Championship Sports Covered: Tennis, Golf
Regular-Season Sports Covered: Softball, Openweight Rowing, Track & Field
Tennis
The Badgers weren’t able to get past No. 53 Indiana for a second time this season, as they were shut out by the Hoosiers, 4-0, in the first round of the 2012 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Tournament on Thursday.
Four games, including the match at No. 2 doubles, went unfinished as IU was able to win the dual at No. 3 singles. Wisconsin finishes its season 12-12 overall and 3-9 in the Big Ten.
The Badgers lose four seniors, including second team All-Big Ten honoree Alaina Trgovich, to graduation. Despite that, they also return five starters, including freshmen Sarah Loebel and Nova Patel, who both had exceptional rookie season for Wisconsin.
Sophomore Nicky Stracar received the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for UW, as announced during the tournament banquet on Thursday.
Golf
Wisconsin finished ninth at the 2012 Big Ten Women’s Golf Championships, which ended Sunday at the Donald Ross Golf Course in French Lick, Ind.
The Badgers shot 64-over par (318-303-307=928) overall after shooting +19 during the final round on Sunday.
Senior and Madison native Jessie Gerry led Wisconsin by shooting +16 (78-76-78=232), good for a tie for 28th overall. Junior Lindsay Danielson wasn’t far behind, finishing in a tie for 36th with +19 (78-80-77=235).
Freshman Aaren Ziegler, redshirt freshman Kimberly Dinh, and sophomore Alexis Nelson all finished at a tie for 40th place at +20, while sophomore Kris Yoo finished just outside of the top 50 overall at +22, good for a tie for 51st place.
Softball
The Badgers took one of three from Purdue over the weekend in West Lafayette, Ind., but the win they came home with was a big one.
With the win in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader, the 2012 Wisconsin softball team is the fastest team in school history to win 30 games. The Badgers (30-15, 12-6) also won their school-record 12th Big Ten game of the season on Saturday.
The Badgers weren’t able to recover from an early 3-0 deficit in game one. Wisconsin got to within three after a home run by junior Whitney Massey (5-2), but Purdue (30-17, 12-5) scored two insurance runs in the sixth inning to secure the win at 7-2. Massey went 2-for-4 in game one with one run and an RBI, while senior Karla Powell brought in the other run.
Game two went much better from the beginning for Wisconsin, as a two-run homer by junior Shannel Blackshear gave the Badgers the early lead. Purdue cut the lead to one in the first inning before the Badger offense exploded in the fifth. Wisconsin scored four runs on three hits and three PU errors while adding an insurance run in the sixth to get the win. Massey recorded her school-record 15th double of the season while also adding a run and an RBI.
The Badgers finished the series with a close 6-5 loss on Sunday. The teams traded runs for most of the game until Purdue’s Ashley Burkhardt hit the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the sixth. Freshman Michelle Mueller went 2-for-3 with an RBI while junior Shannel Blackshear drove in 2 RBI to tie the game at 5. Classmate Kendall Grimm went 2-for-4 with 2 runs in the loss.
Sophomore Cassandra Darrah improved her record to 20-9 on the mound after the weekend of play.
Up next for the Badgers is a six-game homestand, including the end of their non-conference schedule on Tuesday against Bradley and on Wednesday with a doubleheader vs. UW-Green Bay.
Openweight Rowing
The Badgers made sure that their version of Paul Bunyan’s Axe stayed in Madison on Sunday, as they won five of six races against arch-rival Minnesota to win the Burnin’ Blade Award for the second year of its existence.
Wisconsin won the varsity eight race by just under eight seconds to take the trophy over the Golden Gophers. The Badgers also won the second varsity eight, second varsity four, and both novice eight races, while dropping the varsity four race by exactly four seconds. The novice crews especially shined for Wisconsin on Sunday, as the Badgers won the first novice eight race by over 15 seconds and the second by over 30.
The Burnin’ Blade Award was introduced during last season’s dual races on Lake Mendota. The Border Battle points will not be awarded until the Big Ten Championships on May 13, which is the next time Wisconsin will race.
Track & Field
The Badgers split up again over the weekend, with groups competing at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, the Triton Invitational in La Jolla, Calif., and the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.
Before competing at the Triton Invitational, junior Taylor Smith set the school record in the discus (176 feet, 1 inch) at an invitation-only meet at the U.S. Olympic Center. She took seventh on Friday with her throw of 171-9. Freshman Kelsey Card took 11th with her throw of 162-2.
Senior Megan Rennhack broke a school record of her own in the javelin at 163-4, which was good for third overall and highest among collegiate throwers. Smith, Card, and junior Jasmine Boyer finished seventh through ninth, respectively, in the shot put, while sophomore Abby Lueck finished 12th.
The Badgers also competed at the Drake Relays over the weekend. The team started the three-day meet with two sixth place finishes from junior Brittney Harper in the 800 meters and senior Kyla Chapman in the 1600 meters. Chapman’s time of 16:35.40 was a personal best.
Senior Monika Jakutyte tied the Big Ten’s top mark in the high jump this season by clearing 5 feet 10 inches, good for sixth overall.
At the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, senior Ashley Beutler ran a career-best 4:24.78 in the 1500 meters, good for sixth in her section. Junior Caitlin Comfort took 18th in the 5000 meters, finishing in 16:31.41.
The Badgers return home next weekend to host the Wisconsin Open, their final tuneup before they host the Big Ten Championships from May 11-13.
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