August 4, 2020 – Washington Co., WI – UWM at Washington County held its final awards banquet this week at The Columbian in West Bend.
Coaches, athletes and families celebrated academic and athletic achievements.
The Robert B. Pick Athletic Award is one of the most coveted forms of recognition for student athletes at UWM at Washington County.
The award has been handed out the past 33 years; it is sponsored by the Pick family.
The criteria for the Robert B. Pick Male and Female Athlete of the Year Award is:
– Shall be an outstanding athlete
– Participation in a number of sports
– Number of letters earned
– Degree of excellence achieved in athletic participation
– Conduct during their college career to bring credit to their team and UWM-Washington County.
This year’s recipient of the Robert B. Pick Female Athlete Award is Paige Airaudi.
Athletic Director Deb Butschlick praised Airaudi as a very dedicated student athlete. “She works hard in her sport and in the classroom. She is a multi-sport athlete as well as maintaining above a 3.0 grade point average.
She was a member of the 2018 Eastern Division and the WCC State Champion volleyball team. Helping her 2019 to a WCC State Runner-up champion. She was selected as a Team Captain of the 2019 season. She was also a member of the 2019 Women’s State Tennis Team Champions winning the No. 2 Doubles championship. She also helped to develop and has been the two-year president of the Athletic Club which helped promote athletic activities during the school year.”
Butschlick then presented the Robert B. Pick Male Athlete Award to David Britton.
“David is a dedicated student athlete. He sets high standards not only for himself, but also for his teammates no matter which sport he is involved in. He is a two-sport athlete playing basketball and tennis. During the 2018-2019 basketball season he was recognized by the WCC Conference for his efforts and was selected to the WCC First Team All-Conference. In 2019 – 2020, Britton was selected to the WCC First Team All-Conference and was named Player of the Year. For his hard work and dedication to basketball he was selected to the 2019-2020 All State basketball team. In tennis David helped his team win the 2019 WCC State Championship by winning the No. 5 singles position.”
The Thomas J. Brigham Scholar Athlete award is selected based on number of credits taken, grade point average, contributions to the athletic programs, campus, and community service.
This year’s recipient of the Thomas J. Brigham Scholar Athlete is Morgan Kappler.
The award was presented by Butschlick. “Morgan takes her academics seriously and playing volleyball even more serious. As a two-year starter and team leader Morgan has made an impact not only on the team but also in the conference. She is a natural born leader. Morgan was selected by the Athletic Board as the top student athlete of the year. For her efforts, Morgan receives a $500 scholarship and plaque.”
In April 2019 a letter was sent to faculty and staff at UWM at Washington County from Stephen E. Schmid, Ph.D. The Interim Dean of the College of General Studies at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee announced the conference athletic programs would be cut at the University in Washington County in 2020-2021.
The move to sunset competitive conference athletics at the end of the 2019-20 academic year is driven by several factors. Declining enrollments have resulted in declining segregated fee revenues, leaving less funding for non-athletics student life activities and personnel.
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