STATE CHAMPIONS: The Notre Dame Academy Tritons (Green Bay) defeated the Catholic Memorial Crusaders (Waukesha) 49-28 to win the 2024 WIAA Division 3 Football State Championship on Nov. 22 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. The Tritons finished the season a perfect 14-0. Christian Collins set a state record with 408 rushing yards on 39 carries. He scored five touchdowns on runs of 25, 41, 65, 73 and seven yards. Jack Collins scored on an eight-yard run for the Tritons. Cayden Kiefert intercepted a first-quarter pass and returned it 35 yards for a score. Kicker Nicholas Gruesen was perfect on seven extra points for Notre Dame. The victory marked the third state football championship in Notre Dame Academy history (2003 and 2015).
ALL-STATE FOOTBALL HONORS: Christian Collins, senior running back at Notre Dame Academy, Green Bay, was named Nov. 19 the 2024 Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Large School Offensive Player of the Year and is also a first team all-state selection. James Flanigan of Notre Dame Academy also received all-state honors and was named first team at tight end and honorable mention all-state at defensive end.
Other players from diocesan high schools who received all-state football recognition are: Calvin Peters, a senior running back for Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas in Marinette, who was named all-state for 8-player; Carter Appl, a senior at Xavier High School in Appleton, who received honorable mention inside linebacker honors for the large schools; and Wade Lindahl, a senior at Lourdes Academy in Oshkosh, who was named honorable mention quarterback for small schools.
ADVENT SERIES: “Advent Mornings of Reflection” will be offered at the Norbertine Center for Spirituality at St. Norbert Abbey, 1016 N. Broadway, De Pere. Sessions are scheduled for 9 to 10 a.m. on Saturdays, Nov. 30, Dec. 7, 14 and 21. This annual series offers a reflection and meditation on the upcoming Sunday readings for the Advent season. Presenters will be: Sr. Ann Marie Lom of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, Nov. 30; Missionaries of the Word, Dec. 7; Sr. Martha Escobar of the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, Dec. 14; and Sr. Sally Ann Brickner of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Cross, Dec. 21. To register or for more information, including speaker bios, visit Events | St. Norbert Abbey.
NEW UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: Marquette University in Milwaukee announced Nov. 20 that Kimo Ah Yun, Ph.D., was unanimously elected its 25th president at a special board meeting of the Marquette Board of Trustees. He had served in the dual roles of acting president and provost since June 10. He succeeds Michael R. Lovell, Ph.D., who led the university as its first lay president from 2014 until his death from sarcoma, a rare form of cancer on June 9, 2024.
Ah Yun is the Catholic, Jesuit university’s second lay president in its 143-year history. He joined Marquette in 2016 as dean of the Diederich College of Communication. He was named acting provost in 2018 and then permanent provost and executive vice president for academic affairs in 2019.
A first-generation college student, Ah Yun said he is committed to furthering the university’s mission of educational access and ensuring all students are successful from their first day to their first destination following graduation.
“At Marquette, we take seriously our mission to serve God by serving our students. My top priority is ensuring we continue to provide a transformational education for our students so that our graduates are problem solvers and agents of change,” Ah Yun said. “Grounded in its Catholic, Jesuit mission, Marquette was founded on the promise of educational access and, as we approach our 150th anniversary, students remain at the heart of all that we do. I look forward to continuing to work closely with our faculty, staff, students, alumni and Milwaukee community in our continuous pursuit of excellence, faith, leadership and service.”
Ah Yun, 59, a native of Compton, Calif., graduated with a bachelor’s in communication studies from California State University, Sacramento, in 1990. He earned a master’s in speech from Kansas State University in 1992 and a doctorate in communication from Michigan State University in 1996.
He and his wife, Catherine Puckering, are parents of three, Benjamin, 22; Molly, 21; and Haven, 17.
Ah Yun is a lifelong Catholic and, while he was provost, completed the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities’ (AJCU) Ignatian Colleagues Program (ICP) leadership formation for lay leaders, which focuses on the Catholic, Jesuit identity, charism, tradition and spirituality of the AJCU schools. His culminating ICP project centered on hiring and faculty development at the college level.
YOUTH GROUP IN GREEN BAY: Young people, ages 13 to 17, are invited to join a youth group hosted by Annunciation Parish. The group meets at 11 a.m. on Sundays in Annunciation Parish Hall, 401 Gray St., Green Bay. Welcome cookies are served. For more information, email [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].
