4 minute read
Athletics
SENIOR SPOTLIGHTS
BRADEN
BEIERMANN ’22
Lincoln, Nebraska
Men’s Basketball
Marketing and Management Memorable Moment
In the locker room after our season ended this year at St. Norbert, I really appreciated all the relationships and bonds I had formed along the way. I’ll remember how proud I was of the growth from pretty much everyone on the team, both on and off the court.
Biggest Impact
I learned so much about the game of basketball from Coach Aaron Aanonsen, but beyond that he taught me what it meant to be a young Christian man as well as so many lessons that I can apply to life beyond basketball.
Sage Advice
Enjoy the journey with your teammates. The memories and friends you make throughout the course of a season stick with you forever, so just soak it all in.
ABBY
VAVRA ’22
Mukwonago, Wisconsin
Women’s Basketball
Nursing Memorable Moment
Last year in the NACC North Championship game, we hosted Edgewood. I played good defense and took two charges. The atmosphere was cool, and I loved how my teammates played their hearts out.
Biggest Impact
Dr. Stephanie Armstrong (’13, assistant professor of nursing) has helped me a lot. I was able to go to her whenever I felt overwhelmed. All the nursing faculty and staff have been great, helping me throughout the year and supporting me with my sports as well.
Sage Advice
Be yourself; don’t worry about what others think about you. Make the best of every situation and take life day by day, because the whole world can change in a second.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL WINS 11TH NACC CHAMPIONSHIP
Wisconsin Lutheran College returned to the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time overall and first time since 2019 after capturing its 11th Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Women’s Basketball Tournament championship.
“It was a great year,” said 18th-year head coach Klay Kneuppel. “I’ve been blessed with some great players, and I’m really going to miss this senior class. I think we showed why we were deserving of our rankings all season long.”
WLC (23-2, 15-1 NACC), which started the season 20-0 for the first time in program history, was ranked for 10 straight weeks in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll. Senior Jenna Mace and sophomore Sam Leisemann were named First Team All-NACC. Sophomore
Kaitlyn Shadoski became the fifth WLC player to earn NACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, while also being selected Second Team All-NACC. Coach Knueppel won his 350th career game and earned his sixth conference Coach of the Year award.
Wisconsin Lutheran College’s Kendra Schumacher of Little Chute, Wisconsin, became the first student-athlete in WLC women’s track & field history to earn AllAmerican honors after finishing fourth in the 200m final at the 2022 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 5 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was the second national championship appearance for Schumacher, who made her debut on the national stage at last season’s outdoor championships.
“My appearance at the outdoor championships last year definitely motivated me to come back for one last season,” said Schumacher. “While I cherished the experience, I left with a bitter taste knowing I was one spot away from earning All-American in both of my events.
“When I joined the program, I was a soccer player with no background in track. Five years later, here I am as an All-American! I’ve absolutely adored and cherished my time as a Warrior. I came into this season with big goals in mind, and while I’ve already achieved some, I know that there is so much left in store for the outdoor season.”
Schumacher, a senior who qualified in both the 60m and 200m, finished fourth overall in the 200m to earn All-American honors. After clocking in with the top 200m preliminary time of 24.88 seconds, Schumacher sprinted to a 200m final time of 24.96 seconds to place fourth among the event’s eight finalists. She penciled her name on six school records and two conference marks during the 2022 indoor season.
Third-year head coach Eric Kramer said: “After so many close calls in school history, Kendra finally earned the program’s first All-American award. She battled and proved she belonged at the national championship meet. I’m so proud of her and what she accomplished the entire indoor season.”
MASSART SELECTED TO LEAD WLC TENNIS PROGRAMS
Master tennis professional Jay Massart is the new head coach of the WLC men’s and women’s tennis programs. He brings nearly 40 years of tennis coaching and teaching experience to the Warriors.
A USPTA Certified Master Professional and USTA High Performance Coach, Massart has touched most sectors of the tennis industry including coaching, managing, and years of volunteer work with the USTA and WTA. Specializing in high-performance tennis, he has developed hundreds of nationally ranked juniors who have gone on compete at all levels of collegiate tennis. From 2000-2015, Massart served as the executive director of the Milwaukee Tennis & Education Foundation, where he developed an inner-city, nonprofit youth organization into a viable program that sent players onto college and tennis careers.
