Class of 1987 - Swimming

During a 4-year varsity career, Molly Kanter became one of Nicolet’s most decorated swimmers and accomplished student-athletes. Girls’ swimming became an officially recognized sport in the state in 1971. A decade and a half later, Kanter would leave behind a legacy that would include being a 3-time state champion. Kanter’s stellar run began as a freshman with conference championships in both the 200 Freestyle and 100 Fly. She also was a state qualifier that year in the 200 Freestyle (5th), the 100 Fly (3rd), and the 200 Medley Relay (6th). Her sophomore campaign saw her win two more conference titles, this time in the 50 Freestyle and the 100 Fly. Kanter would claim her 1st state championship that year in the 100 Fly as well as a runner-up finish in the 50 Freestyle. As a junior, after having successfully defended her conference titles in each of these events, she would go on to repeat her state title in the 100 Fly while also adding a 1st place finish to her trophy case in the 50 Freestyle. At the conclusion of that season, she would be named a 1985 High School All American as well as a 1986 Academic All American. Unfortunately, an illness pre-empted Kanter’s senior season and did not allow her to further add to these already incredible feats. Nonetheless, upon graduation, she was the school record holder in 6 events: the 50 / 100 / 200 / 500 Freestyle, the 200 IM, and the 100 Fly. With a lengthy list of accomplishments as such, Kanter’s remarkable career will forever be etched in stone.

Class of 1969 - Football, Track & Field

When Bill Trosper completed his highly successful high school athletic career in 1969, he could never have envisioned that some of his accomplishments would still be relevant over fifty years later. Bill earned three Varsity letters in Football, starting on offense and defense for some strong Knights teams, including a conference champion in 1967, but it was in Track and Field where he earned four Varsity letters and created an amazing legacy that still resonates today.

Bill won an impressive nine individual Conference titles in four different events during his time at Nicolet, including the 440-yard run as a Junior and Senior, the long jump as a Junior, and both the 880-yard relay and the mile relay as a Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. He was the team’s MVP as a Junior and Senior and graduated as the school record holder in the long jump, 440-yard run, the 880-yard relay and the mile relay. His teams were Braveland Conference champions in each of his four years on the track team, and he was part of the 880-yard relay team that won the State championship in 1967.

Track and field facilities and equipment were quite different in the late 1960’s than they are today. Bill and his contemporaries ran most of their races on cinder tracks and performed the long jump on asphalt runways. The spikes used in those days were often ineffective when the grounds were wet, as the surfaces were unforgiving and rubber cleats had yet to be perfected. Despite all the advances in training, technology, equipment, and track surfaces over the past half-century, Bill’s 440-yard run time of 49.9 seconds still stands as the 5th best in school history when converted to the 400-meter standard of today, and his long jump mark of 21’10” also remains the 5th best in school history. These are some of the oldest sports records in our school history!

After graduation, Bill was a walk-on at the University of Montana and finished 4th in the Big Sky Conference in the 440 Hurdles as a Freshman in 1970. After coming to the University of Wisconsin as a walk-on in 1971 and redshirting his sophomore year, Bill defeated the Big 10 champion in the 440 Hurdles and placed 6th in Big Ten conference in 1972. He earned athletic scholarships for his Junior and Senior years at UW. After college, Bill became a teacher and spent time coaching Girls Track and Boys Cross Country before changing careers and managing his own real estate business for nearly three decades. Recently Bill had to trade in his track shoes for some hiking boots due to persistent calf and groin issues, but he remains active and splits his time between his Portland home and Montana ranch. Bill is proud to represent Nicolet High School as a member of the Athletic Hall of Fame.

Class of 1980 - Diving, Baseball, Cross Country

Tom Haig is one of the most successful divers in the history of the Nicolet Boys Swim program. So much so, that 42 years after his graduation, his diving scores have kept him on Nicolet’s Top 5 Record Board. In addition to Diving at Nicolet, Tom also played baseball under legendary Hall of Fame Baseball Coach Dick Huxtable and ran Cross Country for Coach Bernie Bieterman. Tom earned varsity letters in both Cross Country and Baseball and was a catcher on the 1980 Nicolet Baseball team that won the Braveland Conference Championship and earned a WIAA State Tournament berth.

But it was in the sport of diving where Tom excelled the most. He earned four varsity letters from 1977-1980 under the tutelage of Coach Don Osborn and capped off an undefeated senior season with a State Championship and a number six national ranking, earning him All-American honors. He won two Braveland Conference Championships, two Whitefish Bay Sectional Championships, and was named All-State and All-Midwest in both his junior and senior campaigns. His talents and top scores helped Nicolet win three straight Braveland Conference Championships from 1977-1979.

His leadership was equal to his diving talents as he was named Team Captain and MVP of the Nicolet Boys Swim Team in his senior year. He excelled in the classroom as well earning the coveted Kukla Memorial Scholarship and was elected to the Quill & Scroll National Journalism Honor Fraternity for his work on the Nicolet Shield yearbook.

After graduation, Tom attended Illinois and Washington State Universities and spent seven years as a professional international high diver. He performed in diving shows all over the world and won the "Mas Bravos" award for his reverse double somersault in the 1989 Acapulco Cliff Diving Championships. His inverted arm stand "Mifflin St. Dive" was copied by high divers all over the world. He suffered a spinal cord injury in 1996 and has been in a wheelchair ever since. But Tom did not let that stop him as he became a wheelchair athlete competing in the Boston Marathon and becoming a 2-time winner of the Portland Marathon Hand Cycle Division.