Fox Valley Association

Each week during the 2024-25 school year, two student-athletes are featured from a different Fox Valley Association school. Typically, the profiles are posted on Tuesday and Thursday. Student-athletes are selected by the school. This is the 10th year of the FVA Student-Athlete Spotlight. This week, get to know Connor Olson, who participates in baseball and football at Kimberly High School.

Click here for this week's FVA Spotlight

Click here for past 2024-25 FVA Spotlights

Jason Nate has been selected to serve as commissioner of the Fox Valley Association beginning with the 2025-26 school year.

Nate was selected by a committee of conference principals and athletic directors. The hire is pending approval of the conference principals on April 16.

Nate, who is in his seventh year as the principal of Mapleview Intermediate School in Kimberly, is the fifth commissioner since the Fox Valley Association began in 1970. He replaces Jim Doden, who is retiring after 25 years in the part-time position. Nate will split duties with Jim Strick, who has been communications director for the conference since 2013 and has shared commissioner duties with Doden the past two years. Nate’s primary responsibilities will be scheduling of contests and officials for each of the conference’s 21 sports.

Nate has been a WIAA licensed official since 2005. He has been an NCAA Division III women’s basketball official since 2013 and recently officiated in the national tournament for the fourth straight year. He has been selected to officiate seven WIAA state basketball tournament games and a WIAA state football championship game.

Nate has been the basketball chair of the Fox Cities Officials Association the past two seasons and assigned non-conference games in the Fox Valley Area this past season through a system to train and develop officials. He has trained high school officials in the area and worked as a clinician at several officiating camps.

Prior to Doden, previous Fox Valley Association commissioners include Guy Krumm (1970-86), Bill Fitzpatrick (1986-95) and Jim Harke (1995-2000).

Kimberly won its fifth state championship in girls basketball and first since 1998 with a 47-26 win over Muskego on March 15 in Green Bay. The Papermakers' defense forced Muskego to miss 19 of its first 20 shots in building a seven-point halftime lead on the way to victory.

Ava Van Vonderen led Kimberly with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Haylie Dulas added 13 points and Reagan Krueger added 10 points. Kimberly reached the title game with a 55-34 semifinal win over FVA rival Appleton East.

The Papermakers, who also won state titles in 1987, 1989 and 1996, along with the 1998 title. were making their 12th appearance at state, which is the third-most of any school. It was the first girls basketball state title won by an FVA school since Appleton North in 2018. The FVA has now won 10 state titles in the 49-year history of the tournament.

For Kimberly, it marked the school's 36th state championship in all sports.

Kaukauna captured its fifth consecutive state team wrestling championship and ninth in school history with a 54-13 win over Arrowhead in the title match on March 8 in Madison.

The Galloping Ghosts came out strong, winning the first five bouts of the match and eight of the first nine. They secured multiple wins by fall, including Brady Sprangers at 175 pounds, Trenton VanSchyndel at 106 pounds, Andy DiPiazza at 126 pounds, Breck Ritchie at 144 pounds and Kolin DeGroot at 165 pounds. In addition, technical falls by Zach Winnekens at 190 pounds, Nick Jenkins at 120 pounds and Peyton Lee at 157 pounds ensured the Galloping Ghosts another title.

Kaukauna also won four straight years from 2014-17 and was making its record 23rd appearance at the state team meet. The Ghosts reached the finals with a 62-17 win over West Allis Hale in the quarterfinals and a 40-22 victory over Holmen in the semifinals.

It marked Kaukauna's 31st state title in all sports with 19 of those coming since 2014.

The Fox Valley Association hosts an annual sportsmanship summit with athletes, coaches and administrators from conference schools. 

The purpose of the summit is to bring together the leaders of student sections from every school to provide a consistent message of sportsmanship regarding expectations at athletic events, such as appropriate cheers and behaviors.

Click for more information and a photo gallery

Neenah's girls cross country team won its fourth state championship and first since 1983 in dominating fashion on Nov. 2 in Wisconsin Rapids. The Rockets totaled 57 points with Wauwatosa East placing second with 123 points.

Mazie Olkowski placed fourth overall and Elsa Gruber was seventh overall. Natalie Schultz added an 18th place finish, Maddie Schoonover was 25th and Eme Olkowski was 42nd. Izzy Malloy and Natalie Willes rounded out the Rockets' day with 69th and 159th place finishes, respectively.

The Rockets won three straight state titles from 1981-83 and had seven runner-up finishes since, including last season. Kaukauna has the FVA's only other girls cross country state title by winning during the 2020 pandemic season. It was Neenah's 38th state championship in any sport.

Selected FVA varsity events will be livestreamed based on streaming capabilities and facility accommodations. Click on the home team's link to find the video feed at gametime. Each link will take you to the school's livestreaming page and you will need to click on the specific event.

Click here to watch selected FVA events live

The Fox Valley Association begins its 55th season of competition during the 2024-25 school year. The Fox Valley Association is one of the oldest athletic conferences in Wisconsin with six of its seven original members still intact from its founding in 1970. 

With 10 schools totaling an enrollment of over 15,000 students, the conference spans the length of Lake Winnebago from Kaukauna to Fond du Lac. Fox Valley Association schools are members of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) and the conference sponsors 20 championship sports.