Kjersten Bakke’s first year of college is probably a lot different than the other 5,700 freshmen at UW. The typical freshman balances their first two semesters of college with demanding schoolwork, social activities and possibly a part-time job. Most freshmen do not even get a job in fear of falling behind in their studies.
Bakke’s commitment to athletics at UW is outstanding considering she is attending one of the nations’ top public universities. Not only does Bakke put in the hours needed for class and study time, but she also is a member of two varsity teams at UW.
Bakke graduated from DeForest High School almost a year ago. Since then, she has experienced a full season of Division I basketball and has almost completed a season in outdoor track.
Bakke was a standout in athletics year-round while attending DeForest. She participated in volleyball, basketball and track in high school. In volleyball and basketball she was All-State and was unanimously selected to the first team All-Badger Conference in both sports three times. Her senior year, the volleyball team at DeForest won a share of the conference title, and she also led the women’s basketball team to its first WIAA state tournament appearance in school history.
Bakke did so well in volleyball that she considered it as a sport to pursue instead of basketball.
“Before I came, I was looking at possibly doing volleyball and track,” Bakke said.
In 2001 she played on the Wisconsin AAU basketball team that won the national championship with fellow UW freshman teammate Ashley Josephson.
Basketball at UW has been much different for Bakke than in high school. In high school she averaged 17.2 points, 10.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. She also holds the school’s record in both points and rebounds with 1,159 and 702 respectively.
There were notable differences for Bakke in the transition from high school to college. “In basketball it was size and in track the strength probably,” Bakke said.
As a freshman she probably did not expect to see much playing time, but her first year has proved to be an excellent experience.
“I was very pleased with the time I ended up getting, the way things went, the way things went with the girls and just the overall experience I had. Being a Big Ten, Division I program, they have pretty high expectations. It was good to get in right away; they made the transition smooth.”
Bakke got playing time in eight of the Badgers’ 28 games, for a total of 60 minutes.
In the spring, she decided to join the women’s track team. She was outstanding in track throughout her high school career. As a junior, she finished second in the discus and third in the shot put at the Division I state track meet, and she finished second in both shot and discus her senior year.
Bakke is red shirting this outdoor season, but is looking forward to competing in the next four outdoor seasons. She will not compete in the indoor track season, because it conflicts with the basketball season.
“I’m scholarship for basketball, so that’s where my focus is most of the time,” Bakke said about the conflict between her commitments to track and basketball.
Although Bakke had commitments to the basketball team this past winter, she found time to train for track and field. Over winter break, she went to basketball practice for three and a half to four hours, and then went to work with the track coaches for another hour-and-a-half. While winter break was an ideal time to do that amount of training, it is a different story when classes are in session.
“Coaches have been real good making sure I can get my work done,” Bakke said. “And sometimes it comes down to me saying, at least in track, ‘I can’t make it to practice today because I just have to much stuff to do.’ It’s been difficult having to turn down some days where I know I should be in throwing or be in doing a lift, but there are days where it’s pretty overwhelming and there’s times you have to step away and say ‘Listen, I’m going to walk out of here with a first-rate education, I better make the most of it.'”
Bakke graduated from high school with a 4.0 grade point average. Her grade point average alone could have gotten her into the top schools in the nation, but the opportunity to use her outstanding athleticism to help pay for college was a deal she could not pass up.
“I was looking at Princeton, Harvard and West Point. Primarily, I knew I was going to go to graduate school, and since Ivy League schools don’t offer athletic scholarships, I’d be forking out more than $30,000 for tuition a year. And West Point was the four-year commitment afterwards, and it’s something I wasn’t wholeheartedly into and I didn’t want to put myself in that situation if there were to be any doubts. Wisconsin is right up there in the sciences and it’s kind of in my backyard.”
In the midst of all the practices, lifting and academics, Bakke said it’s been a “great first-year experience with basketball, and track’s going well and I can’t wait for the upcoming three years with our new staff.”
