While many students at the University of Wisconsin use their summer to vacation, bolster their resume with an internship or take an extra course, there’s still plenty going on in the world of UW athletics.
Between the imminent release of College Football 25, the roster list being announced for the Paris 2024 Olympics, the reveal of the UW Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2024 and much more, there’s something for everyone to catch up on at UW.
College Football 25
One of the most famous college sports video games franchises of all time, fans were delighted to hear that College Football would be making a comeback with College Football 25, set to release July 19. After an 11-year hiatus since the release of the previous College Football game, Badger fans will once again be able to lead their team to a national championship.
EA Sports, the company behind College Football 25 announced the top-100 players by rating, with two Badgers — cornerback Ricardo Hallman and strong safety Hunter Wohler — both making the cut.
Hallman came in at No. 62 on the list with a 91 overall rating. Most notably, Hallman has 93 speed and 95 acceleration, making him one of the quickest corners in the country. Wohler came in at No. 84 with a 90 overall rating.
Paris 2024 Olympics
UW fans are lucky to be seeing Badgers compete in a wide range of events at the upcoming 2024 Olympics in Paris, including volleyball, rowing, swimming, athletics, rugby, soccer, basketball and more.
Some current Badgers with tickets booked to Paris include sophomore Taiko Torepe-Ormsby and senior Phoebe Bacon for swimming and redshirt sophomore Adam Spencer for the 1,500-meter run.
Torepe-Ormsby will be representing New Zealand at his first Games after setting the fastest ever 50m freestyle swim for a New Zealander at 21.86 seconds. This year as a Badger, Torepe-Ormsby won the Big Ten Championship at the 50m freestyle with a time of 18.76 while also finishing in second place at the 100m freestyle with a time of 41.20. As if his season couldn’t get more impressive, he set a school record at the 2024 NCAA Championships with a 50-meter freestyle time of 18.81, earning him a 10th place finish in the country.
Bacon has also enjoyed an illustrious career at UW, finishing this past season as the 200m backstroke Big Ten and NCAA champion after setting a personal best of 1:48.23 during the NCAA championships. During the Olympic Trials, Bacon finished in 6th place in the 100m backstroke with a time of 59.37 and in 2nd place in the 200m backstroke at 2:06.27.
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This will be Bacon’s second Olympic appearance after she competed in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — where she finished in 5th place — a mere 0.01 seconds behind her teammate Rhyan Elizabeth White.
Spencer, a Melbourne native, will compete for Team Australia in his Olympic Games debut after winning the Big Ten Championship in the 800-meter run this past year. During the Games, Spencer will compete in the outdoor 1500-meter run, where he finished as the 2024 Australian national champion and the 2022 Big Ten Champion, as well as the 2024 NCAA 3rd place finisher.
UW Athletic Hall of Fame 2024
The UW Athletic Department announced the 12 inductees to the Class of 2024 Athletic Hall of Fame on May 29, 2024.
The inductees represent the long and storied history of UW athletics, from Adam Burish, who captained the Badgers to a men’s hockey National Championship in 2006 to James Dunkleberger, who helped the Badgers to six consecutive indoor and outdoor track and field titles between 1995-1997.
Also on the list is the legendary John Jagger, who was UW’s first All-American in men’s hockey in 1970, former U.S. Senator and namesake of the Kohl Center Herb Kohl and Mark LaPorte, a part of the No. 1 defense in the country during the 1981 NCAA men’s soccer tournament, which was also UW’s first NCAA tournament appearance.
Marija Neubauer, a part of UW’s first-ever tennis All-American doubles team, as well as the second of three Badgers to be a four-time First-Team All-Big Ten women’s tennis selection was admitted alongside Gina Panighetti, the first individual to receive All-American honors for women’s swimming, as well as having set Big Ten records in the 100yd and 200yd butterfly events.
Meaghan Reid was admitted as a two-time Olympic gold medalist in women’s hockey and two-time NCAA champion with UW. Alex Rigsby Cavallini, another women’s hockey legend, was admitted as the career wins leader for women’s hockey with 100 while also having the most saves in program history with 3,126.
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Tarek Saleh and Donnel Thompson are the only football players among the nominees, and both put up astonishing numbers during their time at UW. Saleh is the program leader in tackles for loss and quarterback sacks with 58 and 33, respectively. Thompson began his UW career as a walk-on, eventually playing in four consecutive bowl games between 1996-1999 and holding the record for most tackles in a season with 141.
Pete Waite — the final inductee — is the only coach on the list. Waite led the UW volleyball team to nine NCAA tournament appearances in 13 years, including a runner-up finish in 2000, while also leading the team to back-to-back Big Ten Championships in 2000 and 2001.
UW athletics will be back before you know it, and before long Camp Randall, the Kohl Center and LaBahn Arena will be jam-packed with Badger fans like yourself cheering the Badgers to victory.