Sports
Team Player - Erin Byrd
Five things to know about Erin Byrd, captain of UW's volleyball squad:
A six-foot-tall senior from Glen Ellyn, Illinois, Byrd is majoring in international business.
She is an outside hitter and one of the leading point-scorers for the defending Big Ten champions. In volleyball parlance, hitting a winning point is called a kill. So far, Byrd leads the team in kills — at least the on-court variety.
The opposite of a kill is a dig — when a defender keeps a spike attempt in the air, allowing her team to go on offense. Byrd's good at that, too. In fact, she's one of only four UW players ever to have more than one thousand kills and one thousand digs during their careers.
A six-foot-tall senior from Glen Ellyn, Illinois, Byrd is majoring in international business.
She is an outside hitter and one of the leading point-scorers for the defending Big Ten champions. In volleyball parlance, hitting a winning point is called a kill. So far, Byrd leads the team in kills — at least the on-court variety.
The opposite of a kill is a dig — when a defender keeps a spike attempt in the air, allowing her team to go on offense. Byrd's good at that, too. In fact, she's one of only four UW players ever to have more than one thousand kills and one thousand digs during their careers.
Fluent in French, she volunteers as a tutor, helping international students with English. When the Badgers visited France during their European tour last summer, Byrd did all the talking, translating between her teammates and French competitors.
Erin's sister, McKenzie, is a freshman at North Carolina, and more than twenty Byrd relatives attended this season's match against the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. They wore Wisconsin shirts — along with North Carolina hats.
— M.P.
Erin's sister, McKenzie, is a freshman at North Carolina, and more than twenty Byrd relatives attended this season's match against the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. They wore Wisconsin shirts — along with North Carolina hats.
— M.P.
Penney's in Heaven
As captain of the Badger basketball team, Kirk Penney finds himself in a unique role this year. He's the team's only senior, a lone graybeard among a bunch of guys who barely need to shave.
But Penney has plenty of experience at being in a class by himself. When you grow up shooting baskets in a country that favors cricket bats and rugby balls, you get used to being on your own.
Penney was born in Auckland, New Zealand, with virtually no template for his hoop dreams. The island nation had few basketball stars — no native Kiwi had been drafted by the National Basketball Association until 1998 — and most athletes gravitate toward the nation's greater passions of rugby, cricket, boating, or running.
But Penney has plenty of experience at being in a class by himself. When you grow up shooting baskets in a country that favors cricket bats and rugby balls, you get used to being on your own.
Penney was born in Auckland, New Zealand, with virtually no template for his hoop dreams. The island nation had few basketball stars — no native Kiwi had been drafted by the National Basketball Association until 1998 — and most athletes gravitate toward the nation's greater passions of rugby, cricket, boating, or running.
Yet Penney's course was clear from an early age — at least to him. When he was twelve, he wrote a school essay in which he outlined his plans to play basketball in the United States. His teachers thought he was dreaming.
He was. "I had this whole scenario in my mind of what would go on. I thought it would just be awesome," Penney says. "And to be honest, it's been even better to experience it. When you're actually living a dream, it's so much more than dreaming a dream."
To be fair, Penney's visions didn't exactly come true. He had imagined suiting up for UCLA, whose games sometimes came on television in the middle of the night, making it the only U.S. university Penney really knew. When assistant coach Tony Bennett recruited him to Wisconsin, he had barely even heard of the state. "Green Bay Packers. Milwaukee Bucks. That's about it," he laughs.
But he couldn't be happier with how it's played out. "I'm just so proud to be a part of the Wisconsin program," he says. "The whole college experience here is so unique. And the support of the fans is just second to none."
He was. "I had this whole scenario in my mind of what would go on. I thought it would just be awesome," Penney says. "And to be honest, it's been even better to experience it. When you're actually living a dream, it's so much more than dreaming a dream."
To be fair, Penney's visions didn't exactly come true. He had imagined suiting up for UCLA, whose games sometimes came on television in the middle of the night, making it the only U.S. university Penney really knew. When assistant coach Tony Bennett recruited him to Wisconsin, he had barely even heard of the state. "Green Bay Packers. Milwaukee Bucks. That's about it," he laughs.
But he couldn't be happier with how it's played out. "I'm just so proud to be a part of the Wisconsin program," he says. "The whole college experience here is so unique. And the support of the fans is just second to none."
Penney, a six-foot, five-inch guard whose jump shot is as soft as his humble, friendly manner, broke into the lineup as a freshman in 1999-2000, during the Badgers' run to the Final Four. Last season, he emerged as a star, leading the team in scoring, averaging more than fifteen points per game, and helping the Badgers earn a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship. Along the way, he became only the fifth UW men's player since 1948 to earn consensus All-Big Ten honors.
He's done it all while keeping up a double life — becoming a Badger by winter, and a Kiwi by summer. Penney has spent nearly every moment away from school competing for his home country, appearing in the 2000 Olympics, the 2001 Goodwill Games, and this year's World Basketball Championships. At that last event, held this summer in Indianapolis, Penney and the New Zealand team became a dream team to upstage the Dream Team. The Kiwis, who had to beat rival Australia for the first time since 1978 just to make the sixteen-team Worlds, knocked off Goliath after Goliath en route to a stunning fourth-place finish. That put them two spots ahead of the host United States, and, in New Zealanders' eyes, on top of the world.
He's done it all while keeping up a double life — becoming a Badger by winter, and a Kiwi by summer. Penney has spent nearly every moment away from school competing for his home country, appearing in the 2000 Olympics, the 2001 Goodwill Games, and this year's World Basketball Championships. At that last event, held this summer in Indianapolis, Penney and the New Zealand team became a dream team to upstage the Dream Team. The Kiwis, who had to beat rival Australia for the first time since 1978 just to make the sixteen-team Worlds, knocked off Goliath after Goliath en route to a stunning fourth-place finish. That put them two spots ahead of the host United States, and, in New Zealanders' eyes, on top of the world.
"The whole country was behind us. It was a really special experience," says Penney, who was New Zealand's second-leading scorer. "Things like that don't come along very often. For little old New Zealand, it was just a great run."
And so has it been a great run for Penney. He's determined to cherish his final year in Madison — from the charged energy of the Kohl Center on game day to the laid-back idyll of hanging out at the Terrace. "I know this is a time in my life that I will always treasure," he says. "I don't want to think ahead into the future too much. I just want to enjoy the now and enjoy the time I've had here. Everything else will fall into place."
— Michael Penn
And so has it been a great run for Penney. He's determined to cherish his final year in Madison — from the charged energy of the Kohl Center on game day to the laid-back idyll of hanging out at the Terrace. "I know this is a time in my life that I will always treasure," he says. "I don't want to think ahead into the future too much. I just want to enjoy the now and enjoy the time I've had here. Everything else will fall into place."
— Michael Penn
In the Long Run
Few things are harder than iron, but the Ironman, the most recognized triathlon competition in the world, has to be one of them. The Ironman circuit ran through Madison and parts of campus in September, attracting nearly two thousand competitors who subjected themselves to a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run. Held in Madison for the first time, the race included a jaunt through the Camp Randall Memorial Arch during the marathon segment of the race. For comparison's sake, Ron Dayne x'00, the most prolific runner in Badger history, took four years to get 6,397 yards. Each of these athletes racked up 12,394,905 — in one day.
— M.P.
— M.P.
Back on Track
A lead gift from the Kellner family has Camp Randall Stadium renovation plans back on track. Brothers Ted '69 and Jack W. Kellner, along with their families, presented the university with $10 million in October, and $6 million of it will go toward the eventual expansion and refurbishing of the aging stadium.
The project, originally projected to cost around $99 million, was put on hold in February due to budget shortfalls. However, Chancellor John Wiley MS'65, PhD'68 says he's confident that the Kellners' generosity will spur additional private investment and help keep the project on schedule. An eight-month evaluation of the project has shaved about $20 million from the anticipated price of the original plans, while keeping most elements intact. With timely approvals, construction could begin in spring.
— Staff
The project, originally projected to cost around $99 million, was put on hold in February due to budget shortfalls. However, Chancellor John Wiley MS'65, PhD'68 says he's confident that the Kellners' generosity will spur additional private investment and help keep the project on schedule. An eight-month evaluation of the project has shaved about $20 million from the anticipated price of the original plans, while keeping most elements intact. With timely approvals, construction could begin in spring.
— Staff
In Season - Women's Swimming
With twelve newcomers replacing only five departed veterans, women's swimming and diving, like the waters in the Natatorium, should run deep. The team looks to improve on 2001's fourteenth-place national finish — its fifth straight in the top twenty.
Circle the dates: February 19-22, Big Ten championship meet in West Lafayette, Indiana; March 20-22, NCAA championships, Auburn, Alabama.
Keep an eye on: Sophomore Carly Piper, who set a Big Ten record in one event and earned All-American honors in two last year.
Think about this: At UW-Madison, there's no style like freestyle. Last year, Badger women freestylers swept the Big Ten titles, winning all five events.
Circle the dates: February 19-22, Big Ten championship meet in West Lafayette, Indiana; March 20-22, NCAA championships, Auburn, Alabama.
Keep an eye on: Sophomore Carly Piper, who set a Big Ten record in one event and earned All-American honors in two last year.
Think about this: At UW-Madison, there's no style like freestyle. Last year, Badger women freestylers swept the Big Ten titles, winning all five events.
Badger Ticker
In the second game of the season, the football Badgers put the lights out on the University of Nevada-Las Vegas — and then someone put the lights out on them. UW led the game 27-7 with more than seven minutes remaining when a power outage left UNLV's Sam Boyd Stadium in the dark. Both coaches agreed to end the game, rather than waiting for back-up generators, making the longest football season in UW's history just a few minutes shorter than planned.
Junior Malinda Johnson established a new record for the women's golf team, shooting the best round in team history. Johnson's eighteen-hole tally of 66 came during the final round of the Legends Shootout in Franklin, Indiana, in October. She topped the old mark of 69, set on the same course in 1998 by Allie Blomquist '01.
Junior Malinda Johnson established a new record for the women's golf team, shooting the best round in team history. Johnson's eighteen-hole tally of 66 came during the final round of the Legends Shootout in Franklin, Indiana, in October. She topped the old mark of 69, set on the same course in 1998 by Allie Blomquist '01.
Chris Clark, coach of the men's rowing team, was named national coach of the year by the Eastern Association of Rowing Coaches. The group also tabbed the UW's varsity eight team for the Rusty Callow Award, honoring the crew that best overcomes adversity. The varsity eight team finished second nationally last spring, just months after assistant coach Dylan Cappel '00 died of cancer.
UW-Madison's Big Ten title in men's basketball continues to pay dividends. Thanks to last year's finish, six Badger games will be broadcast on national TV, beginning with the December 4 contest against Wake Forest (ESPN2). The women's team is slated to appear on ESPN against Illinois on January 12.
UW-Madison's Big Ten title in men's basketball continues to pay dividends. Thanks to last year's finish, six Badger games will be broadcast on national TV, beginning with the December 4 contest against Wake Forest (ESPN2). The women's team is slated to appear on ESPN against Illinois on January 12.
