Outlook Magazine - Fall 2018

ATHLETICS

FRESH START ON THE HARDWOOD First-time head coaches take over women’s, men’s basketball programs

ALL AMERICAN EFFORTS

When the basketball season tips off in November, the Blue Devils will have a new look on both benches for the first time this century with two new head coaches. In April, Hannah Quilling-Iverson was named the head women’s coach and Jim Lake the head men’s coach, replacing Mark Thomas (31 years) and Eddie Andrist (18 years), respectively, both of whom resigned. Not only will they be replacing two longtime coaches, but Quilling- Iverson and Lake will be head

Sam Elsner highlighted the 2017-18 UW-Stout athletic scene by earning two national crowns. Elsner competed at UW-Stout as a freshman before transferring to the University of Minnesota. He returned to Menomonie for his senior season and made quite a splash. He won the NCAA Division III indoor shot put title and was second in the weight throw. During the outdoor season, he won the discus throw at the NCAA meet with a school record of 191 feet, 7 inches, on his first throw of the day. Elsner’s season included three WIAC individual titles and five All-America awards. Five other Blue Devils won WIAC indoor or outdoor titles. In football, the Blue Devils finished with a 5-4 record and were ranked 22nd nationally after upending then fourth-ranked St. Thomas, 25-22, at Williams Stadium, Sept. 9. They had 13 players on the All-WIAC team. In cross country, the men matched the best finish in school history, second at the WIAC meet. Five runners earned All-WIAC honors. The team also took fifth at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional and qualified for the national meet for the second time in three years. In hockey, Mathias Ahman earned All-America honors after leading WIAC defenseman in scoring; he ranked third nationally. On the basketball court, the Blue Devils had the WIAC scoring leaders in Isaac Elliott and Kyncaide Diedrich. In gymnastics, Brooke Terry was the first Blue Devil to advance to the NCAA Division I Regional since the 2010 season. An all-arounder, Terry captured NCGA All-America honors, as did Sierra Beaver and Shaquilla Payne. Payne won the WIAC vault title. In baseball and softball, the weather was the winner with numerous cancellations and postponements because of late cold and snow. The softball team got off to its best start in school history, 10-1. Sophomore Mary Iliopoulos set a school and conference record with a .500 batting average. Iliopoulos and Kyncaide Diedrich were all-district selections. In women’s golf, the Blue Devils finished second in the WIAC. Rachel Hernandez was first-team all-conference for the third time. Howie Samb was WIAC coach of the year for the seventh time. Senior Sam Elsner wins national titles in shot put, discus

Jerry Poling

From top: Hannah Quilling-Iverson, Jim Lake.

coaches for the first time.

Quilling-Iverson was a standout prep player at Eau Claire North and from 2008 to 2012 at Division I UW-Green Bay, where she was director of player development beginning in 2016. She also has been an assistant coach at Ashford University. "We will have a high level of expectations on the basketball court, but developing young women that are ready to take on the world will be our main goal," said Quilling-Iverson, who played in four NCAA Division I national tournaments at UW-Green Bay. Lake has been the top assistant coach the past five years for Ferris State University in Michigan, helping the team win the 2018 NCAA Division II national title with a 38-1 record and four straight conference titles. He also was a high school coach for many years. “I am fired up and ready to get to work,” said Lake, a native of Spokane, Wash., who grew up in Michigan. “I have a lot of respect for the level of basketball in the WIAC. This position gives me the opportunity to coach in the best league of Division III at a terrific institution.” New volleyball coach The Blue Devils will have a third rookie head coach in Mandy Trautmann, who took over the volleyball program March 1, after Laura Evans resigned. Trautmann was an assistant coach for the Blue Devils last season and at age 24 will be one of the youngest head coaches in university history.

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