Sixteen new studentathletes appointed to 2025-26 Leadership Team
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association has selected 16 high school student-athletes from across the state that are entering their junior years to serve on the 27-member Student-Athlete Leadership Team for 202526.
Members of the team submitted an application form and a short introductory video to express their interest in serving on the team. The WIAA received 150 applications this spring. The number of representatives from each district is determined by a percentage of member schools in each of the seven districts.
The following are the names and school affiliations of the 2025-26 Student-Athlete Leadership Team sorted by district. Asterisks indicate the new appointments for 2025-26.
District 1: Sawyer Jones, Sr., New Auburn; Olivia Korish*, Jr., Turtle Lake;Nevaeh Nwachukwu, Sr., St. Croix Falls.
District 2: Ryley Darr*, Jr., Northland Pines; Ginger Gerndt, Sr., Suring; Hope Soper*, Jr., Gillett.
District 3: Tori Creighton, Sr., Alma; Elizabeth Curtis, Sr., Westby; Maxwell Jaeger*, Jr., Menomonie.
District 4: Portia Hah*, Jr., Southern Door; Claire Higgins*, Jr., St. Mary Catholic; Emma Resop, Sr., Ripon; Cooper Smith, Sr., Marinette; Laynie Vaughan*, Jr., Wautoma.
District 5: Owen Barnet, Sr., Edgewood; Blake Brancel, Sr., Portage; Isabella Ganoung*, Jr., Evansville.
District 6: Evan Henderson*, Jr., Union Grove; Jackson Brazer*, Jr., Elkhorn; Kiernan Kawleski, Sr., Jefferson; Paige Murphy*, Jr., Lakeside Lutheran.
District 7: Pierce Briley*, Jr., Greenfield; Macy DeRosa*, Jr., Cedarburg; Brooke Dyer*, Jr., Brookfield Central; Austin Jarmuz *, Jr., University School of Milwaukee; Max Reeve, Sr., Shorewood; Sawyer Lorier*, Jr., Port Washington.
The purpose of the Student-Athlete Leadership Team is to serve as ambassadors for their peers and the WIAA while learning more about the sports industry. Their involvement provides a student-athlete voice in the WIAA and will assist in supporting, educating and advancing the purpose of interscholastic athletics. The Leadership Team engages in an advisory role without rule-making authority, but their input is conveyed and has an impact at the various levels of the committee process.
Additional benefits include instilling leadership skills; compiling diverse ideas and perspective from different areas of the state; learning more about the many career opportunities in sports professions; getting a better understanding of how the WIAA functions; sharing the many positive, life-enriching experiences the association creates each season; and creating the interest and growth of student-athlete leadership groups at local schools.
Members on the team will engage in four meetings per year, attend WIAA state tournaments each season, plan and participate in the fall area meetings for studentathletes, as well as organize and participate in an annual Student-Athlete Leadership Conference that will merge with the Sportsmanship Summit beginning in December 2025.
The 2025-26 Leadership Team’s orientation meeting will be scheduled in August at the WIAA executive office in Stevens Point.
