KAUKAUNA – Kaukauna High School senior Paige Miller is one of 16 senior girls selected as finalists to receive the prestigious 2023 Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete Award.
The award presented by We Energies Foundation and Wisconsin Public Service Foundation recognizes the top 16 girls and top 16 boys in the state, according to a WIAA news release announcing the scholar-athlete finalists.
Miller, who will attend the University of Wisconsin next fall to study business and play softball for the Badgers, has earned seven letters in volleyball and softball.
The four-time letter-winner in volleyball, earning All-Fox Valley Association Conference honors as a sophomore Miller was the team MVP in volleyball her junior and senior seasons for a team that won four regional titles during her career.
She is a three-time letter-winner in softball, helping the team to State titles her sophomore and junior seasons. She was also a member of four regional volleyball championship teams.
Miller is a four-year member of the Key Club and a two-year member of the National Honor Society as well as the Ghost Crew leadership team. She also was involved in HOSA-Future Health Professionals one year.
Read her scholar-athlete application essay HERE.
More than 1,181 Scholar Athlete finalists have been recognized since the program began in 1984. This year more than 831 seniors were nominated for the 2023 WIAA Scholar-Athlete Award by 445 high schools throughout the state. To determine the top 32 finalists, four boys and four girls were selected based on both athletic and academic achievement from each of the four WIAA divisions.
Boys Scholar-Athlete Profiles
Girls Scholar-Athlete Profiles
“Each of these remarkable student-athletes has excelled in academics and athletics,” said Tom Shafranski, Assistant Director of the WIAA. “Fifteen of this year’s 32 WIAA Scholar Athlete finalists have a grade point average of 4.0 to date. All 32 scholar athlete finalists have already earned a total of 294 varsity letters during their first 3-1/2 years of high school. That’s an average of nine letters per athlete, and we have not yet completed our spring sports season.”
Three schools had a finalist for the first time in the 38-year history of the WIAA Scholar-Athlete program, including: Mya Hartjes, University School of Milwaukee; Joey Perry, Winneconne High School, and Lucy Strey, Sun Prairie East High School.
The 2023 WIAA Scholar-Athlete Finalists will be recognized at an awards ceremony Sunday, May 7 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Wausau. Keynote speaker will be Anne Marie Anderson, Emmy Award winning sports broadcaster and one of the most experienced female play-by-play announcers in the country.
A live webcast of the awards ceremony will be streamed on WIAA.TV Sunday, May 7 at 1 p.m. The ceremony will be aired on Bally Sports Wisconsin a week following the event. For more information on the WIAA Scholar-Athlete Award program, please visit the Scholar-Athlete Award homepage on the WIAA website.
2023 WIAA Scholar-Athlete Award Recipients
(List includes Scholar-Athlete’s name, hometown and the high school they attend)
DIVISION 1 – BOYS
Dylan Dettloff, Sheboygan, Sheboygan North High School
Griffin Empey, Stoughton, Stoughton High School
Drew Regnier, Waunakee, Waunakee High School
Tripp Walsh, Hartland, Arrowhead High School
DIVISION 1 – GIRLS
Grace Grocholski, North Prairie, Kettle Moraine High School
Paige Miller, Kaukauna, Kaukauna High School
Lucy Strey, Cottage Grove, Sun Prairie East High School
Dasha Vorontsov, Fitchburg, Oregon High School
DIVISION 2 – BOYS
Rhett Koenig, Prairie du Chien, Prairie du Chien High School
Davin Stoffel, Kronenwetter, Mosinee High School
Tanner Kaufman, Poplar, Northwestern High School
Brett McConkey, Mindoro, West Salem High School
DIVISION 2 – GIRLS
Madilyn Dogs, Kewaskum, Kewaskum High School
Mya Hartjes, Grafton, University School of Milwaukee
Joey Perry, Larsen, Winneconne High School
Rachel Ulrich, Dresser, Osceola High School
DIVISION 3 – BOYS
Landon Deneen, Shell Lake, Shell Lake High School
Caden Healy, Athens, Colby High School
Jackson Ormond, Stratford, Stratford High School
Mitchell Thompson, Kewaunee, Kewaunee High School
DIVISION 3 – GIRLS
Molly Heidorn, Colfax, Colfax High School
Lindsay Steien, Taylor, Blair-Taylor High School
Sophia Lawler, Racine, The Prairie School
Reese Rogowski, Wittenberg, Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School
DIVISION 4 – BOYS
Augustus Fink, Three Lakes, Three Lakes High School
Evan Johnson, Florence, Florence High School
Evan Payne, Eastman, Seneca High School
Dylan Powell, Norwalk, Brookwood High School
DIVISION 4 – GIRLS
Cristin Casey, Wisconsin Rapids, Assumption High School
Lilly Geary, Viola, Kickapoo High Schoo
Carleigh Kaczmarek, Oconto Falls, Gillett High School
Kallie Volk, Three Lakes, Three Lakes High School
The WIAA, as defined by its Constitution, is a voluntary, unincorporated, and nonprofit organization. The membership oversees interscholastic athletic programs for 517 senior high schools and 48 junior high/middle level schools in its membership.
