Athletics News

61 total posts. Showing results 1 - 20.

Author Frank Smoll

Frank Smoll ’63 publishes e-book for youth sport parents

Frank Smoll ’63, Ph.D., recently published an e-book for youth sport parents after enjoying a career as a developmental sport psychologist and professor emeritus of the University of Washington. Titled “Sports and Your Young Athlete: Developing Champions in Sports and Life,” the e-book provides comprehensive information that assists parents in enhancing the well-being of their […]

Women's Flag Football Coming Soon graphic

Ripon College Athletics adds women’s flag football

RIPON, Wis. – Ripon College is adding women’s flag football as its newest sport, with competition set to begin in the spring of 2027. The College will hire a head coach in the spring or summer of 2025 to begin recruiting student-athletes for the inaugural season. Flag football is one of the fastest-growing sports in […]

esports logo

Ripon College to launch competitive esports team in fall of 2025

Ripon College is proud to announce the establishment of its inaugural esports team, which will begin competitive competition in the fall of 2025. Under the guidance of an experienced director/coach, for which a national search will launch in the spring of 2024, and with plans to join the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), the […]

Rendering of Hopp Stadium

Hopp Stadium to open Sept. 30; Franzen Science Center construction begins

Ripon College’s new Hopp Stadium is scheduled to host its first competition Sept. 30 when the Red Hawks football team will host Cornell College. The Sept. 16 home opener vs. Illinois College will be played at Ingalls Field. With major construction scheduled to finish Sept. 22, the 30th will serve as a soft opening with […]

Cormac Madigan announced Midwest Conference Men's Athlete of the Year for 2023

Madigan named Midwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Year

RIPON, Wisconsin – Another major accolade has been awarded to Cormac Madigan, Ripon College Class of 2023, to add to his lengthy collegiate resume. Monday, he was named the 2023 Midwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Year for Men’s Sports. This represents the top male student-athlete in all sports from throughout the Midwest Conference in terms […]

Kenny Finco

Ripon College names Kenny Finco new head coach of men’s basketball

Ripon College announces that Kenny Finco has been selected as its next head coach of men’s basketball. He will assume his duties April 3. For the last six seasons, he has served as an assistant men’s basketball coach and an assistant in the sports performance center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. “Kenny’s cerebral approach […]

Chris Schumacher

Ripon College names Chris Schumacher new athletic director

Ripon College announces that Christopher Schumacher has been selected as its next athletic director. He will assume his duties June 1. Steve Wammer, associate director of athletics and head softball coach, will serve as the interim athletic director. Current athletic director Ryan Kane has been named athletic director for Carthage College, a role he assumes […]

Cormac Madigan

Cormac Madigan earns prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship

Ripon College senior Cormac Madigan of Rosendale, Wisconsin, has been awarded a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. The NCAA awards up to 126 postgraduate scholarships annually. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically. The $10,000 scholarships are awarded three times a year corresponding to each sport season (fall, winter and spring). Twenty-one […]

Athletic Director and Head Men's Basketball Coach Ryan Kane

Athletic Director and Head Men’s Basketball Coach Ryan Kane named next Athletic Director at Carthage College

Ryan Kane, athletic director and head men’s basketball coach at Ripon College, has been named the next athletic director at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He will coach the remainder of the basketball season and continue to serve as athletic director at Ripon before assuming his new role at Carthage April 1. Ripon College named […]

Red Hawks football player #6 Cormac Madigan receives Academic All-America Division III Team Member of the Year

Madigan named Academic All-America Division III Football Team Member of the Year

Capping his standout final season playing Red Hawks football, Cormac Madigan ’22 of Rosendale, Wisconsin, has received the highest honor College Sports Communicators (CSC) offer. He has been named Academic All-America Division III Football Team Member of the Year in recognition of his achievements on the competition field as well as in academics. “It’s a […]

Architectural rendering of the Ripon College Science Center, Opening Fall 2024

Ripon College Announces First Phase of $35M Strategic Infrastructure Plan

Ripon College has announced plans to move forward with a $35 million strategic infrastructure plan which will address the renovation and expansion of Farr Hall of Science, a new on-campus stadium and upgrades to residence halls. The first phase will prioritize a $24.5 million investment in the science center and an $8.5 million investment in […]

Steve Wammer

Steve Wammer inducted into Northland College Athletic Hall of Fame

Steve Wammer, head softball coach and associate director of athletics, was inducted into the Northland College Athletic Hall of Fame Sept. 24. He began at the college in Ashland, Wisconsin, in 1999 as athletic director to lead the enhancement and expansion of athletics as well as the process of joining the NCAA. That process was […]

Ben Fisher, Theta Chi Scholar Athlete Award Recipient

Benjamin Fisher ’23 earns top award from international fraternity

Benjamin Fisher ’23 of Waupun, Wisconsin, won the Theta Chi fraternity’s 2021/2022 James Ralph “Shug” Jordan Award which he received at the 166th Anniversary Convention held during the summer in Washington, D.C. He was selected from the fraternity’s 159 active chapters for its top scholar-athlete award for demonstrating impressive leadership service, and scholastic accomplishments as […]

Head Football Coach Ron Ernst during a game

Winningest Head Football Coach Ron Ernst retiring after 32 years with Ripon

Red Hawks’ head football coach and defensive coordinator Ron Ernst has officially announced he will retire from Ripon College at the end of the 2022 season — his 32nd at the helm. During his head coaching career at Ripon, Ernst had led the Red Hawks to 184 wins and 113 losses, making him the winningest […]

Coach Bob Gillespie

Bob Gillespie to be inducted into Lewis University’s Academy of Coaches

Ripon Hall of Fame Coach Bob Gillespie will be inducted into Lewis University’s Academy of Coaches. He will be honored with three others during halftime of the Lewis University men’s basketball game Saturday, Jan. 15. Gillespie is the winningest coach in Ripon College history in both baseball and men’s basketball, with a combined record of […]

Payton Rahn and Cormac Madigan

Ripon student-athletes sweep 2021 MWC academic awards

Ripon College student-athletes have swept the 2021 Midwest Conference (MWC) Awards for academic success. Payton Rahn, an English and politics and government double major from Omro, Wisconsin, received the Ruth Peterson Award, and Cormac Madigan, a chemistry-biology major from Rosendale, Wisconsin, received the Roy W. LeClere Award. The Peterson and LeClere awards are presented to […]

Ripon College Women's Basketball 1000th game graphic

Women’s basketball team will celebrate program’s 1,000th game Wednesday

The women’s basketball team will celebrate its 1,000th game in program history Wednesday when they host the University of Wisconsin-Platteville at 7 p.m. at Willmore Center. “The game is a great reflection of all of the time, energy and effort Coach Elaine Call, Coach Julie Johnson and all the assistants and players have dedicated to […]

Ripon College and Lawrence University athletic logos composite image

Ripon/Lawrence football game canceled

The Ripon College football game with Lawrence University has been canceled, Director of Athletics Ryan Kane announced today. The Midwest Conference game, originally scheduled for Nov. 13 on Ron Roberts Field at the Banta Bowl in Appleton, Wisconsin, was postponed because of COVID-19 protocols. The game had been rescheduled for Nov. 20 before the decision […]

Two college presidents

Ripon College, Illinois College presidents spotlight local charities in advance of Saturday’s game

There is more on the line than a win for this Saturday’s football game between Ripon College and Illinois College. The presidents of the two institutions have agreed that the president of the losing team will make a donation to a local charity of the president of the winning institution’s choosing. Ripon College President Zach […]

2001 championship football team celebrating win

Two championship football teams to hold reunion Saturday

A reunion of the Red Hawks’ 1996 and 2001 Midwest Conference Championship teams will be held Saturday, Sept. 18. Both teams will be honored at halftime of the football game which begins at 1 p.m. against Cornell College of Mount Vernon, Iowa. Ripon’s 1996 team finished with a 9-1 record, en route to capturing head […]