Category: Athletics

ATHENS, Greece – Already making history as the first female Badger swimmer to compete in the Olympics, University of Wisconsin athlete Carly Piper (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) added to her long list of accomplishments Wednesday by helping the United Statesââ?¬â?¢ 800-meter freestyle relay team win the gold medal with a world-record time of 7:53.42 at the 2004 Olympic Games.

MADISON, Wis. – Itââ?¬â?¢s an emotional day for student-athletes, coaches and fans when Wisconsin and Minnesota meet in intercollegiate athletics. Beginning this fall, the winner of an 11-sport competition between UW and UM will capture the Border Battle Cup for display on its campus.

University of Wisconsin swimmer Carly Piper helped the U.S. 800-meter freestyle relay team to a spot in the finals and the best time in qualifying.

If it weren�t for 0.01 of a second, runner Jerry Schumacher surely would have competed in an Olympic Games.

Schumacher, now 34, is the men�s head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach for men at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He coaches other outstanding athletes, including Isaiah Festa, who just missed an Olympic berth this year himself.

Verona native Neil Walker claimed the first medal of the Athens Games for athletes from the Madison area or the University of Wisconsin on Sunday, but it wasn’t the success the Americans hoped for in the 400-meter freestyle relay.

A childhood dream came true Friday for Milwaukee Vincent basketball standout Marcus Landry when he announced his intention to attend the University of Wisconsin next

Katie Hammes is not sure she’ll be watching the Olympic Games on television when rowing coverage begins Saturday. That might be too difficult considering she was a fraction of a second away from being in Athens herself.

The University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team will make its network TV debut under second-year coach Lisa Stone in the 2004-05 season, according to the team schedule released Thursday.

The decision turned out to be costly for Suzy Favor Hamilton, but her coach still thinks it was the right one.

Highly regarded prep basketball player Marcus Landry of Milwaukee Vincent High School has told University of Wisconsin coaches he plans to play for the Badgers but wants to make the announcement official at a news conference, a source close to the program said.

The way, thanks to the work of UW strength and conditioning coordinator John Dettmann, was to force the players into competitive situations at every turn.

MADISON, Wis. – The exterior stone is complete, windows adorn the lakeside and the lead-copper finish takes its place on the roof as the UW crew house construction continues toward completion this fall.

In the three years since the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department was placed on NCAA probation for major rules violations in The Shoe Box affair, the school appears to have made strides in the areas of compliance.

Ron Dayne has been given a new lease on life.

After spending the entire 2003 season on the inactive list, Dayne is getting another chance to prove himself this summer with the New York Giants.

After studying the reasons behind the University of Wisconsin’s disappointing 7-6 record in 2003, Barry Alvarez realized he and his staff erred in one significant area. They waited too long to prepare then-redshirt freshman John Stocco.

MADISON, Wis. – The Athletic Departmentââ?¬â?¢s “Big Move” into the new Kellner Hall office building started this past Monday. The move will take approximately two weeks with 16 of the 23 UW sports as well as most of the support areas moving into the new five-story office structure.

There is a buzz around the UW football program these days, which has nothing to do with the drone of jackhammers and cranes from the ongoing stadium renovations.

MADISON, Wis. – Former Badger hockey coach Jeff Sauer has been selected for induction to the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame. He and his family will be the guests of honor at ceremonies to be held in Eagle River, Wis., Sept. 18.

MADISON, Wis. – For the 30th time in school history, including all six years of the Kohl Center era, Wisconsin menââ?¬â?¢s hockey outdrew all other college hockey programs to lead the nation in attendance during 2003ââ?¬â??04.

Madison – The men’s basketball rivalry between the University of Wisconsin and Marquette University, which appears to be heating up both on the court and on the recruiting trail, just got a bit warmer.

J.P. Gavinski, a 6-foot-101/2, 226-pound center who will be a junior at Wisconsin Dells High School this fall, has given UW coach Bo Ryan an oral commitment.

ALBANY, N.Y. — By all appearances, Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne is making the most of what could be his last chance with the New York Giants.

PITTSFORD, N.Y. � Lee Evans knows he has a chance to make a notable contribution to the Buffalo Bills offense in this, his rookie season.

Wisconsin, coming off a season in which it lost six of its last seven games to finish 7-6, was ranked No. 22 in the USA Today-ESPN pre-season poll released Friday morning.

Brian Calhoun’s decision to transfer to the University of Wisconsin from Colorado is a coup for the Badgers.

Madison – Before he retired, Pat Richter offered simple yet sage advice to the man poised to succeed him as the University of Wisconsin’s athletic director and simultaneously continue his efforts to return the football program to the upper echelon of the Big Ten Conference.

In essence, Richter told Barry Alvarez: Just win, baby.

Judd Guthmiller, like Ernest Hemingway, is painfully aware of the consequences when The Sun Also Rises — and shines on a scoreboard creating glare on the video screens.” But I don’t believe that will be a problem here,” said Guthmiller, a 26-year-old project manager for Daktronics, which is installing the scoreboards in Camp Randall Stadium.

Unless he is found guilty of second-degree sexual assault, University of Wisconsin tailback Dwayne Smith is expected to be eligible to play in the Badgers’ season-opener next month

PALO ALTO, Calif. – This is the first of many weekly journal entries Olympic swimmer Carly Piper (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) is sharing with Badger fans on her experiences training for and competing in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

One of the first messages Matt Smith heard as a University of Wisconsin freshman rower in the fall of 1996 was about the Olympics.

MADISON, Wis. – University of Wisconsin womenââ?¬â?¢s basketball head coach Lisa Stone, several menââ?¬â?¢s and womenââ?¬â?¢s basketball players as well as local television personalities will join Dane County children at the fifth annual Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayerââ?¬â?¢s Hoops for Hope Thursday, July 29 at the Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion adjacent to the Kohl Center.

University of Wisconsin football fans can now hope that Holliday’s cousin, O’Brien Schofield, enjoys similar success in Madison. He has given an oral commitment to play for UW.

EVELETH, Minn. – The United States Hockey Hall of Fame announced Sunday Wisconsin womenââ?¬â?¢s hockey head coach, Mark Johnson, as one of four inductees to the National Shrine of American Hockey in Eveleth, Minn.

MADISON, Wis. – Steve Waterfield, assistant compliance director at Ohio State the past five years, has been named assistant athletic director for compliance at Wisconsin, Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez announced.

University of Wisconsin officials announced Thursday that tickets for all six homes games for the 2004 football season are sold out. It is the first time in school history all games have been sellouts before the start of the season.

All six University of Wisconsin home football games for the 2004 season are sold out, UW officials announced Thursday.

Eight daunting trips running up the Elver Park hill in muggy conditions loomed for Clayton Hanson Wednesday night.

Talking about a different journey – with stops in France and Italy – sounded more appealing.

MADISON, Wis. – The Badger football season is entirely sold out according to an announcement made today by Corbin Hunt, UW Assistant Athletic Director for Ticket Operations

Rich Franchak, associate director of the Badger Fund at the University of Wisconsin since 2000, has been named senior associate athletic director of Xavier University.

Nearly $250,000 in bonuses were paid to University of Wisconsin coaches for exceptional achievement during the 2003-04 academic year.

Kerry Keating jumps in his rental car at 8 p.m. to make the two-hour trek from here to Atlanta. The Jon Brockman watch is over — for now. Keating, a UCLA men’s basketball assistant coach, will see plenty more of the 6-8 forward who’ll be a senior at Snohomish High near Seattle, but it’s time to turn to the next potential Bruin. Keating is finishing Day 9 of the chaotic July recruiting evaluation period.

Badgers fans looking for a little bit of validation may want to check out an ESPN promotional spot featuring Madison superfans Amy and Pete Callies.

Long-expected changes to recruiting rules, along with a new set of proposals to restructure recruiting and eligibility for basketball players, were endorsed on Tuesday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I Management Council at a meeting in Baltimore. (Subscription required.)

MADISON, Wis. – A pair of former Badgers have been named to Sporting News magazineââ?¬â?¢s list of ââ?¬Å?The Good Guysââ?¬Â in professional sports. Michael Finley (1992-95) and Jerry Wunsch (1993-96) were each named to the list for their contributions to those in need.

A series of proposals to redefine the relationship between college men’s basketball players and their coaches includes tryout sessions to analyze recruits.

The proposals, submitted to the NCAA Management Council for its meetings Monday and today in Baltimore, would allow Division I teams to conduct tryouts for no more than 18 prospects each academic year.

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin strength and conditioning has added Bryan Miller to its coaching staff. The newly appointed Miller will work primarily with womenââ?¬â?¢s basketball, volleyball and football. Miller is a certified strength and conditioning specialist from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

It became apparent not long ago that if Wesley Matthews hadn’t already made up his mind, he was leaning heavily toward committing to play basketball at Marquette.

Madison – NCAA rules prevent Tom Crean from commenting on the oral commitment Wes Matthews gave the Marquette University basketball team, but Matthews had this to report Sunday evening:

“He told me to tell you guys that he did scream like a little girl when I announced it to him,” Matthews said.

Sacramento, Calif. – For Suzy Favor Hamilton, it was another strange chapter in her long track career. But it appears this story could have a happy ending.

Sacramento, Calif. – For Suzy Favor Hamilton, it was another strange chapter in her long track career. But it appears this story could have a happy ending.