Kate (Milbrandt) Rysavy ’05-’07 Basketball

 

Kate attended Iowa Lakes after high school because she was looking for a school that had a family atmosphere. She said that Iowa Lakes provided this for her immediately and the “homey” feeling continued to grow during her time here. Kate loved the fact that her family could attend games because the drive was less than an hour away. She also felt that Iowa Lakes provided her the best opportunity to immediately contribute to a team.  

Kate found much success at Iowa Lakes both athletically and academically. She was named First Team All-Region in both her freshman and sophomore years. She helped lead her team to a school record of 27 wins her sophomore season and averaged 13 points and 6 assists in her career. Kate also worked hard in the classroom earning National Science Foundation Infinity honors, Presidential Scholar honors, and was named to the NJCAA Academic All-American Team. Her team finished with the 3rd highest GPA in the nation. 

Kate has always cherished her time at Iowa Lakes, in particular, hanging out with friends and teammates, trips to Spirit Lake and all over Iowa, supporting other sporting teams, calculus with only one other student, and warm fall and spring days when all the 4-Plex doors were wide open and everyone was hanging out.

The employees that had the biggest impact on Kate while at Iowa Lakes were Trainer Kyle Norris, and Mathematics Professor, Anne Peterson. The community members that had the biggest impact on Kate were super fans Marian Brunsvold and John and Carolyn Walz. John and Carolyn clocked many hours as the “Team Mom and Dad”. They helped all of the basketball players feel like a family and continue to feel like family now. The person who had the biggest impact on Kate was Coach Radtke. From the moment he “accidentally” discovered her while on a recruiting trip for another athlete, Kate knew Coach Radtke was going to help her become the best player she could be. He always had confidence in her abilities and helped her have that same confidence in herself. He cared about her as a person and wanted to help her be successful in everything she did. He not only wanted to improve her athletic skills, but also her ability to understand the game and because of this, he indirectly helped her become the coach that she is today.

Coach Radtke had this to say about Kate, "Kate was one of the toughest competitors that I ever coached. She was a great leader on and off the floor. With her leadership and being a team player, she was a very instrumental piece in our 27-4 season and 3rd highest GPA in the nation. As far as her toughness, she ended up with an ACL tear mid-way through the season, but she decided to brace it up and finish the season, instead of surgery. She is a rare athlete!"

After graduating from Iowa Lakes with her Associate of Arts Degree, Kate continued her basketball career at Waldorf College. In her junior year, Kate was named to the MCC All-Conference team. She was captain of the team her senior year and received Honorable Mention honors. 

Kate currently resides in Princeton, MN with her husband, Ryan. She is an 8th grade Algebra teacher and coaches tennis, basketball, and softball. 

Kate would like to thank all of her family members for all the hours they spent cheering her on at basketball games and taking her to various sporting events. She would like to specifically thank her dad for teaching her the importance of hard work and her brothers for pushing her to do her best at all times. 

Congratulations Kate (Milbrandt) Rysavy on being inducted into the Iowa Lakes Hall of Fame.