UWEC Athletics Hall of Fame
Kristi Channing was the WIAC Player of the Year and a WBCA First Team All-American on Tonja Englund’s 2003 basketball squad which took third place in the NCAA tournament and finished with a 32-2 season record, the most wins in school history. Channing also played on another of the most outstanding teams in Blugold women’s basketball history. Recruited by Lisa Stone after leading Arnie Skrukrud’s Fall Creek Crickets to a state championship in 1996 and a state silver ball in 1998, she played in all 29 games in the 1999-00 season, when the Blugolds won their first 28 games and then lost to eventual national champion Washington University in the NCAA sectional. In 2003, the Blugolds again went unbeaten in the 16-game conference schedule and reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament in Terre Haute, Indiana. There, they lost by three points to Eastern Connecticut in overtime in the semifinals and then beat the University of Rochester in double overtime for third place. Channing was a two-time All-Conference First Team pick and was one of five Blugolds named to the WIAC’s All-Centennial women’s basketball team in 2012. The four-year letterwinner, who redshirted in 1998-99, scored 1,195 career points in 112 games for a 10.7 career average. The 5-10 shooting forward also pulled 468 rebounds, dished out 128 assists and came up with 95 steals. As a senior, she set what was then the school record for free throws made with 150. Twice, she went to the line 18 times in a game. Against Stevens Point as a junior, she made all 11 of her charity attempts. She hit 30 or more points four times in her career including 35 against Millikin in which she connected on 14 of 18 field goals. At the time of her induction, that point total was the second best in school history.
The Blugolds won or shared conference championships in three of her four seasons, producing a 54-10 WIAC mark while going 102-16 overall. Channing graduated in 2003 with a psychology major and sociology minor. Although knowing she needed a master’s degree to become a Licensed Professional Counselor, she pursued playing professional basketball initially. She received the opportunity to play for a U.S. team through the Athletes in Action organization. Her participation on this team in Thailand and China got her recognition as a player as well as a platform to do outreach/charity with Thai and Chinese children from low socioeconomic families. After touring with this team, she accepted a position to tour with an AIA team to Division I colleges around the U.S. as an exhibition team. Then she was recommended to an Australian coach and received an offer to play for an Australian team in Perth, Australia. She retired from playing basketball at age 27 to pursue her counseling degree from UW-Stout. At the time of her induction, Channing was a Licensed Professional Counselor with Vantage Point Clinic and Assessment Center in Eau Claire. She was also a single mother of two boys.
