Category Archives: Sports

by | March 20, 2013 · 8:58 am

South Milwaukee’s Tie To The Madness

Miami is a really good team, with as good a chance as any to make the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four this year.

And a former South Milwaukee basketball star is one reason why.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel profiles Trey McKinney Jones today in an excellent story about perserverance and persistence in his long journey from the South Shore to South Beach. Check it out here. From it:

McKinney Jones was an all-Southeast Conference basketball player, a state track champion and a high honor roll student at South Milwaukee High School, but the college basketball recruiting experts looked right past him.

“No.”

Instead of accepting their rejection and disinterest, however, McKinney Jones’ father got to work.

Dwight Jones compiled his son’s highlights on a YouTube video and created a website with his son’s résumé. And after putting in a full day as an engineer in management at Rockwell Automation, he would settle down at his phone every night and become a salesman.

Six years later, McKinney Jones is a starting guard and solid, all-around player for the Miami Hurricanes, the fifth-ranked team in the country having one of the best seasons in school history. The Hurricanes, who won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament Sunday, will play Pacific on Friday in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2-seeded team in the East Regional.

Do you have a favorite memory of Trey? Post your comments below!

And go Hurricanes!

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by | March 3, 2013 · 8:59 am

Rocket Girls Fall In Regional Finals

With its first conference championship in 18 years, it was quite a year for the South Milwaukee girls’ basketball team. Unfortunately, it ended Saturday night, as top-seeded New Berlin Eisenhower held off fourth-seeded South Milwaukee in a WIAA regional final, 63-59.

Check out more on the game here.

And congratulations to the Rockets on a great season!

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by | March 2, 2013 · 11:26 am

Sports Update: On To The Regional Finals (Tonight) For The South Milwaukee Girls’ Basketball Team

Update: Here is a NOW game story.

Just got this from Ante Udovicic and the South Milwaukee School District …

The fourth-seeded South Milwaukee girls’ basketball team will play top-seeded New Berlin Eisenhower at 7 p.m. tonight at Eisenhower after beating Whitnall in the regional semifinals Friday.

Here is the full bracket.

ROCKET GIRLS BASKETBALL

South Milwaukee defeated Whitnall last night in a regional semi-final 59-44. It was an eventful day for the Rockets as they cut down the symbolic net for winning conference at the morning student-staff basketball game assembly and then went on to beat the Falcons in a very exciting game.

Leading the way for the Rockets against Whitnall:

  • Brittany Bruck (hugely clutch with a 9-9 night from the FT line!) with 13 pts
  • Ellie Pusheck with 16 pts and 11 reb
  • Riley Budde with 7 pts, 11 reb and 6 assists
  • Emily Pusheck with 11 pts, 7 reb and 2 blocks

 The Rockets take on New Berlin Eisenhower tonight at 7:00pm (all tickets are $4 and no passes accepted). Please try and head out there and be as GREAT a crowd as you were last night. Should be a heck of a game! Good luck Rockets!!!

ASSEMBLY HIGHLIGHTS

We have to make note that the staff won for the 8th time in the last 9 games by a score of 44-38 behind a stellar performance by Jason Termaat, Derek Hoff, and Barrett Danz. Senior Alyx Birmingham deserves mention for the most exciting moment of the game though, when she hit a near half-courter from the Rocket which was worth 5 pts. SeniorBrandon Dutcher later followed it up with a 5-pointer of his own, which was great, but Alyx’s shot stole the show!

The Polar Plunge was highlighted in the assembly. As of today, the SMHS Bomb Pops Polar Plunge team raised over $3,300 for Special Olympics and DeLynn Charon in particular needs to be commended for her great work! I will pass along more info with a team photo after we plunge Saturday around noon at McKinley Marina. Noon temp of 25 degrees, but with an 11 mph wind, the wind chill will be 14. 

POWERLIFTING STATE

Good luck to Coach Danz & Coach Wojciechowski and the following student-athletes who qualfied for the WHSPA Girls’ State Powerlifting meet being held this weekend in Necedah, WI. Good luck Rockets!!!

  • Sarena Christoffersen
  • Judy Slamka
  • Claire Morse
  • Glorian Koniecny
  • Kayla Hurula
  • Samantha Sankey
  • Sofia Terranova
  • Emily Rice
  • Tess Thompson

BASKETBALL GAME TO DVR

Since you will hopefully be at the SM v. IKE game, you should DVR the  5:00pm game on ESPN – Miami @ Duke, and catch SM grad Trey McKinney Jones and the Hurricanes in action.

Another great weekend to be a Rocket!

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by | February 27, 2013 · 9:23 pm

South Milwaukee Sports Update: Alumni News, Girls’ Basketball Team Opens Postseason Play Friday

Got this email from Ante Udovicic today … go Rockets!

The good alumni reports keep on rolling in. Here are our latest bits of great news. 

Katie Kitzke – 2009 grad

Katie Kitzke capped off a fantastic season and tremendous career at UW Oshkosh by being named to the First-Team All-Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Conference for Women’s Basketball. Katie ended up as the 10th leading scorer in school history with 1156 points and finished 3rd in school history with 147 three-pointers made in her career. She averaged 12.2 pts and 2.5 rebounds per game and scored a career high of 25 pts in a game twice this year. You have been a source of pride for South Milwaukee High School for 8 years Katie. Fantastic job!!!!

http://www.uwoshkoshtitans.com/sports/wbkb/2012-13/releases/20130226ntekia

Austin Stueck – 2012 grad

Austin was not only named to the All-Freshman Team for the Northern Athletic Conference, he was named NAC Freshman of the Year, and most impressively, he was named to the overall First Team All Northern Athletic Conference!! If you look at the link, you will see that the other members of the first team include 2 juniors and 2 seniors. Way to go Austin!

http://www.northernac.org/sports/mbkb/2012-13/all-conference 

ROCKET GIRLS BASKETBALL

This Friday, the Rockets take on the Whitnall Falcons at 7:00pm at home. All tickets are $4, no passes or ID’s are accepted. Let’s get a big crowd to cheer loudly for the Rockets. We split the season series with the Falcons, but this time it’s our turn to win and move on to the Regional Final on Saturday Night (most likely at 7:00pm at NB Eisenhower). 

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by | February 22, 2013 · 10:39 pm

Season Over For South Milwaukee Boys’ Basketball Team

Waukesha Catholic Memorial rolled past South Milwaukee, 71-53, in a WIAA regional contest on Friday.

The seventh-seeded Rockets finished 10-14.

March Madness, meanwhile, continues for the Rocket girls, who are coming off their first conference title in 18 years. They play next Friday in South Milwaukee.

Learn more in my previous post.

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by | February 22, 2013 · 6:24 am

South Milwaukee Sports Update: Girls’ Basketball Team Wins First Conference Title In 18 Years

Congratulations to the South Milwaukee girls’ basketball team, which secured its first conference title since 1995 with a win over Greendale. Next up is the WIAA Tournament on Friday.

South Milwaukee Athletics and Activities Director Ante Udovicic has more details in the following update …

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Congratulations to Coach Derek Hoff and Coach Carl Bauhs and the Rocket Girls’s Basketball team on winning their first conference championship since 1995!!! Their 49-40 defeat of Greendale on Wednesday night cemented sole possession of 1st place for the Rockets (see attached team photo after the win). Ellie Pusheck led the way with 16 pts and 12 reb, while Brittany Bruck hit 5 straight free throws late and finished with 10 pts while Emily Pusheck chipped in with 12 pts. 

The Rockets earned the #4 seed in the Sectional and await the winner of Tuesday’s Regional opener between #5 seeded Whitnall and #12 seeded Milw. Ronald Reagan. The Rockets will play the winner on Friday, March 1st in South Milwaukee HS’s Sullivan Gymnasium at 7:00pm (all adult & student tickets will be $4 and doors open at 6:00pm). This will be a great game, so please come on out and support the girls and cheer as LOUD as you can, but please make sure it is positive for our girls and not negative against the refs and opponents!

WRESTLING

Congratulations again to Tom Mitchell on qualifying for State Wrestling, but he lost his opening match at state 2-1 yesterday finishing the season with a fantastic 39-6 record. Hope to see you in Madison again next year!

CHEER

Good luck Saturday at State!

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Good luck tonight to the Rocket Boys’ Basketball team as they face Catholic Memorial at 7:00pm. Let’s see if some more people can sign up for the fan bus, especially with the snowy conditions we are having.

As of now, we only have 8 people signed up for the fan bus. If we don’t at least approach 30 people, we will end up cancelling the bus by 3:00pm today. Call/text 414-531-2362 if you need to know if the bus is cancelled.

Catholic Memorial HS – 601 E. College Ave in Waukesha

DIRECTIONS TO CATHOLIC MEMORIAL FROM SMHS

  • Take I-94 W to 894 W
  • Take exit 4 to merge onto I-43 S toward Beloit
  • Take exit 54 for Racine Ave.
  • Stay straight to go onto Racine Ave. (the school is about 6 miles from I-43)
  • Turn left onto College Ave. (school will be on your left)

SIGNING DAY

As some of you might have seen a few weeks ago, college football’s national signing day was held. Well, other sports had signing days as well, and so far, I have 2 SM signings to report (with photos of the signings and links to the college teams and info on their recruits). Congratulations ladies!!!

Micaela Creighton – signed her letter of intent to go to school and compete on the women’s track and field team on a scholarship for Auburn University (currently ranked #25 in the nation).

http://www.auburntigers.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/020813aad.html

Kaylyn Markiewicz – signed her letter of intent to go to school and golf on a scholarship for Adams State University (in Colorado).

 http://www.asugrizzlies.com/article.asp?articleID=6551

 

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by | February 12, 2013 · 9:55 pm

The Madness Approaches: South Milwaukee Gets A State Tournament Home Game

I love March Madness (or February Madness, such as it is with our high schools) … and it’s almost here!

The WIAA released its boys’ basketball pairing this week, and South Milwaukee has a home game in round one. The seventh-seeded Rockets (8-9 after a win over St. Francis on Tuesday) host 10th-seeded Indian Trail High School of Kenosha next Tuesday, Feb. 19.

Waiting in the second round of the regionals is second-seeded Catholic Memorial.

Check out the full Division 2 bracket here.

I’ll keep you posted when girls’ tournament brackets are announced.

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by | January 30, 2013 · 10:01 pm

Lots Happening With Local Sports Teams

Update: Changes day of “Red Out” game and Teff dedication to Friday. Sorry about that.

Here’s an update from Ante Udovicic, athletics and activities director for the South Milwaukee School District, which includes details on Friday’s “Red Out” basketball game and next Friday’s Teff Gymnasium dedication …

With a ton of things happening in the next few weeks, I wanted to send a brief recap of the upcoming events so you have it handy.

  • Fri. February 1 – Red Out Basketball Game (Whitnall @ SM – 5:45pm JV & 7:30pm Varsity) – Sullivan Gymnasium. Wear red, meet Bango (6:15pm-6:45pm), fight heart disease and have a chance to win an iPad mini!
  • Sat. February 2 – Woodland Conference Varsity Wrestling Tournament at Pewaukee HS (9:00am)
  • Sat. February 2 – Woodland Conference Varsity & JV Boys Swim Meet at Greenfield HS (9:30am diving & 1:15pm swimming)
  • Tue. February 5 – Shorewood at SM Girls’ Basketball (4:15pm Frosh 5:45pm JV & 7:30pm Varsity) – Sullivan Gymnasium
  • Wed. February 6 – Woodland Conference JV Tournament in the SM Middle School Gym (4:00pm)
  • Fri. February 8 – Teff Gymnasium Dedication – Middle School Gym (approx. 7:10pm)
  • Fri. February 8 – Cudahy @ SM Boys’ Basketball in the Teff Gym (4:15pm Frosh 5:45pm JV & 7:30pm Varsity)
  • Fri. February 8 – Wrestling Casino Night at Knights of Columbus (contacts – jshilling@sdsm.k12.wi.us & lwawrzyniak@sdsm.k12.wi.us)
  • Sat. February 9 – WIAA Swim Sectionals at Greenfield HS (1:00pm start)
  • Sat. February 9 – WIAA Wrestling Regionals at Marquette Univ. HS (9:30am start)
  • Mon. February 11 – Cousins Sub Donation Day to benefit Rocket Basketball program (9:00am-10:00pm)

 

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by | January 24, 2013 · 4:24 pm

Happy Anniversary Season: South Milwaukee Little League Accepting Player Applications

The South Milwaukee Little League turns 60 years young this year.

My son, Christian, has been a part of the program for two years now, and not only has he developed skills on the field, he is developing life skills too — skills like humility, perseverance and work ethic.

I’d encourage every South Milwaukee boy or girl to play.

Player applications are now being accepted, and tryouts are in March.

Learn more on their website. Play ball!

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by | January 23, 2013 · 5:55 pm

Teff Gymnasium: Honoring A Local Legend

Here is some really good news from the South Milwaukee School District …

South Milwaukee is renaming the middle school gymnasium after longtime athletic director, coach and physical education teacher Jim Teff, who passed away last fall.

Check out the press release from the district here. From it:

Jim Teff was a legend. He had a tremendous impact on thousands of student athletes. By naming this gym after him, current and future Rocket coaches and teachers will be able to use Jim as a shining example of what hard work, dedication and integrity mean for thousands more.

The naming ceremony will take place on Friday, Feb. 8, as the South Milwaukee boys’ basketball team takes on rival Cudahy … at the middle school. The ceremony starts after the junior varsity game, around 7:10 p.m. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

What do you think of the honor? Did you know Coach Teff? What are your memories of him? Post your comments below!

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by | January 13, 2013 · 12:35 pm

Where Are They Now? More South Milwaukee Athlete Alumni Updates

Thanks to Ante Udovicic for doing the leg work and sending these along … enjoy!

Natalie Marlowe (class of 2008)  
Natalie was a multi-time all-conference basketball player for the Rockets, and was a standout volleyball and softball player and an honor student as well! This fall, she was hired as the new assistant women’s basketball coach at Hendrix College in Arkansas.  Natalie recently graduated with honors from Chicago State University following a successful playing career with the Division I Cougars.
 
During her career at Chicago State, Natalie appeared in 116 games, recording 806 points, 422 rebounds, 386 assists and 171 steals as a four-year starter at guard/forward. She is going to have a wonderful career as a coach!
 
 
Steve Bartlein (class of 2008)
Steve was recently selected by his over 30 teammates as Team Captain for the UW Whitewater baseball team. Fantastic accomplishment, and for those that know Steve, there should be zero surprise that he received this honor. 
 
Rich Galewski (class of 2004) & Nathan Marlowe (class of 2005)
Both Rich & Nathan had great baseball careers at South Milwaukee and have gone on to the collegiate coaching ranks, joining the UW-Platteville coaching staff. Rich recently was the freshman baseball coach at Greendale High School and Nathan recently graduated from Edgewood College, where he finished with the 5th most wins in school history as a pitcher (and he turns 26 today – Happy Birthday Nathan!)
 
Courtney Susedik (class of 2004) 
Courtney ran in the 2011 Boston Marathon . She finished in the top 3% of women . Also, she was in the Lakefront Marathon in 2011 and finished took 14th, finishing the 26.2 miles race in 3 hrs. & 16 min. Having seen her running through all kinds of ridiculous weather on the streets of SM, I am sure she has run plenty of more races since then as well. Courtney was on the Track and Cross team while she was at SMHS.
 
Emily Wesley (class of 2008)
Emily was a 4-year varsity basketball player as a Rocket, and ended up winning 4 conference championships as part of the Concordia Women’s Basketball team. She is now the Varsity Assistant Girls Basketball coach at Nicolet High School! Another former Rocket who was tailor-made to coach! 
 
Jake Zdrojewski (class of 2011)
Jake played baseball and football at South Milwaukee, so why change things now. Jake is also playing baseball and football at Lawrence University! One college sport is tough enough!
 

 

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by | January 8, 2013 · 4:55 pm

1,000 Points: Milestone For Former South Milwaukee Basketball Player Katie Kitzke

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh senior — and South Milwaukee’s own — Katie Kitzke scored the 1,000th point of her collegiate career earlier this month.

Check out the story here, and here are her stats. Katie was also named WIAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week on Dec. 18 after pouring in a career-high 25 points in a victory over UW-Platteville.

Congratulations, Katie!

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by | December 6, 2012 · 9:40 pm

Look Closely: South Milwaukee Is All Over The New Aaron Rodgers-Ford Commercials

This is really, really cool …

So, there are three new Aaron Rodgers-Ford television spots being released, and they have a distinctly local feel — as in, large parts of them were shot in South Milwaukee.

See the story and ads here.

And I’ll let Ante Udovicic, athletics and activities director for the South Milwaukee School District, take it from there …

“If you watch the commercial shown at the top and 2 others down below on the website page, you will see commercials featuring  Aaron Rodgers. What is most interesting about these commercials is the location for parts of this shoot that was shot on a Sunday in July. If you look closely, you will see the following areas from the South Milwaukee 6-12 campus:

COMMERCIAL #1

  • Rawson Woods – Opening scene shows Rodgers running through Rawson Woods…really, that’s Rawson Woods!
  • Middle School Weight Room – Rodgers is lifting weights & then using our boys track team’s heavy ropes
  • Practice Field east of Spaltholz Field – Rodgers is pulling a tire on our east practice field
  • Spaltholz Field – Rodgers is running tires on our football field (you can see the visiting team benches in the background and then you can catch a glimpse of the SM water tower too)

COMMERCIAL #2 (labeled http://www.cutters.com/q?id=3940)

  • Football/Wrestling Locker Room – As Rodgers puts his jersey on, you can catch a glimpse of the lockers and the small square tile floor in the locker room that our FB & Wrestling teams use in the middle school)
  • Hallway by Door #40 – Rodgers runs through the hallway nearest the middle school weight room leading to the area between the HS & MS that leads to the Door #34 entrance.

COMMERCIAL #3 (labeled http://www.cutters.com/q?id=3944)

  • You will see 3 passes thrown to actors. Those passes were not actually thrown by Rodgers, they were thrown by 2012 SM grad, former SM QB, and current football player at Concordia University, Pat Berg!

COMMERCIAL #4 (labeled http://www.cutters.com/q?id=3952)

  • This is more of a “making of” clip and not a commerciall actually. And it is true, it only took Rodgers 2 takes to make the throw. This was shot at a farm in Muskego and is a pretty cool clip to see.

While it is not immediately obvious that these scenes from the 3 Ford commercials were shot on the SM 6-12 campus, this explanation hopefully will help you notice it next time you see one of these commercials on TV.”

I told you this was cool 🙂 Ante, thanks for sharing.

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by | November 28, 2012 · 10:57 pm

Celebrating Trey McKinney Jones … South Milwaukee Rocket Turned Miami Basketball Star

Miami upset No. 13 Michigan State in a Big Ten-ACC Challenge game Wednesday night.

Here’s why this matters in South Milwaukee: Trey McKinney Jones. He’s a former Rocket, and he’s really good.

McKinney Jones scored a career-high 18 points in leading the Hurricanes to the 67-59 victory. Check out the ESPN story here.

Read Trey’s story on the Miami University website, and it’s a good one.

After spending two years at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he started 25 games as a sophomore, Trey transferred to the U and sat out a season. He then played in all 33 games as a junior at Miami, averaging seven points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.7 steals. In five games so far this year, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound senior is averaging 12.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, and he is tied for the team lead with 11 three-pointers.

The best part of the story: Trey graduated earlier this year with a marketing degree, and he’s now pursuing a second undergraduate degree in liberal arts as he finishes his senior season.

Learn more on Trey’s website, and keep an eye on Miami basketball this season. Go ‘Canes! Go Trey!

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by | October 20, 2012 · 7:46 am

South Milwaukee Football Team Falls In First Round Of Playoffs

Brookfield Central rolled to a 33-8 victory over South Milwaukee Friday night in the first round of the WIAA playoffs, ending the season for the Rockets.

Here is a game story. And here are stats.

After losing their first two games of the season, South Milwaukee finished 5-4 — and landed a share of the Woodland Conference East title, their first conference title since 1980.

Congratulations on a good season!

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