Varsity Magazine - March 25, 2020 by Wisconsin Badgers

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JUMP AROUND! The Badgers cheered their way to victory as they broke three school records at the Big Ten Conference Men's Swimming & Diving Championships in Indiana (Feb. 26-29). PHOTO BY JUSTIN CASTERLINE

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LADIES OF THE LAKE We're sharing some of our favorite photos from the past year. With a colorstreaked sky, the women's rowing team takes advantage of early morning flat water in late October on Lake Mendota. PHOTO BY TEALIN ROBINSON

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BEARS DOWN One of our favorite #Badgers moments! The Wisconsin volleyball team goes wild as the team celebrates its win over No. 1 Baylor in the NCAA National Semifinals in December. PHOTO BY TOM LYNN

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BUCKY DAYS The women's openweight and lightweight rowing programs crowned their annual Bucky Days champions recently. The intra-team competition combined running and erging during winter training along with great bonding. PHOTO BY RAEGAN HINRICHS

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LOUD LA BAHN Pack your earbuds? Never! This throwback snap looks back at the women's hockey team celebrating one of their biggest wins of the 201920 season. The Badgers earned a 5-4 overtime win over Border Battle rival Minnesota on home ice in front of a electric crowd. PHOTO BY TOM LYNN

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INTO THE MYSTIC More Lake Mendota? Yes, please. Wisconsin's men's rowing team takes a breather near Memorial Union during a particularly moody fall day. PHOTO BY VAN BASSINDALE

CONTENTS

MARCH 25, 2020 ▪ VOLUME 10, ISSUE 19

TOM LYNN

34 WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER Shock. Sadness. Social distancing. Like their friends, families and fans, the Badgers are discovering the ‘new normal’ in a world that’s ground to a halt due to COVID-19.

FEATURES

SAFE AT HOME 19 LUCAS AT LARGE

IN FOCUS

19 LUCAS AT LARGE

Checking in with Brad Davison and D’Mitrik Trice at home during the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘We’ve got a lot more to look forward to’

23 BY THE NUMBERS

27 WHAT TO WATCH

29 BADGERING

31 VIRAL VIDEO

32 VOTE FOR DANA VOLLEYBALL

Volleyball’s Dana Rettke has been named a finalist for the Sullivan Award honoring the nation’s top amateur athlete. Vote today for Dana! 15

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LUCAS AT LARGE

BY MIKE LUCAS ▪ UWBADGERS.COM SENIOR WRITER

‘We’ve got a lot more to look forward to’

rad Davison’s kitchen table has been designated as a construction site for a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle; a 39inch by 13-inch panoramic view of the Kohl Center during a Red and White Stripe Out against Michigan State, a game the Badgers won on their way to the Final Four. Gathered around the table with Davison at any given time of the day have been his mom, Cori, and his dad, Jim, in their Maple Grove, Minnesota home. All three have been hunkered down in compliance with coronavirus guidelines that have been in effect. “We’re not shelter in place (in Minnesota), but it has been highly suggested that you leave your house for only groceries or medical reasons,” Davison said. “We’ve been on kind of a lockdown in our household. We’re taking it all very seriously and just trying to do our part. “At first, it was a little crazy for everyone — everyone’s life got shaken. We have certain things in our life that were stripped away whether that was our sport, school or job. And it forced us all to slow down and really be present in the moment. “It forced us to focus on the relationships that are closest to us and we’ve spent a lot of great time with family. It’s definitely a unique set of circumstances. But I have faith that there’s going to be a lot of good that comes out of all of this.”

Finding a silver lining in a global pandemic isn’t easy. But leave it to Davison … “This has been a huge blessing — the ability to be at home and spend time with my family,” he repeated. “A lot of times we get going so fast and looking forward to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing and we don’t truly maximize the moments that we have.” Davison’s teammate, D’Mitrik Trice, is wired in the same faithbased way.

“EVERYONE’S LIFE HAS BEEN AFFECTED AND KIND OF SHAKEN IN BIG WAYS. WE’VE ALL STAYED IN TOUCH JUST KNOWING EVERYONE IS THERE FOR EACH OTHER. WHO KNOWS WHEN WE WILL GET TO SEE EACH OTHER NEXT? HOPEFULLY SOONER THAN LATER.” Sequestered with the bulk of his family in Huber Heights, Ohio (a stay-at-home state), Trice was counting his blessings Sunday with the news that his older brother, Travis Trice, the leading scorer on Michigan State’s 2015 Final Four team, may be on his way back to the United States from northern Italy. After playing last season in France, the 27-year-old Trice signed a contract in mid-January with Germani Brescia, a professional team in the top Italian

League. Brescia is a city at the foot of the Alps in the Lombardy region, the epicenter of the COVID-19 breakout in that country. Trice last played on March 3 and had 18 points in a 93-88 loss to Reyer, a team based in Venice. “It has been a struggle for him — they weren’t sure at first if their season was going to end or if they were going to start back up,” D’Mitrik Trice said. “They’ve been quarantined for the last two to three weeks and he has already been through what we’re going through right now. “We’ve definitely been worried about him. We all know what Italy has been going through. Honestly, I’m not sure what’s going to happen next when he gets back. We’ve just been continuing to adapt (as a family) by listening to what the experts have to say about how we should handle things.” Davison and Trice have communicated individually and during Badger group chats. “It’s different for everyone,” Davison said. “But everyone’s life has been affected and kind of shaken in big ways. We’ve all stayed in touch just knowing everyone is there for each other. Who knows when we will get to see each other next? Hopefully sooner than later.” On Monday, Davison and Trice began taking UW courses online from their respective family’s homes in Minnesota and Ohio. 19

LUCAS AT LARGE

Trice is on track to graduate in May and had already prepared himself (“I probably won’t be walking”) for the inevitable. Commencement exercises have now been canceled. “With everything online,” Trice said, “not being at school is just going to be weird.” After this semester, Davison will be 12 credits shy of his degree. His Monday started with a three-hour lecture in labor relations. “That’s definitely going to take some getting used to,” he said, “acclimating to online.” But as a team, they know that they’ve been through far worse overcoming all levels of adversity. “We’ll make the most of it,” Davison promised, “and we’ll get through it.”

BY MIKE LUCAS ▪ UWBADGERS.COM SENIOR WRITER

▪▪▪▪ Jigsaw puzzles have been a Davison family tradition, a bonding staple. “We always do puzzles over Christmas break — on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,” said Davison, who has been in Maple Grove since the start of spring break on March 13. “We’re definitely a puzzle family. It’s kind of my mom’s thing. We just started puzzle number three (the Kohl Center). “So, we’ve been doing puzzles, playing cards and I’ve been cooking a lot.” Davison fancies himself as a grill-master. Not that he can match Cori’s tater tot hot dish, his favorite, but he’s comfortable in the kitchen. Or at a grill. His go-to is zesty Italian chicken. “The longer you marinate, the

better the taste and flavor,” he said. “The key is in the marinating process.” Since returning to Maple Grove, 20 miles from Minneapolis, he has moved back into his old bedroom (which will now serve as a de facto classroom). Not much has changed since he left for college save for a poster from the opener against Saint Mary’s at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. Cori Davison has taken every single trophy, an extensive number, that her son has ever won in football, basketball and baseball and arranged them on shelves covering a full wall. The prize possession in the room is a signed basketball from Kyrie Irving, the former Dukie and NBA All-Star guard. Click to read more »

EVERY BOUNCE PASS, BOARD AND BADGERS WE’RE THERE. ™

WE’RE BRINGING YOU YOUR TEAM LIKE NO ONE ELSE. We’ve got 24/7 talk and analysis on ESPNU Radio as well as live coverage of every major college basketball conference including live play-by-play. Hear it all in your car, on your phone and at home. Go to siriusxm.com/collegebasketballschedule to learn more.

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BY THE NUMBERS WILLIAM J. ADAMS

6:55.84

◀ WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING With a time of 6:55.84, Lillie Hosack, Alana Palmer, Megan Doty and Beata Nelson set a new school record in the 800 Free Relay at the Big Ten Championships.

DAVID STLUKA TIM VENUS

◀ MEN’S TENNIS Robert Krill racked up a team-best 10-2 overall record during the Badgers' spring slate, including four matches against ranked teams.

DAVID STLUKA

10-2

GREG ANDERSON

VOLLEYBALL ▶ Dana Rettke became the second Badger volleyball player to be named a finalist for the AAU Sullivan Award for the nation's top amateur athlete, joining 2017 winner Lauren Carlini.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY ▶ Senior Abby Roque became the 13th Badger to earn first-team All-America honors. The senior was also recently named a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award which will be announced this Friday.

Make Your Stay One Big Snow Day

View Snow Report

BY THE NUMBERS

Continued

◀ WOMEN’S TENNIS The Badgers enjoyed an eight-game winning streak during the 2020 spring season, the program’s longest streak this century.

JUSTIN CASTERLINE

132

LOWELL MCNICHOLAS

DAVID STLUKA

MEN’S ROWING ▶ Elected captain this season, senior and Nashville, Tennessee, native Evan Miller is now the 132nd Badger to hold that title for men’s rowing since 1892.

DAN SANGER

SOFTBALL ▶ Senior Kayla Konwent was ranked No. 54 in Softball America's 2020 Shortened Season College Top 100.

◀ MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING The men’s swimming and diving team broke three school records at the Big Ten Championships — the 200 Individual Medley (1:43.20), 200 Medley Relay (1:25.38) and 400 Medley Relay (3:07.19).

WHAT TO WATCH DAVID STLUKA

WATCH IT AGAIN

MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. MARYLAND WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25 ▪ 9PM ▪ BTN No March Madness, but we can still watch Wisconsin men’s basketball. Catch the Badgers’ Big Ten regular-season home game against Maryland (January 14) on Big Ten Network on Wednesday. The replay tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. CT.

DAVID STLUKA

OVERTIME THRILLER

MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. MICHIGAN STATE THURSDAY, MARCH 26 ▪ 7AM ▪ BTN Throw it back to 2015 and enjoy Big Ten Network’s replay of the Big Ten Tournament title match between Wisconsin and Michigan State (March 15, 2015) on Thursday at 7 a.m. Early riser? Grab some coffee and catch the 6 a.m. preview show on the 2015 Badgers too.

DAVID STLUKA

TROPHY GAME

MEN’S BASKETBALL AT INDIANA FRIDAY, MARCH 27 ▪ 6AM ▪ BTN Only a few short weeks ago, but what a game! Catch Big Ten Network’s replay of Wisconsin’s final regular-season road game at Indiana (March 7) on Friday at 6 a.m. Set your alarm clock and don’t miss the Badgers winning a share of the 2020 Big Ten Championship. 27

BADGERING...

MICHAEL CULLEN WRESTLING ▪ SENIOR 125 LBS ▪ CARY, ILL.

TOM LYNN

Spending five years as a Badger, Michael Cullen will graduate this spring with a degree in personal finance. The Cary, Illinois native started this season at 125 pounds for the Badgers, recording a major decision in his first match of the season. Cullen was versatile in his Badger career, wrestling at 125, 133, and 141. He finished his collegiate wrestling career with a record of 21-21. Cullen Match-by-Match Why did you choose Wisconsin? “I chose to be a Badger because of the great academic and athletic reputation of the university.” What does being a Badger mean to you? “Being a Badger means to world to me. I take such pride in representing a university with such rich tradition in athletics, all while receiving world class education. With such a strong alumni base, Badgers are anywhere and everywhere. I've had such an incredible experience here that If I could go back and do it all over again, I would.” What is your best memory in the UW Field House? “It is impossible to narrow down my favorite memory as a Badger. I’ve had so many great memories here at UW. I would say the people I’ve met and the relationships I’ve made with teammates, coaches, and other student-athletes is what has made this experience so special.” What are your post-graduation plans? “My post-grad plans are yet to be determined. I’m in the process of locking down a job in the Chicago area. Hoping some of the connections I’ve made with fellow Badgers will help me find a job I can be successful at. My major is finance so if you are reading this, maybe holler at me on LinkedIn..” What has wrestling taught you? “Wrestling has taught me so many things but I would say anything if life worth doing is worth overdoing. Persistence is key. Having the right mind set and confidence in your ability to make progress is essential to bettering yourself personally, professionally and athletically.” ▪

VIRAL VIDEO

BEHIND THE BADGERS PODCAST: CHRIS MCINTOSH UP NEXT:

WISCONSIN BASKETBALL: ONE SHINING MOMENT 2020

WISCONSIN HOCKEY: THANK YOU, FANS!

FOLLOW THE BADGERS â&#x2013;¶

Dana Rettke named finalist for Sullivan Award Badger one of 10 contenders for premier sports award

ana Rettke, a junior on the Wisconsin volleyball team, has been selected as one of 10 finalists for the 90th AAU James E. Sullivan Award, the AAU announced on Monday. “It is such a honor to be up for this award along side so many other talented athletes,” said Rettke. “Knowing the history of this award and being on the same stage as those who have won it in the past is so humbling. I love how this award brings athletes from all different sports together to celebrate everyone’s amazing accomplishments! I cannot thank everyone, especially my teammates and coaches, at Wisconsin enough to get me where I am today. On, Wisconsin!” Voting for the award is open to the public at aausullivan.org. The finalist round is open now and closes at 10:59 p.m. on Monday, March 30. Rettke was the youngest member of the

2019 U.S. National Team that won the Volleyball Nations League and earned a berth in the 2020 Olympics. The 6-foot-8 middle blocker is a three-time first-team All-American for the Badgers and was also named the 2019 Big Ten Conference Player of the Year and the 2019 American Volleyball Coaches Association Northeast Regional Player of the Year. Over her career, Rettke has earned three first-team All-Big Ten honors, two Academic All-Big Ten awards, and is an eight-time Big Ten Player of the Week. She was also a 2019-20 Honda Award finalist in volleyball. Rettke has aided Wisconsin to three NCAA tournament appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2019. She has the UW career record holder in hitting percentage and ranks among the top Badger players in kills, kills per set, total blocks, blocks per set, points and points per set.

ABOUT THE AWARD CEREMONY STREAMED ONLINE The AAU Sullivan Award has been given out In light of the ongoing situation with since 1930 to the nation's best amateur athCOVID-19, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) lete. Only one finalist will join the illustrious has decided to cancel the on-site ceremony list of previous winners which include: Bobportion of the AAU James E. Sullivan Award to by Jones (1930), Doc Blanchard (1945), Wilbe held at the New York Athletic Club. Instead, ma Rudolph (1961), the AAU will recognize Bill Bradley (1965), the accomplishments Mark Spitz (1970), Bill of the finalists and an“IT IS SUCH A HONOR TO BE UP FOR Walton (1973), Bruce nounce the winner virTHIS AWARD ALONG SIDE SO MANY tually. More informaJenner (1976), Carl OTHER TALENTED ATHLETES. I CANLewis (1981), Joan tion to follow. ▪ NOT THANK EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY Benoit (1985), Janet MY TEAMMATES AND COACHES, Evans (1989), Peyton CLICK HERE AT WISCONSIN ENOUGH TO GET Manning (1997), MiME WHERE I AM TODAY.” chael Phelps (2003), TO VOTE Tim Tebow (2007), Shawn Johnson (2008), Missy Franklin (2012), and Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott (2014) and the first volleyball player to win the award, Wisconsin's own Lauren Carlini (2016).

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TOP 10 FINALISTS ▪ Evita Griskenas, Rhythmic Gymnastics USA Rhythmic Gymnastics ▪ Grant Holloway, Track and Field University of Florida ▪ Markus Howard, Men’s Basketball Marquette University ▪ Sabrina Ionescu, Women’s Basketball University of Oregon ▪ Trevor Lawrence, Football Clemson University ▪ Spencer Lee, Men’s Wrestling University of Iowa ▪ Dana Rettke, Women’s Volleyball University of Wisconsin ▪ Kyla Ross, Gymnastics University of California Los Angeles ▪ Megan Taylor, Women’s Lacrosse University of Maryland ▪ Abbey Weitzeil, Women’s Swimming University of California

DARREN LEE

hoved outside of his decades-old comfort zone, Mick Byrne did something he’s never done before. He climbed into his 2018 Ford Escape SEL and drove from Madison, Wisconsin, to New York City, where his wife, Mary Jo, and their grown sons, Aidan and Cian, live and work. Byrne, the director of men’s and women’s cross country and track & field at Wisconsin, spent two days alone on the road. He covered 935 miles, most of them on eastbound Interstate 80 that carried him through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He overnighted just outside Cleveland, Ohio visiting his brother Mark and sister-in-law Margie at their home in Strongsville. Byrne maintains a residence in New York — specifically City Island, a sliver of land in the northeast corner of the Bronx — because he coached at Iona College in nearby New Rochelle for 24 years prior to joining the Badgers in 2008. The decision to drive instead of fly between residences — a first for Byrne — was fortified by a host of unusual factors, but one in particular.

TIMOTHY HUGHES

MICK BYRNE

“I’ve been on so many planes the last three months, the thought of getting back on one didn’t excite me,” he said of guiding two top25 outfits to indoor competitions in Tennessee, Washington, New York, Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and New Mexico. Byrne didn’t care for the heavy rains that accompanied him from Chicago to Cleveland or the fatigue that set in after eight-hour stretches behind the wheel, but all that was balanced out by the solitude and the scenery, especially in Pennsylvania. “It’s beautiful and I probably would never have known that,” he said. It took an international health crisis for Byrne to get a closer look at his adopted homeland. In addition to a laptop computer and brief case, he traveled with a jumbled mass of questions and concerns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and its burgeoning impact all over the world. It’s a reality Byrne, a native of Ireland, shares not only with his coaching peers, administrators and support staffers in the Wisconsin Athletic Department, but with colleagues from virtually every walk of sporting life.

In a span of 10 days, Byrne went from acmove out of their dorm rooms for the remaincompanying eight of his student-athletes to the der of the academic year. All course work for NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, the spring semester will be completed online. New Mexico, to returning briefly to Madison, Byrne doesn’t know when he will return to then setting up a remote office in New York Madison. He doesn’t know when he’ll see his asbecause every major U.S. sports enterprise — sistant coaches and team members in the flesh professional and colagain. He doesn’t lege — had canceled know the next time all competition due to the Badgers will prac“THE FIRST THING YOU HAVE TO COVID-19. tice or compete. He WORRY ABOUT IS PROTECTING YOUR UW officials directdoesn’t know what PEOPLE — YOUR STUDENT-ATHLETES, ed all non-essential specifics to offer his COACHES, FAMILIES, EMPLOYEES,” staffers — including foreign-born competALVAREZ SAID. “THAT’S YOUR administrators and itors from Australia, FIRST CONCERN.” coaches — to work Great Britain, Lebaout of their homes innon and New Zealand stead of their offices at Camp Randall Stadium, about summer school or international travel. the Stephen M. Bennett Student-Athlete Per“Ten days ago we were in Albuquerque getformance Center and the Kohl Center in order ting ready to run NCAAs,” Byrne said. “The to limit possible exposure to the coronavirus. bottom fell out of that pretty quickly.” Students, meanwhile, were instructed to Closer to home, Byrne is concerned about his wife, a cardiac care specialist at a hospital in the Bronx, and her potential exposure to COVID-19. “There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding that, obviously,” he said. Wisconsin Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez can relate. Working out of his home, he has daily teleconferences with other Big Ten Conference administrators and is in constant communication with the office of UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank as well as his senior staff, especially Chris McIntosh, his deputy AD. “So much of it is unknown,” Alvarez said. The deadly, fast-moving disease has put everything from NCAA championships and graduation ceremonies to summer school and budgets on hold indefinitely. It’s eerie walking the hallways of Kellner Hall, where the motion-sensing lights temporarily come to life to reveal closed doors and darkened offices on all five levels.

“

TOM LYNN

“The first thing you have to worry about is has been UW director of athletics since 2004, protecting your people — your student-athwas asked how this crisis has tested him perletes, coaches, families, employees,” Alvarez sonally. said. “That’s your first concern.” “There are so many things you’re worryIn addition to approximately 850 stuing about,” he said. “You can’t have your arms dent-athletes, there are 400 athletic departaround it like you’d like to. You can’t meet facement employees. to-face with your “From the business people. You’re not side of it,” Alvarez with the people that “IF THIS IS HOW IT’S GOING TO END,” continued, “how far you’re dealing with. GARD TOLD HIS TEAM LAST WEEK, does it go and how It’s different having “YOU COULDN’T HAVE SCRIPTED A long does it go?” a meeting over the BETTER WAY FOR US TO GO OUT.” No one knows. telephone rather than One thing is for sitting in a meeting certain, though. room and seeing expressions and getting feed“You can’t sit around just fretting and worback. rying and what-ifs,” Alvarez said. “You have to “It’s been very difficult. It’s been frustrating. have some solutions if different things hapIt’s been disappointing. It’s been scary.” pen.” March is typically the most chaotic month on Alvarez, a Hall of Fame football coach who Wisconsin’s athletic calendar. Conference and NCAA tournaments are being staged in men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s hockey, men’s and womGREG GARD en’s indoor track, men’s and women’s swimming and wrestling. Meanwhile, eight spring sports are underway and football has begun spring drills. All that screeched to a halt between March 11 and 13 when the NCAA canceled the remainder of winter and spring sports competition as well as spring football practice, all due to the emerging threat of the coronavirus. “It’s the complete opposite of what it typically is,” men’s basketball coach Greg Gard said. “This is the wildest time of the year and it’s gone from wild to absolutely silent.” Silent and sad. The men’s basketball team claimed a share of the Big Ten Conference title and would have taken an eight-game winning streak into its pursuit of a fourth league tournament championship.

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DAVID STLUKA

TOM LYNN DAVID STLUKA

MARK JOHNSON

“If this is how it’s going to end,” Gard told his team last week, “you couldn’t have scripted a better way for us to go out.” The women’s hockey team won the WCHA regular-season crown and was looking to repeat as NCAA champion. “The sad part was there’s no closure to the season, whether it was going to be an enjoyable one or a sad one,” UW women’s coach Mark Johnson said. “But then you take a step away and a couple days go by, you realize how big an epidemic this is and you look at what you were doing and that’s just a speck of sand on the beach.” Senior swimmer Beata Nelson was seeking to reprise her showing from last March when she won three NCAA individual titles and was named Swimmer of the Year by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America. “Big bummer,” she replied in a text message, “but we need to prioritize health care right now.” Byrne had two student-athletes — seniors Alicia Monson and Olli Hoare — looking to repeat as NCAA individual champions. Byrne said

they were a little “shell-shocked” at the outset, but were understanding of the big picture. Byrne said he’ll never forget seeing competitors from Indiana come over and console Monson and Hoare at the team hotel. “That was awesome,” Byrne said. Coaches are notorious for their routines. Shortly after breaking the fateful season-ending news to his team, Johnson mentioned that he’d just finished planning out the next 10 days of practices and video sessions. The Badgers were scheduled to play Clarkson in an NCAA quarterfinal game on March 14 at LaBahn Arena. That gave way to the Frozen Four in Boston where Wisconsin would have been shooting for its sixth national championship. “You get into a cocoon with whatever sport you’re coaching and that’s your world,” Johnson said. “Now you’re out of your routine. You’re out of your comfort zone. What are you going to do to occupy your time?” Johnson went with his grown daughters, Mikayla and Megan, on a three-hour hike around Devil’s Lake near Baraboo. “I’d never done that,” he said. “It was gorgeous.”

Johnson also began the task of emptying boxes from long-ago moves. In one he found a game program from a 1973 all-star baseball tournament that he played in as a 16-year-old. He also located a certificate of achievement his wife, Leslie, earned for playing tennis as a freshman at Madison Memorial High School. “How crazy is that?” he said, laughing. “Everybody has a story to tell,” Johnson continued. “It just shows you how precious life is and a lot of us take it for granted. You just appreciate things a lot more than you’d done a couple weeks ago. “The enjoyable part is trying to figure out your routine. You were used to getting up and doing what you do and that’s been taken away, so you’re finding different ways to manage the day and make it productive. “It’s been good.” Gard said he and his family — wife Michelle, daughters Mackenzie and Peyton and son Isaac — have played 100 games of Yahtzee and made the most of sharing time together. Gard said he’s also maneuvered through some of his unread books and addressed the time-honored honey-do list.

“I can’t scratch them off fast enough,” he said. Gard laughed recounting a Twitter video from UW volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield, which showed Sheffield sitting serenely as his young daughters, Lexi and Reagan, played makeup artists. “Very gutsy,” Gard said. “I have an 11-yearold that would love to put me in that chair.” The UW softball team was 24 games into a promising season when the unexpected shutit-all-down decree came about. Just like that, head coach Yvette Healy went from overseeing a close-knit band of 25 that had been on the road for five straight weeks to home-schooling her two young daughters, Grace and Maeve. “To switch gears is not an easy thing,” Healy said. “You go from pushing it to the limit of being so busy, so overscheduled, to being completely under-scheduled.” Healy spoke a full week after the Badgers learned that their pursuit of a fourth consecutive NCAA tournament berth had been quashed. “It still has that shock feel for me,” she said of the mechanics that ended her 10th season YVETTE HEALY

TOM LYNN

as UW coach, “that surreal feeling that, ‘Is this “So many student-athletes and staff and really happening?’” coaches and beyond — the university and Healy had six seniors whose college careers students — are in this kind of holding pattern came to an abrupt halt. She visited with Carwithout much certainty about when it will end. oline Hedgcock, Kayla Konwent, Jordan Little, The biggest lesson in that right now for us is Stephanie Lombardo, Kaitlyn Menz and Heaththat’s where we have to be OK.” er Rudnicki when the news came down and A daily task for all UW coaches is keeping subsequently had them to her home to hang everyone in the loop, especially their current out and decompress. and future student-athletes. “My heart just felt Byrne wrote an for them,” Healy said. email to all his charges “I’m sad for what before he left Albu“THE SAFETY OF OUR ATHLETES could have been bequerque. He then AND OUR STAFF HAS BEEN TOP-OFcause I think we have spent huge chunks of MIND FOR SURE, BUT THE SAFETY OF a special group.” time on the phone, OUR FANS, THE SAFETY OF OUR McIntosh said he trying to ease fears COMMUNITIES, WE DON’T TAKE THAT speaks with Alvarez and provide guidance RESPONSIBILITY LIGHTLY.” at least four or five to his student-athtimes a day. They also letes. share in a daily conference call with the Big “We’re not going back to the way it was 10 Ten office. days ago,” he said. “Some kids are having a “As much as we desire to have certainty in tough time dealing with that.” our lives or in our decision-making, there isn’t Byrne said one of his foreign-born runners any with this right now,” McIntosh said. “That’s is weighing a return back to his home. If that a pretty humbling lesson. That’s something I’ve happens, he asked Byrne when he should book had to remind myself of over and over. his flight back to the U.S.

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“You just don’t know what to say,” Byrne said. Asked for the No. 1 item on his to-do list, Byrne invoked the well-being of his student-athletes. “For most of them, it really hasn’t sunk in,” he said. Gard said his daily planner includes routinely touching base with the nine recruits that have either signed with the Badgers or committed to sign National Letters of Intent. “We’re trying to help walk them through some of this,” Gard said. Otherwise, it’s pretty quiet. “We’re at a standstill,” Gard said. “We can’t bring kids on campus. Our players are all gone and that’s going to be for the foreseeable future.” McIntosh, an All-America offensive tackle for the Badgers from 1996 to ’99, said he was impressed by the level of poise and maturity being shown by the current UW student-athletes and coaches. “I don’t think I would have handled it as gracefully,” he said. Alvarez said he’s directing his senior administrators to get weekly updates from their coaches about student-athlete welfare. He offered this message to all pertinent parties:

“We’re going to do everything we can to help and support you,” he said. “But just be cautious and take care of yourself. Understand what you can and cannot do. Be patient and stay in communication with your coaches and your teammates.” In the process of lauding UW officials for how well-prepared they were for the crisis, McIntosh suggested that the list of vital parties goes beyond student-athletes, coaches and support staffers. “When we’ve had conversations with all our coaches and staff, it’s been about the role we play in doing what we can to keep our communities safe,” he said. “It’s more than those 1,200 or 1,300 (student-athletes and employees). It’s our grandparents and our neighbors and our most vulnerable. That’s really guided a lot of the decision we’ve made. “The safety of our athletes and our staff has been top-of-mind for sure, but the safety of our fans, the safety of our communities, we don’t take that responsibility lightly.” Byrne brought some closure to the process. “At the end of the day, it’s a lesson in life for everyone,” he said. “Not just us, but the kids as well.”

TOM LYNN

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Men’s soccer earns highest semester GPA in program history Badgers find success off the field in fall 2019

he 2019 men’s soccer team raised the bar academically in the fall semester, posting a 3.30 grade-point average for the highest team semester GPA in program history. The previous high-water mark was set with a 3.277 grade-point average during the spring of 2018. The cumulative GPA of the team is 3.249 which marks the team's third highest cumulative GPA behind its fall 2018 mark of 3.325 and its spring 2019 average of 3.256. Twenty of the 30 students on the roster had GPAs above 3.0 in the fall and 21 of 30 players have above 3.0 cumulative GPA. Six players showed amazing success in the classroom in the fall by posting 4.0 GPAs in the fall semester, including Tim Bielic, Sven Kleinhans, Elan Koenig, Ben Krongard, Noah Leibold and Duncan Storey. Tim Bielic, Noah Leibold, Ben Krongard and Duncan Storey were also named to the Dean's

List along with Michael Russell II, Beto Spielvogel and Michael Wampler. Twelve Badgers were named 2019 Academic All Big-Ten. In addition to these awards, Noah Leibold was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American honoree with his 3.94 cumulative GPA. Kelly Higgins, who currently serves as the men's soccer academic advisor, shares her thoughts on the teams academic accomplishments: “Witnessing the men’s soccer program raise the bar academically has been one of the highlights of my career. In fall 2017, we started seeing record GPAs and they haven't stopped in their pursuit of academic excellence. “These student-athletes actively utilize resources in the Office of Academic Services and throughout the campus community. The team is currently pursuing 15 different majors, displaying the vast opportunities that UW student-athletes have offered to them.” ▪