MENOMONIE - UW-Stout Athletics has added three full time assistant coaches to the Blue Devil Athletic Department.
Caroline Braun,
Travis Miller and Sophia Yoemans all joined the staff this summer.
Caroline Braun
Braun joins head coach
Ben Staupe in coaching the Blue Devil Volleyball team. Braun, a familiar face to Blue Devil fans, graduated from UW-Stout this past spring and played in 60 matches over her three-year career for the Blue Devils.
"Caroline is a great addition to our program," Staupe said. "She is a Blue Devil and knows what it takes to succeed in this conference and has a passion to help Stout achieve excellence. She chose to come back to and assist in the continuing excellence we are trying to achieve for this program and community."
Travis Miller
Miller will begin his fifth year with the UW-Stout Athletic Department, but first as an full time staff member. Miller came to Stout in 2019 and has served as an assistant baseball and softball coach for two seasons and was an advisor to the Esports program.
"We are very excited to add Travis to the full-time staff," Head Coach
Chris Iliopoulos. "He is a very dedicated worker and is truly here to serve the athletes, the program, and the department. I've witnessed what he's been able to do for us in a part time capacity and I'm excited to bring him on full time. He is one of the hardest working and honest individuals I know, and he is going to play a vital role in getting this program to the next level. We are excited for a bright future!"
Miller, a native of Cumberland, Wis., Miller played baseball collegiately at Ellsworth (Iowa) Community College where he earned NJCAA Third Team All-American honors in 2017. Miller played his final two years of baseball at NCAA Division II Wayne State College in Wayne, Neb., starting 91 games over two years and earning second team All-NSIC honors in 2018. Miller completed his bachelor's degree in sports management and completed his master's degree in organizational management with a specialization in facility and recreation management in this past spring.
Sophia Yoemans
Yoemans joins the Blue Devil men's and women's golf coaching staff after a successful playing career at the University of Missouri where she was a four-year player for the Tigers. She was a two-time WGCA All-American scholar, two-time SEC spring academic honor roll and SEC first-year honor roll. As a senior, she carded the third-lowest event score (214) on the team this season while at the FAU Paradise Invitational to mark her second career event under par and tallied 40 birdies on the year. He junior season she led the team in overall season scoring average with a 74.2, while racking up 69 birdies on the year to lead the team in season birdie count. As a sophomore she closed out the year with a total tally of 42 birdies on the year, the second-most on the team. She recorded 10 of those within the three rounds of the SEC Championship. As a freshman, Yoemans Was very impressive in her debut semester with the Tigers, as she won a spot in the starting lineup and finished second among the team with a 14-round stroke average of 73.86 in five tournaments (which ranked her 23rd in the SEC). She finished her campaign with four rounds under par and the third-best season stroke average by a freshman in program history - 74.60.
At Red Wing High School, Yoemans swept Minnesota High School Championship, winning the individual title each of her last three years, including as a senior in 2019 when she was seven shots better than anyone else. She smashed Minnesota State Championship records in 2018, when she shot Championship rounds of 63-66 for a record 129 two-day total. Yoemans achieved an impressive resume on the junior level, posting multiple top-10 finishes at various AJGA, HJGT and FCWT events, including three wins .Also is a two-time qualifier for the USGA Girls Junior Amateur Championship, advancing to nationals in both 2017 and 2018. She won the 2018 Minnesota Girls Junior PGA Championship (71-73=144), advancing to nationals, where she made the cut and placed 36th overall.
A Red Wing, Minn. native, Yoemans earned her bachelor's degree in from Missouri in 2023 In 2018 she was the Minnesota Women's State Amateur Championship runner-up.
