These past couple of weeks have been huge for Blue Devil sports. Unfortunately though, three of our winter sports’ seasons have come to an end, such as men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and men’s hockey. All sports have closed out their regular season portion, but the track and field teams and women’s gymnastics still have some crucial meets left. But first, a quick recap of the three seasons that have ended.
Men’s Basketball
The UW-Stout men’s basketball team finished 3-22 this season. However with that being said, one player in particular ended his career with a remarkable last season. Jarvis Raglund, of Milwaukee, WI, led the team this year in scoring with a total of 401 points, averaging 17.4 points per game. Along with Raglund, Brett Ahsenmacher, of Annandale, Minnesota, also contributed to scoring with a total of 214 points. Although the record does not properly display the amount of work this team put in this year, the men’s basketball team is hoping to come back even stronger for next year. With losing only one senior, there will be a good core group returning next winter.
Women’s Basketball
Any hopes of entering conference play for the women’s basketball team came to an end when they lost a close game to UW-Superior mid-February. It was the final home game of the season and also senior night in which they honored their six seniors (Folkers, Coombs, Froelich, Alexander, Nickels, and Boomer). The women’s team closed out their season with a 6-19 record, in which 10 of those losses were just in reach with 10 points or less deficit. The women’s basketball team persevered until the end of the season and are now working hard in their off-season workouts.
Men’s Hockey
The final game of the men’s hockey’s season, which took place on February 24th was the most exciting yet. With a score of 3-2 (Blue Devils down), Craig Lindegard scored within the final eleven seconds of the third period to send the match into overtime. However, just seven minutes into overtime, Superior scored their fourth goal ending the game and the season for the Blue Devils. The men’s ice hockey team ended the season 8-17-1 overall and 3-9-0 in the conference. The hockey team only graduated four seniors this year, leaving it to twenty-three returning players for the upcoming season.
Along with these three teams, the women’s and men’s track and field teams and gymnastics team will be closing down their seasons here shortly as well. Just this past week, gymnastics hosted their last home meet and track and field had their big conference meet on Saturday, February 28th. With such a big day for both teams, Stout had some exceptional results in both competitions. Here’s a recap of some highlights of their seasons thus far.
Track and Field
The women’s track and field team has had quite the eventful season which included breaking school records for the 4×200 meter relay (Laurisa Titterud, Meagan Ward, Jada Hamilton, Alex Titterud), the 400 meter dash (Laurisa Titterud), and the distance medley relay (Hamilton, L. Titterud, Kathleen Thorn, Jordan Kelch).
At the conference meet on Saturday, February 28th, hosted by UW-Platteville, the women’s track and field team finished fourth, out of nine, this year, which is their best performance since their season in 2005. There were plenty of finishes that contributed to this accomplishment, some of which included placing first and winning conference titles. The 4×400 relay team of Molly Brion, Alex Titterud, Laurisa Titterud, and Jada Hamilton won the conference meet on Saturday, making them the first women’s team to ever win a conference title in this event for both indoor and outdoor. Kathleen Thorn won the 5000 meter just a day before and placed third in the 3000 meter on the second day of competition. Laura Mesenburg (polevault), Meagan Ward (pentathlon), and Lydia Meier (weight throw) all took home second-place finishes in their respective events.
The men’s track and field team finished seventh this year out of nine teams. Some key finishes in the distance events helped boost Stout’s team ranking; these include the first and fourth place finishes Patrick Jenkins ran in the 5000 and 3000 meter run, respectively. Just behind Jenkins in the 3000 meter, Paul VanGrisen placed fifth overall. In the heptathlon, three Stout athletes (Kevin Salveson, Ethen Shoen, Logan Loeffler) made the podium and took sixth, seventh, and eighth respectively. Along with these top finishers, the men’s 4×400 meter relay (Salveson, Tyler Odom, Gadi Samson, Ross Thompson) placed fifth overall.
For both teams, there is only one meet left before Nationals on March 12th and 13th. Having several athletes close to their qualifying times or distances, the meet at Stevens Point this coming Saturday, March 7th will be crucial.
Gymnastics
At Stout’s dual meet this past weekend against Winona State, the Blue Devils scored their highest team score of the season and came close to beating the overall record. Stout did in fact beat school records in beam and vault however. Kaylee Jondahl placed first in vault as she matched the school record, and she placed first in the all-around. On vault, all six Stout competitors scored above 9.000 which led to them beating the previous record by 0.400 points. Along with Jondahl, eight other gymnasts set personal bests in various events.
The last regular season meet for the women’s gymnastics team will be this Friday, March 6th at Eau Claire, 6:00 pm. Following that meet, the Blue Devils will also be travleing to Hamline University in Minnesota for the WIAC championship and NCGA Regional meet on March 15th.
Photo Credit: Matt Schauf