Perspective PLUS

UW-Parkside Honors Rathke
by Dave Buchanan

Christine Rathke

The Feb. 27 women’s basketball game between UW-Parkside and Northern Kentucky was bound to be an emotional contest. The Rangers came into the game with a four-game losing streak, dropping three of those games in overtime. The team had never beaten NKU and it needed a win to clinch a Great Lakes Valley Conference playoff berth.

But the greatest source of emotion was the fact that this was the first home game following the death 11 days before of junior guard Christine Rathke. Rathke was killed in an auto accident while driving near her home in Franklin, Wis., Sunday, Feb. 16.

With Rathke’s parents and relatives in the stands and the entire Franklin High School girl’s basketball team watching, UW-Parkside edged NKU 75-73 in overtime. Following the game, Rathke’s UW-Parkside jersey, bearing her familiar number 23, was retired and presented to the family by chancellor Jack Keating and athletics director Dave Williams.