Watch the 2023 ESSLY Awards
2023 ESSLY Award Winners

La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Intercollegiate Athletics Department hosted its 9th Annual ESSLY Awards Tuesday, April 24 in Mitchell Hall Gymnasium.  ESSLY stands for "Eagle Sport, School, and Life Yearly Awards."  Student-athletes were honored in the areas of sport, school, and life.  Awards presented included recognition of captains, team community service, 4.00 students, scholar-athletes, academic All-Americas, four-year participants, All-Americas, individual national champions, and team national champions.

In addition, other awards presented included:  

Male Athlete of the Year - Nolan Hertel, Wrestling and Sam Blaskowski, Track and Field
Hertel became the school's first wrestler to win an NCAA national title at 157-pounds after going 4-0 at the championships. As the second seed, Hertel won his first two matches at the championships by scores of 6-1 and 2-1. Then in the semifinals, he won by sudden victory (2-0) over third-seeded Zeke Smith of Loras College (Iowa). He then defeated fourth-seeded Tyler Shilson of Augsburg (Minn.) with an overtime decision (6-5) to capture the national title. With his first place finish, Hertel earns his second NCAA All-America honor of his career. Hertel helped lead his team to a fifth place finish overall at the NCAA III Championships. 
 

Hertel qualified for the Championships by winning the NCAA III Upper Midwest Regional crown by going 4-0. Hertel finished the 2022-23 season with 36-2 overall record including a perfect 4-0 record for his third consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship. A first team WIAC All-Conference selection, Hertel also earned National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Scholar award for the second time. 

Blaskowski became the first sprinter in school history to win an NCAA National title in the 100-meter dash at the 2022 NCAA III Outdoor Championships and then became just the second sprinter to win a national title in the 60-meter dash at the 2023 NCAA Indoor National Championships. Besides the NCAA All-America honors in both of these events, Blaskowski earned four others including one in the long jump, 200-meter dash and 4x100 at the Outdoor Championships while also earning one in the 200-meter dash at the Indoor Championships. Also at the national level, Blaskowski finished fifth in the 60-meter dash at the 2023 USA Indoor Championships where he broke the NCAA III record with a time of 6.67 in the finals. 

After both the 2022 Outdoor and 2023 Indoor WIAC Championships, Blaskowski was named the WIAC Track Performer of the meet after winning the 100 and 200 meter dash at the outdoor championships while winning the 60 meter and 200 meter at the indoor championships. He was also a member of the 4x100 relay team that finished second in the spring. Also during the indoor season, Blaskowski set the NCAA III record in the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.13 seconds. 
 

Female Athlete of the Year - Skye Digman, Track and Field
During the 2022 Outdoor and 2023 Indoor track and field seasons, Digman added four NCAA All-America honors including two during each season. At the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Digman won a national title in the discus while finishing fifth in the hammer throw and ninth in the shot put. She is one of just three athletes in school history to claim a national discus title. Then at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships, Digman became the second thrower in school history to win a national title in the weight throw while finishing fourth in the shot put. Digman and her teammates finished second as a team at the Outdoor Championships and won the schools second Indoor National Championship.

After both the 2022 outdoor and 2023 indoor season, Digman was named the WIAC Field Performer of the Meet where she won a conference title in the hammer and weight throws.  A 2022 NCAA CoSIDA Third Team Academic All-America, Skye was named the 2023 USTFCCCA Indoor North Region Field Athlete of the Year.

 

 

Co-Student of the Year - Kathleen Casella, Swimming and Diving and Charlotte Mueller, Cross Country
Casella has a four-year cumulative GPA of 4.00. She is a Psychology major with a legal studies minor. Casella will be pursuing a law degree in the fall at University of Illinois.  

Mueller also has a four-year cumulative GPA of 4.00. Mueller is studying biology pre-PA track. Mueller will be going to PA school following her graduation from UWL. 
 

Co-Newcomer of the Year - Claire Cater Soccer, Lily Millington Gymnastics
Cater was named WIAC First Team All-Conference after finishing fourth in the league in goals scored (9) and total points (27). Starting all 24 games for the Eagles, Cater was second in the WIAC in assists and finished with two game winning goals. She helped lead the Eagles to a regular season WIAC title, WIAC tournament title and appearance in the NCAA III Championships where they advanced to the third round. 

Millington earned NCGA All-America honors by finishing tied for eighth on the vault at the National Championships. Millington helped lead her team to a National Runner-up finish at the NCGA National Championships. Millington participated in the vault at five meets this year with her highest score being 9.700 at nationals.  
 

Comeback of the Year – Anthony Vivian, Baseball 
Vivan suffered a dislocated shoulder sliding into second base during the 2022 season. His injury involved extensive damage to his labrum and he had to undergo surgery. An injury of this caliber is challenging in a lot of ways, but he took every step of his recovery with a positive attitude. He was dedicated to long hours of rehabilitation in the months following surgery. Not only did he prioritize time to rehab his injury, but he also showed up and supported his teammates throughout his recovery and kept up academically as a pre-physical therapy student.

His hard work paid off. He fought through his recovery and was ready for baseball on day one of traditional season practices, only 9 months after his injury. He has been able to return without missing a beat. He continues to contribute to his team's success playing outfield and leads the WIAC with 13 home runs which ranks third on the single season record list at UWL. He also is second on the team with a .371 batting average.

In Life Eagle Award – Keila Kittelson, Golf 

Here are a few clips of what Keila teammates had to say about her: 
Kittelson has always been a leader for the women's golf team. Her kindness and optimism shine through in every practice or tournament. Her focus and determination are characteristics of a great golfer and an amazing student-athlete. As a public health major, she has started a job at the YMCA where she delivers food out to people in the community that are in need. She is passionate about helping her community and I believe she will play an important role in advocating for her community in her future career. Kittelson ensures that every teammate is cared for and has built a culture of kindness for our team.
 

Faculty of the Year – Dr. Alan Bigel, Professor of Political Science Public Admin.

Dr. Bigel was nominated by Paige Janssen of the Soccer team. Here is what she had to say:

He is the most interesting professor I have ever had. Each class of his I go to I am captivated. He lectures about things that he has lived through, and he isn't afraid to share his opinion. This makes other students feel comfortable to share their own opinions, myself included. He is very good at celebrating students who do well in his class as well. He grades each test, which is compiled of around 12 short essay questions, thoroughly. And leaves comments on what seems like every sentence. This makes me feel as though my hard work is paying off and that he cares about what I've learned from him. I believe that he should win this because he is the best professor and teacher that I've ever had. So much so, that I'm going to create my schedule next semester based on which classes of his I can take. 

Highest Team Grade Point Average - Gymnastics
The gymnastics team earned the award for highest team cumulative grade point average at 3.613.
 

Team of the Year - Women's Track & Field
Women's track & field placed second at the 2022 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships and won the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships under head coach Nickolas Davis, its sixth runner-up finish in school history and second National Indoor Title. . At the Outdoor Championships, the Eagles earned 18 All-America honors including an individual national championship in the discus by Skye Digman. The 2022 outdoor season also saw the Eagles capture their tenth consecutive WIAC title including six individual championships. During the 2023 indoor season, the Eagles finished first at every meet that kept team scores including capturing thier third consecutive WIAC Indoor Title where they scored a conference record 324 points. 

Moment of the Year - Football
This year's Moment of the Year takes us to the Eagles football game against UW-Platteville. Needing to defeat UW-Platteville to earn a share of the WIAC Title, the Eagles jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead in route to a 31-10 win to claim its first conference championship since 2004 and the programs 34th in school history. The share of the conference championship helped the Eagles earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships. During this game, Joey Stutzman rushed for 95 yards and had one touchdown.

Outstanding Career Award - Emma Lawrence, Women's Track and Field and Volleyball, Ethan Anderson, Men's Basketball
Emma Lawrence was a four-year member of both the volleyball and track and field teams. Emma is a three-time WIAC All-Conference first team selection in volleyball while also being named an AVCA Second Team All-America.  

On the track, Emma is a 13 time All-American, which includes four top-10 finishes.  She holds two indoor school records and is ranked in top the top four in three different outdoor school records. She is a 15-time All-WIAC honoree and this year she earned the Track Performer of the Year for indoor.  

Ethan Anderson has played an integral part of the men's basketball team during his career. Ethan was named to the 2021-22 D3hoops.com All-America Fourth Team and became the first player in school history to earn four career All-WIAC First Team honors. He finished his career having played in a school record 116 games and finishing fifth on the all-time scoring list with 1,573 points. Ethan capped off his career by being selected to play in the 2023 National Association of Basketball Coaches Reese's Division III College All-Star Game.