Meet Your Neighbor

Carissa Wipperfurth

February 25, 2007

Sun Prairie High School Student
Recruited by University of Minnesota Soccer Team

Since beginning her soccer career at age five, Carissa Wipperfurth's passion for the sport has been snowballing.

Now, the three-time All Conference Cardinal will take her love of the game to the next level, having just signed with the University of Minnesota.

"I always wanted to play for the U," says Wipperfurth, who recently returned from the Twin Cities, where she met some of her new Gophers teammates, including her future roommate, a fellow recruit from Eagan, Minn.

Playing at the college level will be very competitive, adds Wipperfurth, a defender, who attended a camp last summer with some other college-bound athletes. "It's really a blast -- it's so intense at times."

The first year may be the toughest, she predicts, with teammates battling it out for a starting spot. But ultimately, she adds, "We all have to be friends. Everything we do is competitive."

To prepare for her new team, Wipperfurth has been in regular contact with her new coach, Mikki Denney Wright, who has given each team member a list of endurance and skills activities to get ready for the season.

For example, says Wipperfurth, "you have to run a long distance to the point you can't talk."

In August, Wipperfurth will attend a weeklong camp with the team. She'll return home briefly, and then it will be back for preseason.

Coach's comments

So how does one define Wipperfurth's play on the field? Here's what Ben John, her Yahara 56ers club coach, had to say:

"Carissa brings so much of her personality to the game. A penultimate team player she is a driven and passionate athlete always striving to find her best game every time she laces up and steps onto the soccer field.

"She has made an indelible impression in this community and serves as a resounding role model to a wide and varied population participating in a sport we affectionately refer to as 'the beautiful game.'

"We salute her and the community that embraces her as she pursues her dreams and ambitions of playing at the highest level possible."

Academic strength, too

While Wipperfurth has most certainly made an impression with athletics (she also lettered in basketball), she's no slouch in the academic arena, either. She has earned her school's Academic Honor Award, is a member of the National Honor Society and was a 2006 Badger State candidate.

The daughter of Russ and Janet Wipperfurth, Carissa plans to major in education.