“He came to all of our home games,” senior leftfielder Lauren Cruz said.
Now, Cruz and the Warhawks are giving Slak’s family a helping hand.
At Thursday’s home doubleheader against Lawrence University, there will be a 50/50 raffle and donation buckets will be passed around every time the ’Hawks score.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to score a lot for Tyler, because we really want to raise a lot of money,” Cruz said.
Slak, who holds the school record in the 100-yard butterfly, died of gastric cancer in February.
He was 22 years old.
The fundraiser is less than one week after a swim-a-thon for Slak that took place at the UW-Whitewater pool. There have also been bracelets and T-shirts sold for the Slakstrong fundraiser.
Slak’s former head coach Joel Rollings said he has been impressed with how the UW-Whitewater community has responded in a time of need.
“The softball team is just a class act,” Rollings said. “[They’re a] solid program with great people, coaches and players.”
Rollings wasn’t sure how much money was raised from the swim-a-thon but said a steady group of people participated last week.
Cruz said she looks forward to seeing the stands filled.
“We hope other teams and other students come out, because we just want to help any way we can,” Cruz said.
