MHS student-athletes announce college sports plans

MARSHFIELD – A group of Marshfield High School seniors recently signed their National Letters of Intent to play collegiately at the NCAA Div. II or Div. III levels.

The signings took place in the Commons of the high school on Feb. 4.

Among those signing her letter was MHS senior Claire Malone, who later spoke with Hub City Times about her decision to play soccer at UW-Stevens point.

“I never really thought about college sports until I had a goalie coach who played for UW-Stevens Point bring it up to me at one of our away games, so then I started thinking about it,” Malone told us. “And she’s the one that reached out to Dawn Crow (head coach) and talked to her about me. I got in contact with Dawn and she watched me play in Stevens Point and then we set up a tour of the school a couple days after that. I really just fell in love with the Stevens Point campus and all the resources they have there. And Dawn is such an amazing coach and has done so much for UW-Stevens Point, and I’m really happy that she offered me a place to be a part of the team and I think it’s just a really great atmosphere and a place I can see myself excelling in for the next four years, academically and as an athlete.

“Dawn told me that she definitely did see me up in a striker forward position,” Malone continued. “I was added to the team as a project player, so basically I have a lot of potential and Dawn told me, ‘If you can put in the effort and show up and improve yourself day by day, then you could be a really good fit and I could see you going far in our program and just growing as a person overall.’”

Malone said she does not know if she will play right away, noting that last season’s freshmen played quite a bit. There were six freshmen on last year’s squad, including three from Wisconsin.

“I’m definitely going to have to, as a player, work on a lot of the skills aspect more, just perfecting my touch on the ball, different ball-handling skills, different moves, more of the technical side because me as a player, I’ve always relied a lot on my speed when I play,” Malone said. “I have footwork. It’s just not necessarily at the college level yet, and that’s one of the things that Dawn said to work on before I come and just to try to improve before I get there. Because I think her meaning of a project player is break me down and build me back up to use the potential that I have and that she sees in me.”

Malone also admits she has to improve the mental aspect of her game as well, especially in the wake of an ACL injury suffered in the summer of 2024 while she was playing for a Marshfield Youth Soccer Association team, which threatened her junior soccer season in 2025.

“It’s always been something that I’ve struggled with in sports and as a player,” she told us.

Malone also says she is grateful for her soccer experience at Marshfield High School, learning from coaches Kelly Ongna and Jeff Molter.

“They always have really believed in me and I think seen the potential, too,” said Claire. “They really encourage all of us girls to push ourselves and to be the best and just to try the hardest that we can and they always just want us to improve and talk about it as a team.”

Malone plans to major in nursing while also playing women’s soccer at UW-Stevens Point.

Meanwhile, Jakob Sadowska signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball for UW-Superior.

Della Smith will attend UW-Platteville and play women’s volleyball.

Hailey Klumb will play women’s basketball for the Blugolds at UW-Eau Claire.

Madelyn Himebauch will participate in Acrobatics & Tumbling at Wingate University in North Carolina.