Julianna LaSavage is 13 years old, has two national titles to her name, and in just over a month, she will travel to Mexico City to defend her Pan American wrestling title as a member of Team USA.

The Menomonee Falls teenager trains multiple times a day, attends school online to accommodate her schedule, and still finds time to coach younger kids on the mat all in pursuit of a goal she has had written on her vision board for years.

Anthony D'Alie, head coach at BAM Training Center, said the drive behind her success is something that cannot be taught.

"You can't teach someone how to be a competitor that has to come within you, and that's exactly what she's got," D'Alie said.

Her days start early. Her father, Dan LaSavage, breaks down the routine.

"We wake up usually at around 5:30 or 6 in the morning We do strength and conditioning. Usually, that's about an hour and a half," Dan LaSavage shared.

From there, the day is far from over.

Watch: Menomonee Falls 13-year-old wrestler prepares to defend her Pan American title

"They report to school at 8:30, and then we'll go right into weightlifting," D'Alie said.

"And then we go straight into school, and we do that for about two and a half hours, three," Julianna added.

A midday practice follows, with an emphasis on technique.

"And then she'll do a mid-day wrestling practice, which is mostly technique-focused with a little bit of positional live," Dan LaSavage said.

Julianna said one part of her schedule stands out.

"There are certain days where I get to coach like little kids at certain practices, which I really like," Julianna said.

The day closes with a second full practice.

"And then later in the evening, she'll do another wrestling practice, which is a standard practice with whichever club we're attending that day," Dan LaSavage said.

Keeping up with that schedule meant making a significant change switching to online school. Julianna said it came with a cost.

"I definitely loved being with my friends and talking to them. And I still do. I miss it a little bit," Julianna shared.

But with another national title secured and a second straight year on Team USA, she said the trade-off has been worth it.

"It's really paid off, I think," Julianna said.

Her father said the Pan American championship carries real weight.

"It's really to define who the best is in this hemisphere," Dan LaSavage said.

The honor also opened the door to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center alongside some of the country's top athletes. Julianna said the experience has shaped how she sees the sport.

"Every time I've met like World Champs and Olympic champs, it's just so awesome to see all of these people who like want the same thing, but we're just a big community, and like we're all rooting for each other and going for the same goal," Julianna smiled.

That goal is the 2032 Brisbane Summer Olympics the first Games at which she will be eligible to compete. It has been on her vision board for years.

"The reason it's 2032 is that it's the first year I can compete at the Olympics or try to compete at the Olympics I look at it every day, and I really believe it," Julianna said.

She also hopes her journey encourages other girls to get on the mat.

"I hate when boys say you can't do it because you're a girl. Like I love to prove them wrong. So I'm very competitive and yeah, I think girls can do anything, boys can do, and they can do it better probably," Julianna smiled.

D'Alie said he has no doubt about where her path leads.

"This doesn't just randomly happen. It takes a lot of hard work. I believe she is the type of athlete that is going to make this happen," D'Alie said.

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For Arrowhead High School senior Payton Eicher, every jump into the sand is a calculated sequence of speed, power, and precision.

"My first few strides are just big pushes, trying to reach for distance as I slowly get up the speed," Eicher said.

That speed builds into something she calls the penultimate step.

"It's a shortened step at the end of your jump, where you convert your speed into height, because although it's long jump, it's very important to get the height, because that's what's carrying you further in the pit," Eicher explained.

It's a science she has nearly mastered. But it almost never happened.

"Freshman year, she didn't even want to jump," Arrowhead's girls long and triple jump coach Jayson Eisenman chuckled.

Eisenman spotted something in Eicher during an informal tryout and pulled her aside.

Watch: Arrowhead's Payton Eicher jumps into Classic 8 conference history

"We had some kids out here on the field just trying out jumps and immediately, I was like, whoa, this kid's got something," Eisenman said.

Eicher was skeptical at first.

"Coach E kind of pulled me aside, thinking that just from noticing the types of things I was doing thinking that I could be a good long jumper. And I was just like, 'If you say so?'" Eicher laughed.

The results came quickly. Eicher finished third at state as a sophomore and fourth as a junior despite dealing with injuries. Then, on May 2, 2026, at the Brookfield Central meet, she made history.

Eicher jumped 20 feet shattering her own school record by nearly a foot, becoming the first and only girl to reach that mark in the history of the Classic 8 conference, and landing 3rd all-time in Wisconsin. The jump also ranks 15th in the country this season and currently leads the state.

"It's so unbelievable, and yet knowing the girl, it's totally believable," Eisenman said.

Eicher said everything came together on that jump.

"I think that 20-foot jump I was really just able to finally correct everything in one jump, which is what really got me to that 20-foot mark," Eicher said.

With the state championship in June still ahead where Arrowhead is chasing a third straight title Eicher said she knows there is still room to grow.

"It was really exciting seeing that it's so early in the season knowing I still have so much time to improve," Eicher said.

After her final high school season, Eicher will continue her career at Youngstown State. She hopes her journey sends a message to young girls watching.

"I have always hated the stigma that sports are for boys, and girls can't be good sports I just think it's really important to know that there's no limit to what they can achieve," Eicher said.

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Amanda Long may not be on the bench for Milwaukee Admirals games, but she has one of the most important jobs in the organization.

Long is the team's video coach and the first female coach in franchise history.

"During our games, I'm at my computer and making sure I'm tagging everything that happens during the game," Long said.

Working in real time during games, Long uses a system of hotkeys to catalog every moment as it happens, giving coaches instant access to the footage they need. She also uses the same technology to scout opponents.

"I have designated hotkeys for any sort of event that happens in the game chances for, chances against, power plays, penalty kills, breakouts, forechecks, you name it. I'm tagging it so the coaches can pull up anything they want that they need," Long explained.

Watch: Amanda Long making her mark as Milwaukee Admirals first female coach

It is a dream job, she said one that blends hockey and technology. Her journey began at age 7 when a neighbor introduced her to the sport.

"It was roller hockey, though. I grew up in California and didn't live near an ice rink It was the greatest thing I'd ever done, and I was like, I got to do this. This sport is cool," Long smiled.

Roller skates eventually gave way to ice skates, and Long earned a scholarship to play in college at Wayne State University and Lindenwood. After several years at Minnesota State as the Director of Operations for Women's Hockey, she found her niche.

"I loved being on the bench and being out there with the players and stuff, but I really think my niche was the video coaching," Long said.

When a door opened with the Milwaukee Admirals, Long stepped through it becoming the first female coach in the franchise's history.

"I try not to let my mind go there too much, but then when you reflect on it, sometimes you think, man, there could be more women doing this," Long said.

With her first year complete, Long said the organization welcomed her from the start.

"Everyone from the Predators all the way down to everyone here in Milwaukee, they just made me feel like I was part of their group right away," Long said.

Her message to anyone chasing a similar path is straightforward.

"These jobs are difficult to get, and so if you have an opportunity, just take advantage of it, and it shouldn't matter what you might think people are going to think of you, you just have to be willing to go after it," Long said.

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The Sussex Hamilton Chargers softball team is off to a 6-0 start this spring after reaching the Division 1 state semifinals last year. Head coach Kaylee Gendrich is leading the powerhouse program, which boasts 12 state appearances, including four in the last five years.

While Gendrich credits her team for the sustained success, she is the common denominator. Her coaching style is intense, but her players respond to it.

"A lot of people think she's really intense, but it's coming from a place of love. She's loud, but it gets us fired up," senior second baseman Maddie Palicka said.

Watch: EmpowHERing the Game: Inside Sussex Hamilton Softballs powerhouse program

"I coached like how I played. I'm unapologetically loud, and that's not going to change because my players feed off of that," Gendrich explained.

Gendrich originally planned to coach girls' basketball, but a torn ACL in high school changed her path.

"I tried to play basketball after it, but I just didn't trust my knee. Softball was just a sport that I really started to feel way more comfortable playing, and then I really realized how successful I was becoming, and that's where I invested the work," Gendrich said.

That work earned her a scholarship to Lake Forest College. However, another torn ACL prompted her transition from player to coach.

"I actually was sitting on a bucket at practice one day, and I was charting during hitting, and I really realized how I was giving feedback to my teammates. I actually really liked doing that, and they actually enjoyed my perspective," Gendrich recalled.

Beyond winning games, Gendrich focuses on building the next generation of female trailblazers.

"She wants them to become really strong leaders as women when they leave high school, not just softball in the real world, and she's a perfect example of that," Chargers assistant coach Dan Sykes said.

"They're going to go through ups and downs, but we have taught them the life skills to be extremely powerful, confident leaders," Gendrich said. "As a woman, you have every right to be a leader in the room."

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On college basketballs biggest stage, a familiar face to Wisconsin had a front-row role.

UW-Milwaukee Athletic Director Amanda Braun took center stage at the Womens National Championship, presenting the 2026 trophy to the UCLA Bruins as the chair of the NCAA Division I Womens Basketball Committee.

"The inside of me is the 14-year-old, you know, like I can't believe I'm doing this," Braun said. "This is just a dream come true."

It's a dream she didnt even know she had while growing up in Brodhead, Wis., or while playing at Siena College in New York.

"From there, I had no intention of working in sports," Braun said.

Braun earned a degree in psychology and was on a pre-physical therapy track before pivoting to the law program at Duke University. She soon realized law was not what she wanted to do, either.

"Proud Law School dropout, I tell students that all the time," Braun smiled. "It's okay to change your mind sometimes. It's not quitting, it's just changing your mind, and I did that."

A trajectory change was sparked by a single question in law school: Have you ever thought about a career in athletic administration?

That question set her on a path to earn a degree in sports administration at UNC Chapel Hill, leading to roles at UW-Green Bay, Northeastern, and eventually UW-Milwaukee.

Watch: UWM AD Amanda Braun paves the way for future women in sports leadership

Braun is the first woman to serve as athletic director at UW-Milwaukee.

"It's important for me that our student athletes that women I meet out in the industry understand that this is an option, that this is a job that they can do and there's no reason they can't, so that part of it's really important to me," Braun said. "Day in and day out, I'm just working really hard at trying to clear the path for this department and support this university for achieving our goals."

While taking UWM to new heights over the last 13 years, she has also made an impact nationally. Braun served on the NCAA Division I Womens Basketball Committee for five years during a time of historic growth, helping shape everything from the bracket to media rights.

"It was a joy," Braun said. "Having been a student athlete and just a gym rat of a basketball player since I was a kid, being a part of that was really, really special and an honor to get to the five years and to chair the committee."

Her journey with the tournament represents a full-circle moment. Braun attended her first NCAA Division I Womens Final Four as a Siena College senior in 1995 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. In 2022, she returned to the Target Center as UWM's athletic director and a first-year member of the committee.

"My first final four I was a senior in college in Minneapolis, and you know I've told the story, sleeping on the couch of a family friend and up in the rafters, and my first Final Four in the committee was back in Minneapolis and no longer sleeping on the couch and sitting in the front row, so what a full circle moment for me," Braun said.

While her term on the committee comes to an end, empowering women in the game will always be at the forefront of her mission.

"You know, I do think that the idea that women can be leaders in sports is becoming more and more visible," Braun said. "Surprises me even sometimes when I see numbers, but that's progress we can make, and that's something I'm intent on trying to help."

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