From cows to cleats

MANITOWOC, Wis. — Megan Hochkammer is not afraid of hard work, whether that is working on her family’s dairy farm or becoming a better softball, basketball and volleyball player. This three-sport athlete excels on the diamond and on the court while also serving an integral role in the barn.

“Softball has been my favorite sport since I was little,” Megan said. “I have played ever since I can remember.”

Megan is the daughter of Casey and Sara Hochkammer. Casey farms with his parents, Tom and Anne, and Cory Krueger near Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Megan and her siblings are the seventh generation on the farm where the Hochkammers milk 260 cows and farm 650 acres.

A competitor through and through, Megan puts her whole heart into athletics and the farm, always aspiring to reach new levels of success.

“Megan is a very talented athlete who works hard,” Casey said. “She puts in a lot of work outside of the game, practicing at home or at the field. She is gifted athletically and puts that into real life as well, not just sports. Megan is so level-headed with it all.”

Megan is a senior at Valders High School, in Valders, Wisconsin, where she has played softball, basketball and volleyball all four years, playing varsity every year for all three sports except her freshman year in volleyball.

As a freshman on her softball team, Megan started at shortstop. She then transitioned to a pitcher for her sophomore, junior and senior years. Megan has broken school records on both the offensive and defensive sides.

As a junior, she broke the school’s home run record when she hit a walk-off home run in the regional semifinal playoff game versus Wrightstown when the game went into extra innings. This was also the game in which Megan broke the record for career wins as a pitcher. She has also broken the all-time strikeout record for pitching and has broken single-season strikeout records as well.

As a sophomore, Megan was conference player of the year and first team all-conference player. She was named first team all-conference player again as a junior and honorable mention all-conference player as a freshman. During her time on the softball team thus far, the Valders Vikings won conference twice, and when Megan was a junior, they made it to state.

Megan began pitching at age 7.

“I grew to fall in love with pitching,” she said. “I also played a lot of shortstop growing up, but I can play anywhere.”

Megan continually finetunes her craft, partaking in pitching lessons throughout winter to stay in shape and maintain mechanics.

Casey has coached Megan in softball since she was 4 years old and every year since through Newton Youth Sports.

“I have one more summer to coach her, and that will be it,” he said.

In middle school, Megan joined a couple of travel teams. Last summer, she played for the Wisconsin Bandits 16u National, a well-known travel team.

Megan will continue her softball career after high school at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, where she plans to major in a science-related field.

“She’ll be close enough that Sara and I can watch her play,” Casey said.

Like softball, Megan has played basketball from a young age.

“Basketball has been my rock,” Megan said. “I love being with a team, especially Valders because it does a really good job with the youth program from third grade up. A lot of my senior pals and I have played together since we were tiny.”

Megan played in every basketball game of her high school career for a total of 104 games. She surpassed 1,000 points this year and finished with 1,317 points, breaking the school record for girls, which was previously set at 1,289.

“The game where I broke the school record was my highest scoring game when I scored 38 points,” she said. “That was fun. I’ve always been the point guard and shoot from assists and rebounds. I get a lot of putbacks, and I post up sometimes. Looking down the court and taking charge with the ball and being able to see my teammates open — that’s a big part of basketball for me.”

This year, Megan won conference player of the year in basketball. As a junior and a sophomore, she was first team all-conference player.

“It’s nice to see that the work I put in has helped and pushed me to be better,” she said.

Megan began playing volleyball in fifth grade and played every year through 12th grade. As a sophomore, she started as a middle hitter.

“I was able to dial in and build my confidence in that position,” Megan said.

She was named conference player of the year this year and made first team for middle hitter.

On the farm, Megan helps feed calves, milk cows, give vaccinations, move cattle and more.

“I help with dry cows a lot and taking care of newborn calves,” she said. “I also try to help with herd health checks and vet calls. It’s a little tough to help milk during the week because we milk at 2 a.m. and 1 p.m. My family picked those times because they want to be able to come watch games in the evenings.”

Megan’s grandma is in charge of calves, but if she is gone, Megan takes her place, even if she has school.

“I’m really good at taking care of calves at that point in their life,” she said.

After practice, Megan helps with various projects like dehorning and cleaning pens. Megan has also started breeding her own line of registered Ayrshires and owns nine head.

“It’s rewarding as a parent to know you passed a love for the farm onto your children,” Casey said.

In addition, Megan is active in 4-H, FFA, student council and National Honor Society.

Time management and prioritization are key in balancing her responsibilities on the farm with athletics and school commitments. Megan said her involvement on the farm has driven her to be a better athlete.

“The farm taught me what hard work is and not to give up on situations,” Megan said. “You have to be able to push through tough situations. Things on the farm are not always so easy as you want them to be. You have to work through it and push through.”