UWEC Athletics Hall of Fame
Sarah Weinke, a third baseman, was a two-time NFCA All-Region First Team selection, a member of the two winningest softball teams in school history and a member of two teams that finished fourth in the national tournament. Weinke was a four-year letterwinner and finds her name scattered among the UWEC and WIAC single season and career leaders. She also had the distinction of playing on the first Blugold softball team to qualify for the NCAA tournament in 1997. She would end up playing in four consecutive NCAA tournaments with the Blugolds taking fourth place in the national tournament in both 1999 and 2000. Weinke played every game in her sophomore and junior seasons when the team accumulated a school-record 40 wins. The Blugolds ended up with 144 victories against just 53 losses during her career. With the conference split into divisions for regular season play, the Blugolds produced a 27-5 division record from 1997-2000 and won the conference tournament three times. A two-time All-Conference and All-Region selection, Weinke also was named to the 2000 All-Tournament teams in both the regional and national tournaments. Weinke was a career .333 hitter with a .383 average as a senior. Typically the No. 2 hitter in the lineup, the left-handed swinger had a great eye, striking out just 42 times in 666 plate appearances while also walking 48 times. At the time of her induction, she ranked second in Blugold career doubles (42) and second in team and conference at bats (183) for a single season. She was also second in UWEC season (26) and career (45) sacrifice hits. She ranked among the top 10 in WIAC career at bats (564) and doubles (43).
A former St. Paul Cretin-Derham Hall High School letterwinner in softball and basketball, Murphy graduated from UWEC in 2001 with a business degree in management. At the time of her induction, Murphy was the controller and human resources director for Top Gun Technology, Inc. in Prior Lake, Minnesota. She had served in that capacity since 2019 after previously serving the company as the CFO. She had also worked for two other businesses as a bookkeeper, HR generalist and Director of Finance. She has also been a Notary Public since 2005. Weinke has served as a volunteer fastpitch coach since 2013. She and her husband also started Team Sugar Shay in honor of their daughter Shanley who at the age of two was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. They had raised over $200,000 in nine years for research to help find a cure for Type 1 diabetes. At the time of her induction, she and her husband Tim were the parents of two children.
