Wisconsin Sports Network (WSN) named Shorewood High School winner of the WSN Cup in the medium schools division for the 2019-2020 school year. With a total of 380 points, 335 from the fall season and only 45 from the winter, Shorewood clinched the title, making this the first time the WSN Cup has been awarded to a medium-sized public school since its initiation in 2007-2008. 

“It’s a cup that scores out each particular sport and gives a point value to how far you go in the tournament series,” said LeVar Ridgeway, athletics director. “Whether you go to sectionals or state, or you win a state championship, you get a certain amount of points associated with each accomplishment.”

Athletics were cut short this school year because of the pandemic, so the places were determined by fall sports rankings and the part of the winter season that was completed. Shorewood finished well after the fall season, including state championships in girls cross country and boys soccer. This provided a hopeful start to the athletic year.

“With our strong finishes in the fall, we were at the top of the rankings when they released the fall results, so we knew we had an opportunity to potentially win,” Ridgeway said. “We were looking forward to the competition.”

Getting a good start after the first season also motivates people to keep the momentum going for the following athletic seasons. 

“When people win in the fall and they do another sport in the winter or the spring, they want to do well in those other sports as well,” said Kyle Konkol, boys soccer head coach. 

Boys volleyball was among sports that improved from previous years. Athletes made sure that they stayed on top of it to have a better season this year. 

“One thing the volleyball team did [from last year to this year] is [last year] we would start winning and then we would get too relaxed,” said Colin Kenney, senior. “When [this year] came, we completely flipped that. We came out 100 percent and finished 110 percent.” 

The Cup win was a team effort from all of the athletics department, as well as all the students and community members that came out to support the teams. 

“Whether you played in a sport or not, coming to the games and supporting the student athletes I think was a collective part in getting this cup,” Ridgeway said. 

Konkol also appreciates the camaraderie and support that bring people together through athletics. 

“What’s really cool about Shorewood is people go out to support other sports,” Konkol said. “It reciprocates, and everybody wants to be a part of that and help each other out and support each other. I think everybody’s going to continue to want to help each other out, and it’s going to breed more success and keep stacking that success.”

This win and the strong athletic year provide motivation to defend the cup for the next school year. 

“I sure hope it inspires athletes to just keep pushing themselves and to see what they’re capable of,” Kenney said. “It proves that just because we’re a smaller school doesn’t mean we can’t win big titles like this.”

Ridgeway agrees that this was a special year for Shorewood athletics, even if it didn’t end as expected. 

“This shows that we can be a force in athletics in our division,” Ridgeway said.