 800-yard freestyle relay record by over a second and a half.
Despite the Department of the Army’s announcement Sunday that the Dakota Access pipeline, initially planned to be built a half-mile from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, will not be drilled, Wisconsin guard Bronson Koenig, a member of the Ho-Chunk nation and outspoken advocate against its construction, remains skeptical that Sunday’s announcement will better the situation that has become a global flashpoint in recent months. “I was really happy when I first saw it,” Koenig said.
INDIANAPOLIS — Throughout the season, Wisconsin, which came into the season unranked, proved preseason doubters wrong en route to a surprising Big Ten West title.
The first rule of Wisconsin sports: Never underestimate the team’s ability to build your hopes up and then proceed to shred your soul to smithereens in new and creative ways. Thus was the case on Saturday night in Indianapolis, when the Badgers built up a 28-7 lead, only to see it slowly dissipate as their secondary seemed to forget how to football.
Wisconsin, led by Cayla McMorris and Avyanna Young, dominated from the start as they rolled to Sunday over Illinois State.
Wisconsin senior captain Sydney McKibbon knew that for the Badgers to beat No. 2 Minnesota they would need to start fast. “We’ve gotta come out flying tomorrow in the first eight to 10 minutes and try to get a couple goals in the first period,” McKibbon said following Saturday’s 2-0 loss. The Badgers followed her advice as top-ranked Wisconsin (11-2-1 WCHA, 15-2-1 overall) knocked off No. 2 Minnesota (12-2-2, 14-2-2) 8-2, Sunday afternoon at LaBahn Arena to split the Border Battle. Wisconsin scored four first-period goals, including two from senior forward Sarah Nurse, who gave the Badgers a 1-0 lead.
After Saturday’s loss in the Big Ten Championship, Wisconsin (7-2 Big Ten, 10-3 overall) still found itself in a New Year's Six bowl when the bids were announced Sunday.
INDIANAPOLIS — Throughout the season, Wisconsin, which came into the season unranked, proved preseason doubters wrong en route to a surprising Big Ten West title.
In the second game of their weekend series against Omaha, the Badgers outshot the Mavericks 44-27, scored four goals, held the edge in zone time, created chances and really played one of their better offensive games of the season.
INDIANAPOLIS — The Wisconsin Badgers’ season ended the same way it started. On the first play against LSU and the last play against Penn State, Bart Houston took the handoff under center, turned left and handed it off right to Corey Clement, with Austin Ramesh leading the way from the backfield. It brought UW’s season full-circle.
With superstar goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens in net, the Badgers have become accustomed to watching opponents grow dismayed as even their best scoring chances fail to find the back of the net.
INDIANAPOLIS — The Wisconsin Badgers’ wild season came to a screeching halt in Indianapolis, as UW (7-3 Big Ten, 10-3 overall) fell to the Penn State Nittany Lions (9-1, 11-2) in the Big Ten Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Badgers took a seemingly comfortable 28-7 lead in the first quarter, but Penn State’s infamous second-half turn-around was in full swing as they fought back to take lead and the conference crown. Wisconsin was able to play its style of football for most of the game, heavily relying on the ground game to control the clock and put points on the board, slowly but surely.
Senior forward Nigel Hayes received some important advice yesterday from an unlikely source hours before his Badgers faced off against Oklahoma. “Play hard, aggressive, find your teammates,” Hayes’ mother told him on a phone call prior to UW’s matchup against the Oklahoma Sooners Saturday afternoon.
Once again, the Badgers dug themselves into an early hole. Slow starts have plagued Wisconsin all season, and they have not been able to recover.
Non-conference games at the beginning of a season present a unique challenge—teams face opponents that they don’t know nearly as well as their annual conference foes.
If there is one lesson to be learned from the first two rounds of the 2016 NCAA tournament, it is that Wisconsin’s defense succumbs to no one. One night after holding its first round opponent Howard to an abysmal .050 hitting percentage in a winning effort Thursday at home, Wisconsin’s defense continued to dominate, as the No. 3-seeded Badgers (17-3 Big Ten, 28-4 overall) dismantled the Washington State Cougars (12-9 Pac-12, 22-13 overall) in a 25-18, 25-18, 25-17 sweep at the Field House Friday night. Wisconsin stymied Washington State from top to bottom, shutting the Cougars down at every turn.
The No. 17 Wisconsin Badgers (6-2) might have returned more than 99 percent of their scoring and minutes this season, but stability in their roster construction has not translated to stability in the team’s rotation. While the Badgers’ bench has been incredibly productive early on this season, through eight games, five different Badgers have been the first reserve to enter a game, be it alone or alongside another teammate. Junior guard Jordan Hill and sophomore forward Alex Illikainen were the first Badgers to enter UW’s season opener against Central Arkansas.
Head coach Tony Granato stood back-to-back with Ryan Wagner after practice and asked the group of reporters who was taller.
The most successful football coaches are the ones who put their players in the best possible position to produce.
Solutions by The State News
