Name – Carrie (Schrank) Spankowski
UW-Stout graduation year – 2005
Major – Bachelor of Fine Arts with Graphic Design concentration
Sport(s) Played – Soccer
Years Played – 2001-04
Hometown (High School) – Reedsburg, WI
Currently Reside – Portage, WI
Give us a brief synopsis of your life since graduating from UW-Stout? include job and family.
Just after college, I got engaged to my high school sweetheart, Jesse Spankowski, who was a collegiate athlete in cross country and track at UW-Platteville. We bought a house in Portage, WI, got married, and I found a graphic design job at a small design firm in Baraboo, WI. In 2010, life changed when Jackson (now 10!) was born and we became a family of three. I stayed home with him and would work in the office one day a week. In 2012, Scarlett (8) was born, and my baby girl Ruby (6) was born in 2014. I continued this schedule of working one day a week in the office and with occasional work from home when needed. I transitioned into a freelance designer, but still work with the Baraboo firm. In 2017, we made the decision to buy a different house in Portage that had waterfront, but, in our opinions, needed a remodel. We did a lot of the work ourselves (and….might not be done yet…) but we really love it here. I enjoy being outside in the flower and vegetable gardens, my kids have taken a keen liking to tubing, but also enjoy wakeboarding and waterskiing. In the winter since 2007, I have worked at Cascade Mountain as a ski instructor. We really enjoy going there and skiing as a family. I have become active in the parent group at our elementary school and often am called upon for some graphic design duties. My husband is also on a few boards where my design services come in handy. I have dabbled a bit in coaching youth sports including soccer and swimming. I have continued to work from home as a graphic designer, which works out great when we are in a pandemic.
How are you using your Stout education in your occupation? In your daily life?
Currently, I am working from home as a freelance graphic designer and am using my Stout education daily. This is the first year that all my kids are in full day school, so I am transitioning into getting all of my design work done during the day instead of squeezing some of it in at night or when I can during the day. It's quite glorious.
Why did you choose to be a collegiate student-athlete at UW-Stout?
I have always loved to play and compete and sports had always been a huge part of my life. Remember the shirts, "(insert name of sport here)" is life, the rest is just details. I had a few of those, but soccer became my love. In my mind, it was just the next logical step. I had known a girl (Denise Nagel) from a nearby town that was on the Stout team and I had emailed her asking her about the program. She had mentioned my interest to Coach (Dave) Morris, and he came down to watch me play. He expressed his interest in me coming to play, but he also liked the play he saw in three others that day. Another girl from my team, Kristy Symons, and two from the opposing team, Katelynn Rindahl and Megan Lee. All four of us ended up playing and contributing to Stout's soccer team.
What did you like most about competing in collegiate athletics?
Oh, it was so fun to compete and play! I loved the competitiveness of it all. I liked being challenged and pushed to be better. The team camaraderie — being on a team is special. You build lasting memories.
What is the greatest lesson you learned from being a collegiate student-athlete?
Time Management comes to mind. I remember freshman year, playing in a game at UW-Whitewater where I was called to go in late in the game. The night before, I had pulled an all-nighter to get an art project done for school. I couldn't play at a top level, I had nothing in the tank and was exhausted. I always try to put 100 percent effort into all my endeavors. It was difficult to balance the demanding hours school and art projects took along with playing soccer. I improved at the balance of managing them both and eventually succeeding. A few more all-nighters may have been pulled, but not before a game!
Who was the most influential person(s) in your athletic career?
My Dad. He has a love of sports too. From early on, he was always willing to step up and coach, even if he wasn't all too familiar with the sport, like in soccer. In all my athletic endeavors, he (along with many other supportive family members) was always there being supportive and wanting me to do my best.
Which former Blue Devil student-athletes are you still in contact with? (If so, who?)
Through Facebook, I get to see a lot of my teammates and their families. It's been ages since I've been with them though! I miss you guys!
How would your teammates describe you as a person and as a student-athlete?
I think they would say I was kind, but also dedicated and determined. Soccer and school were a huge commitment. I think being a design student was especially challenging because of the hours of time I had to put into projects. I always strived to produce the best work I could, on and off the field.
What are some of your career highlights?
Senior year really felt like a career highlight! It started out with a pretty awesome trip to Maryland (Thanks for organizing Coach!) where we played two games and in one of the games, I was able to score the lone game winning goal. I remember that goal, feeling confident in my role and being a leader on the field. Being a senior felt different than the other years. We knew the game and didn't feel those freshman worries. We had the HUGE win against UW-Stevens Point and were in the running to be conference champions. Although we fell slightly short, it was such a rewarding year.
What are some of your most memorable or favorite sports moment(s) at UW-Stout?
Of course there are many, but here's a sampling:
• Freshman year, playing at Spring Valley, rather than Nelson Field, and the eerie, dense fog surrounding the field. Bongo drums could be heard from the fans in the sidelines. It was very mystical! Anyways, at the end that game, after a 3-1 win where I helped in assisting a goal, Kate Knoespel, a talented center midfielder who I looked up to, came up to me and congratulated me on a well-played game. It meant a lot being a freshman and those words coming from a respected, talented junior player.
• On a chilly, rainy day, my senior year, we played UW-Stevens Point on their home field, a team we had NEVER defeated in my years of playing. After being down 2-0, we made a strong comeback and had momentum. We had tied it up 2-2. A corner kick came my way, and we were able to capitalize. Al Smith put it in the back of the net for the winning goal. Goal celebrations after goals are always great, but that one was really special! The rain was cold, but never felt so good and glorious! We were so excited and determined. We put one more in the goal that day for a 4-2 win. We had a loud cheering section that day too – thanks for toughing it out for us in that weather!
• Senior year, the mud game against UW-Platteville (and the lightning delay game—over an hour long wait)! We ended victorious with a 2-1 win and Nelson Field had standing water on it. I don't remember how it started, but by the end, some of us were splattered brown and some were completely BROWN with mud! Very Memorable Pictures!
How would you describe the Blue Devil soccer team during your time there? It was perhaps the most successful (in terms of wins and losses) in school history? What made those teams successful on the field. (Any maybe off the field as well).
In almost every single match we played, we were competitive. As we grew as a team, I think we understood each other better and our roles on the team. We had an amazing goal keeper, Melissa Ballweg, who could always be counted on to keep the other team's goals at a minimum. We also had a lot of talented, fast and powerful forwards who were determined to get goals. Our team always played with a lot of heart. Midfielders had to play with heart, we were expected to cover a lot of the field! Heidi Schultz was a dominant defensive midfielder who anyone would love to play with. She could dig deeper than any player I know to stop a play. And we had a lot of feisty defenders. By the time my senior year rolled around, we went into games knowing we could win. Coach Morris, undoubtedly, had a lot to do with our success. He knew the game of soccer and was pretty good at recruiting us all to come play at Stout. ;)
To this day, you hold the school record for most assists in a single game, in a single season and career. (You are still sixth all-time the WIAC in assists with 42, third in single season with 19 and third in single games with five, twice) You did most of the corner kicks, which led to quite a few assists. But you also got many in the field. What was your philosophy as a player? And what was your technique that made your corner kicks so dangerous? I can still picture the kicks bending to the box.
Soccer was a sport I just really loved playing. Long kicks and accuracy was something I was always good at. Back in middle school, I was on a mostly boys traveling soccer team and I remember being a sweeper and taking all the goal kicks because I could kick it the farthest. As I grew older, I began playing more offensive positions and I was always the one to take corner, direct and indirect kicks. I loved those! I was able to take a little time to compose myself and try to envision the spot where I wanted to put the ball. Sometimes, we were lucky enough to get a goal off one of those kicks. For my corner kicks, I was able to bend the ball in one direction, and once in awhile, I was able to bend it past the goal keeper. I wish I could say I worked really hard at learning to bend the ball, but I always say it is because I have a really big, big toe that helps.
What are some other activities you were involved in on campus (or off campus) while in Menomonie?
I played on a few intramural volleyball leagues. Some of my art classes were fun to put extra time into like ceramics and screen printing. I had two cool design related jobs at Stout. I worked for both at
University Recreation and Stout Athletics as a graphic designer. They were fun jobs, with work I was interested in.
