WAUKESHA – Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha won the championship titles in the Wisconsin Junior College Athletic Association (WJCAA) tournament held this past weekend at the UW-Waukesha Field House. In a conference dominated by the technical schools, this is the first time one of the 13 UW Colleges has won both the men’s and women’s state titles in the same year.
To celebrate the accomplishment, the campus will hold a rally on Thursday, February 28, at noon in the dining room. There will be cake, balloons, and popcorn. Women’s coach Jack Hervert and men’s coach Neal Nelson will address the gathering and introduce their squads.
The women’s team suffered only a single loss all season, falling to Division 1 Arizona Western during a holiday tournament in Arizona. They sealed a Wisconsin Collegiate Conference (WCC) championship in Richland Center on February 16, beating the home team, 70-43. In the re-match for the state title, they again proved their superiority, 82-77, on Sunday.
While the men Cougars finished the season on top of the WCC Eastern Division, they lost the conference title game, 60-64, to UW-Marathon. Rebounding, they worked their way into the WJCAA semifinals and surprised forecasters by beating the favored Madison Area Technical College Wolfpack, 63-54, for the championship.
For the tenth time, men’s coach Neal Nelson was chosen Coach of The Year by his peers in the WCC, and Jack Hervert, women’s coach, was recognized as Coach of The Year as well. He has led the women’s team to state championships five out the last 10 years and to the runner-up position last year and in 1998-99.
The campus, which long ago adopted Packer colors for its athletic teams, is draped in green and gold.
With a little more than 2,000 students, UW-Waukesha is the largest of the 13 freshman-sophomore UW Colleges campuses.
To contact the coaches directly:
Neal Nelson
Work (262) 521-5206
Home (262) 548-9079
e-mail nnelson@uwc.edu
Jack Hervert
Work (262) 521-5434
Home (414) 543-0742
e-mail jhervert@uwc.edu |
