All thawed out

Thanks to everyone who supported our fundraising efforts for the Special Olympics of Wisconsin. Furby, Paul, Eric and I raised $675 and took the Polar Plunge in Oshkosh Saturday. It was certainly one of those "bucket list" moments. The plunge was a first for each of us, and none of us knew quite what to expect ... other than the shivers. It all happened pretty quickly. In some ways, I would describe it as anti-climactic. Still, we all agreed that we were glad to have done it. Will we be rushing to do it next year? I suspect it could become an annual team event, but time will tell.

Coach Damm's Bike Leg

Coach Ric Damm completed the bike leg of the 2010 Badger State Games. The route was a 5K out-and-back on Red Bud Road near Nine Mile Country Forest in Wausau, Wis. Damm recorded the fastest time on the bike for the day, completing the 5K distance in 12:42.1. He teamed up with Eric Smith to place second overall in the pairs, age 16-28 category with a combined time of 1 hr. 20 min. 57 sec.

Furby's Quadrathlon Ski Leg

Andy "Furby" Fehrenbach completed the 5K ski leg of the 2010 Badger State Games Quadrathlon in a time of 17:34.0, the fourth fastest time on the day. Furby teamed up with Paul Meuer to compete as a pair in the 16-28 age group. The two finished fourth in the category with a combined time of 1 hr. 46 min. 33.4 sec.

Red Hawk Recognition

A few photos from the recognition at Friday night's basketball game:























Tiffany, Coach Damm and Eric.























The new Cycling championship banner hanging among the other College championship banners in the gym.

Hawks to be Recognized before Ripon Basketball Game

The Ripon College athletic department will recognize two members of the Red Hawks cycling team before the start of the Red Hawks men's basketball game Friday, Feb. 5, at Ripon College's J.M. Storzer Center.

Tiffany Seering and Eric Smith were each named Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference Division 2 mountain bike individual omnium champions for their performances last fall.

Tiffany, a junior from West Bend, Wis., ended the 2009 season in third place in the conference standings and tops among Division 2 females.

Eric, a freshman from Charlottesville, Va., ranked 11th among conference men at the end of the season and was the best of Division 2.

With their success, both Tiffany and Eric earned a trip to USA Cycling's Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals at Northstar at Tahoe Resort in California last October. The pair led Ripon to a 12th place finish among Division 2 schools.

At Nationals, Eric was 10th among the male individual omnium competitors. Omnium results are a combination of scores from all four events, and Eric finished 28th in cross country, 22nd in short track cross country, 35th in four cross and 20th in downhill.

Tiffany competed in the cross country and short track events, finishing 15th and 17th, respectively.

A banner recognizing the cycling team's 2009 Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference Division 2 championship has been added to the College's wall of championship banners in the Wyman Gymnasium.