Gracie Caltagerone signs on to play at St. Norbert

By Doug Schroder

Editor

WINNEBAGO – On Friday, May 1, family, friends and teammates of Gracie Caltagerone gathered in the library at Winnebago High School to witness Gracie sign a letter of intent to play basketball at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI. For Gracie this was the reward for many years of hard work and dedication. Besides playing basketball for Winnebago schools, Gracie also played on the Rockford Wildcats traveling club team, which helped her hone her skills. She played with other girls from the Big Northern Conference while on the Wildcats team; players she would later play against when it came to the school season.

Gracie’s parents, Phil and MaryBeth Caltagerone were on hand to see their daughter sign. While her dad didn’t play basketball, he did play a part in Gracie’s development.

“We would talk about plays and what she could do to improve her game. I rebounded as many shots as she took. She also had good coaches in middle school that helped her out,” said Phil.

The road along the way to signing hasn’t been all easy for Gracie. She played varsity all four of her years at Winnebago, but in the last regular season game of her sophomore year she tore her ACL and MCL in her knee, forcing her to have surgery. Despite the adversity she worked very hard in the offseason to overcome that injury.

When asked why she chose St. Norbert, Gracie responded.

“School comes first in Division III. It felt like home when I visited the school. St. Norbert is a successful school with a successful basketball program. Last year they only had three losses and were Conference Champions,” said Gracie.

Gracie plans on studying to become a College Athletic Director, then later on going for her Masters Degree so she can further her career in Sports Administration.