Lammar, Bolz earn larger roles; Kelley part of Winona’s solid season

AREA ATHLETES IN COLLEGE

The fall collegiate sports season has ended with a handful of local student-athletes making an impact for their teams. Here’s a look at some of that success.

Tori Lammar, a 2017 Medford graduate, appeared in 53 sets over 17 matches and started a match as a junior for the UW-Stout Blue Devils volleyball team. It was, by far, the most playing time she has earned in her three seasons with the program.

Listed as a right side player, Lammar notched a collegiate career high 10 kills in a Sept. 7 match vs. Oswego State during Stout’s 3-0 run through the UW-Oshkosh Pizza Hut Classic. The Blue Devils won that match 25-16 25-18, 29-27 as Lammar had the 10 kills and just one error for a .562 hitting percentage in the match.

Lammar’s playing time increased in the second half of the season. The Oswego State match was the only one she saw action in during Stout’s first 10 matches. However, she saw action in 12 of the team’s last 13 matches, highlighted by six kills on 19 swings during a 3-0 win over the University of Dallas Oct. 12 during a weekend tournament in St. Louis, six kills in 22 attempts during a 3-1 home loss to UW-Whitewater on Oct. 4 and six kills in 39 attempts during a 3-2 loss to Concordia of Wisconsin during a weekend tournament in Mequon Oct. 26.

She had five kills and just one error in 22 attacks during a 3-1 win over Lakeland University in St. Louis Oct. 12. Lammar also had five kills in a 3-1 win over Luther College on Sept. 14, in a 3-2 loss to UW-Platteville on Sept. 17, in a 3-0 sweep of UW-Superior on Oct. 1, in a 3-1 loss at UW-Oshkosh Oct. 18 and in a 3-1 win over Carroll College Oct. 26.

For the year, Lammar finished with 80 kills and 56 errors in 286 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .084. She added 12 set assists, 35 digs and nine block assists. Three of those blocks came in the Concordia match. She had five digs in a match on three occasions and two assists in the team’s regular-season finale Nov. 2 at UW-La Crosse, a 3-0 loss which marked the only time all season Stout got swept.

The Blue Devils finished the year 19-11 overall but just 1-6 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Interestingly, they were 15-2 on neutral courts but just 1-4 at home.

Grace Kelley, a 2019 Medford graduate, completed her first fall season with some solid races for the Winona State University women’s cross country team.

The Warriors finished their 2019 season with a third-place finish out of 16 teams in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championships, hosted by Wayne State (Neb.) on Oct. 26. In that meet, Kelley was 74th out of 155 women’s runners with a time of 25:00.93 in the 6K race. She was the Warriors’ ninth finisher.

Winona State was ranked sixth in the conference’s preseason poll and wound up earning their highest league finish since 2016. The team’s top five runners went on to place fourth at the Nov. 9 Missouri Southern State University NCAA Division II Central Region Championships and just missed earning a team berth in the national championship meet.

Kelley made her collegiate debut in the Sept. 6 Augustana (S.D.) Twilight Meet. She placed 98th in a time of 19:45.67, while the team took seventh out of 25 teams. That was a 5K race.

At the three-team Minnesota-Duluth Open Sept. 14, Kelley posted a 6K time of 27:00, good for 20th place out of 50 runners and the team scored 37 to place second between UMD (28) and Concordia of St. Paul (72). From there, it was on to the Lucian Rose Invitational, hosted by UWParkside. Kelley posted her best 6K time of the season at 24:35.3 and earned 19th place out of 101 runners. She helped Winona State win the 11-school meet with 31 points, 18 fewer than runner-up Parkside.

At the Lewis University Crossover Classic in Romeoville, Ill. on Oct. 12, Kelley was 259th out of 402 runners in a time of 25:59.1. The Warriors were 11th out of 36 teams.

Another 2019 Medford grad, Lauren Meyer, was on UW-Stout’s women’s cross country roster but team stats do not show her running in any varsity meets. The Blue Devils finished fifth out of eight teams at the WIAC meet hosted by UW-Platteville and were 14th out of 36 teams at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional hosted by UW-Oshkosh.

Conrad Bolz, a 2017 graduate of Medford Area Senior High, ran for 307 yards in 112 carries and scored four touchdowns as a running back for the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds. He also caught nine passes for 119 yards and returned one kickoff for 23 yards.

Under first-year head coach Wesley Beschorner, UW-Eau Claire went 3-7 overall during the fall and 1-6 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, beating UW-River Falls 27-14 in its Oct. 12 homecoming game.

Bolz, a junior, ran for a collegiate career high of 97 yards, including a long run of 24 yards in a Nov. 2 40-12 loss at UW-Stevens Point. He had a career-high 31 carries in that game. He ran for 61 yards on 15 carries in the win over UWRiver Falls.

He scored his first touchdown of the season on a late 2-yard run in a 35-3 win over Loras (Iowa) on Sept. 7. He scored the last touchdown again the following week, a 13-yard run, in a 27-21 loss at St. Norbert. He had a 6-yard second-quarter touchdown run and ran for 28 yards in eight carries in a 24-14 loss at NCAA Division III finalist UW-Whitewater on Oct. 5. He had the team’s only score, a secondquarter 4-yard run, in the team’s 43-8 home loss to UW-Platteville Oct. 26.

Bolz caught three passes for 75 yards, including a season-long 39-yard reception, in a season-ending 45-17 home loss to UW-Stout.

The team’s biggest win of the season was a 21-19 upset of St. Thomas (Minn.) on Sept. 28. At the time, the Tommies were the nation’s sixth-ranked Division III team. The team’s roster also includes former Rib Lake-Prentice standout Kai Vedder, who is listed as a defensive back.

Nick Retterath, a 2019 Medford graduate, was on the roster for the UW-Stevens Point football team. The 6-2, 265-pound freshman is an offensive lineman for the Pointers, who went 3-7 overall and 2-5 in the WIAC under second-year head coach Greg Breitbach.

The team’s WIAC wins were 30-16 over UW-River Falls and 40-12 over UW-Eau Claire.

Cade Alexander, a 2019 Medford graduate, made three pitching appearances for Viterbo University in its fall baseball season. He pitched 3.1 innings, allowing seven hits and five earned runs while striking out two batters and walking one.

He pitched a scoreless inning in the first game of the brief 11-game fall season, a 5-1 win over Valley City State (N.D.) on Sept. 14. He got his two strikeouts while pitching 1.1 innings in a 2-0 loss to Jamestown (N.D.) on Sept. 28. He had a tough day at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis on Oct. 5, allowing five runs and six hits in the fifth inning of a 15-10 loss.

The V-Hawks went 4-7 in the fall season. They are set to open the spring season Feb. 22 against Madonna University (Mich.) at the Lenz Field and Sports Complex in Jacksonville, Ill.