Sports

Long jumper Dameco Walker ’23 broke the Ripon College record.

Walker jumps into Ripon’s record books

The old saying goes that records are meant to be broken. Some just take a little longer to fall than others.

Competing at a meet at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in April, Ripon junior Dameco Walker shattered the longest-standing record in school history. He broke a 98-year-old mark in the long jump set in 1924 by Ripon Athletics Hall of Famer and Olympic Trials Qualifier Ralph Christophersen, Class of 1925. Walker recorded a distance of 25 feet and 10 inches, the fifth-longest in all of Division III this year, and snapped Christophersen’s mark of 23-06.

“When I broke the outdoor school record in the long jump, I knew I had a big jump but didn’t realize I broke it until the announcer said the mark out loud,” Walker recalled. “It feels good to know that I’ve broken the longest-standing record in school history.”

Although Walker also holds school records in indoor 200m, 4x200 relay, triple jump and outdoor 4x200 relay, the long jump is where his heart is, as he holds the school record in the event for both indoor and outdoor seasons.

“Long jump is definitely my favorite event because I love how weightless I feel at the start of my jump,” he says. Walker’s record-breaking performance is an exclamation point to what is already arguably the greatest season by a track and field student-athlete in school history. In February, he led Ripon’s men’s team to its first-ever Midwest Conference Indoor Championship, leading all point-scorers at the meet with 41.25 points. He followed that up by being the top point-scorer at the MWC Outdoor Championships, leading the Red Hawks to their first Outdoor team championship since 1924 — when Christoffersen led Ripon to their only other title 98 years ago.

“I knew we would be able to place in the top three with the work that the team had been putting in and seeing the results from our track meets before the conference meet,” Walker says. “Everyone was very excited after winning.”

This year also saw Walker qualify for the Division III National Championships (both

“Nationals was very exciting, but I didn’t treat it any differently than how I do at any other meet throughout the season.”

indoor and outdoor) for the first time in his career, doing so in the long jump. He became the first men’s student-athlete in Ripon history to qualify for Nationals in the indoor long jump and finished 17th in the country in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

“Nationals was very exciting, but I didn’t treat it any differently than how I do at any other meet throughout the season,” Walker says.

Walker is an exercise science major from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and hopes to become a physical therapist assistant. Although he has accomplished so much already as a student-athlete, he has more goals.

“I have two main goals remaining,” Walker says. “I want to win a national championship, and I want to improve my track times and jump marks at each meet. I want to see just how far I can go.”

THE 2021-22 ACADEMIC YEAR WAS ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FOR RIPON COLLEGE ATHLETICS IN SCHOOL HISTORY.

MEN’S TEAMS The Red Hawks won the Ralph Shively Cup for the Midwest Conference Men’s All-Sports Award for the first time in 22 years and just the second in the 50 years the award has been presented. The award is calculated by earning nine points for a first-place finish, eight for second place, seven for third place, etc.

The men’s teams claimed three conference titles: men’s basketball, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. Finishing third in league play were football, men’s tennis and baseball, and finishing fourth were men’s cross country and men’s swimming and diving. Men’s soccer was in a tie for eighth place. The nine varsity programs combined for a league-high of 61.5 points, 6.5 more than the next highest total.

WOMEN’S TEAMS The women’s teams placed third in the All-Sports standings, their highest finish in 17 years. That came in large part because of two winter sport championships in basketball and indoor track and field. The Red Hawks also recorded third-place finishes in cross country and outdoor track and field, and fifth in swimming and women’s tennis.

INDIVIDUAL HONORS Softball’s Abby Gilbertson ’23 of Marquette, Wisconsin, was named Division III Player of the Week in the final week of the season, helping her land a Third Team All-Region selection. Named All-Conference selections were Mikaela Lawrence ’24 of Anchorage, Alaska, and Brennah Bronk ’23 of Tujunga, California.

BASEBALL Cormac Madigan ’22 of Rosendale, Wisconsin, earned Academic All-District honors and Third Team Academic All-America. Nick Terrell ’22 of Peoria, Illinois, earned a spot on the Division III Team of the Week early in the season.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Alison Leslie ’23 of Clayton, Wisconsin, was named Division III Wisconsin Private College Player of the Year after leading the Red Hawks to their fourth consecutive conference championship and their second appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament in three seasons. Head Coach Lauren Busalacchi was named Division III Wisconsin Coach of the Year.

ELITE 20 Earning the MWC’s prestigious Elite 20 Award: Lauren Bahr ’24 of Wittenberg, Wisconsin, in women’s swimming; Kiana Fall ’23 of Clayton, Wisconsin, in women’s basketball; Preston Wurtz ’22 of Ripon, Wisconsin, in men’s tennis; and Payton Rahn ’22 of Omro, Wisconsin, in women’s outdoor track and field. The award is given annually to a student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average, participating in his or her respective sport’s culminating championship or tournament event.

COACH OF THE YEAR Ripon received six awards during the spring semester: Lauren Busalacchi, women’s basketball; Ryan Kane, men’s basketball; Steve Burns, men’s tennis; and Bob Wood, men’s indoor track and field, women’s indoor track and field, and men’s outdoor track and field.

NATIONAL ACADEMIC AWARDS The men’s and women’s swim teams; men’s basketball; men’s and women’s track and field teams; and men’s and women’s cross country teams all were recognized.

Runaway success: Red Hawks track teams score big

Ripon’s men’s and women’s track teams experienced unprecedented success this year. During the indoor season this winter, each team won its respective conference championship for the first time in program history, finishing first at the Midwest Conference Championships.

The men’s team snapped Monmouth’s streak of 21 consecutive championships as the Red Hawks scored 172 team points — 38.5 more than Monmouth’s second-place total.

On the women’s side, Ripon scored 173.5 team points, 24.5 more than the second-highest score, 149 points by Monmouth Colege.

Ripon’s coaching staff, led by Head Coach Bob Wood, was named Midwest Conference Coaching Staff of the Year for both the men and women. The two teams combined to earn 33 All-Conference honors, while breaking three school records during the meet.

The Red Hawks kept that momentum going during the outdoor season as the men’s team won the MWC Outdoor Team Championship for just the second time in history and the first time in 98 years. They finished with 158 points, 18 ahead of the runner-up, while again receiving MWC Coaching Staff of the Year honors.

The women’s team placed third in the Outdoor Championships, its best finish in program history, setting a school record with 125.5 team points scored. This was fewer than nine points shy of the secondplace total.

Altogether, Ripon earned 29 All-Conference honors, including three conference champions, and broke five school records during the meet, bringing the program’s total to 20 school records set this year.

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1. Ben Fisher ’23 of Waupun, Wisconsin, holds school records in the indoor high jump and 4x200 relay, and the outdoor 4x200 relay.

2. Ripon’s men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams after each team won the MWC Championship for the first time in program history.

3. Ripon’s men’s outdoor track and field team after winning their first MWC outdoor championship in 98 years.

at right, foreground, Mikayla Flyte ’23 of Coloma, Wisconsin, broke the school record in the 10K this season.

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4. Payton Rahn ’22 of Omro, Wisconsin, holds school records in the sprint medley relay, 4x100 relay and outdoor 4x200 relay. She also won the Midwest Conference Outdoor Track and Field Elite 20 Award and the Ruth Peterson Award for highest grade-point average and participation in the culminating championship.

5. Emma Spalding ’23 of Waterford, Wisconsin, holds nine school records — indoor 60m, 200m, 300m, 4x200 relay, 4x400 relay, sprint medley relay, outdoor 100m, 4x100 relay and 4x200 relay.

6. Cade Gray ’25 of Belleview, Florida, broke school records in the outdoor and indoor pole vault, and the outdoor triple jump this season.

7. Ripon won the MWC Outdoor Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year honors. from left Logan Galezio, athletic trainer; Maggie Martin, assistant coach; Jackie Zeman ’21, assistant coach; Rachel Leonard, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator; Sara Bradley, assistant coach; Jayson Duffy, assistant coach; Corey Bins, head coach of cross country and associate track and field coach; and Bob Wood ’09, director of cross country and track and field.

at right Bob Wood poses with his team’s championship trophies after Ripon’s men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams each won the MWC Championship for the first time in program history.