CCIW Student-Athlete Spotlight (February 2020)
Each month, the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) will highlight the accomplishments of a conference student-athlete. This month, we look into the career of Carthage junior baseball and football player Colton Klein.

Story by Mike Krizman, CCIW Assistant Executive Director

KENOSHA, Wis. – Carthage junior Colton Klein is that rare breed of college athletes. 
 
By the time they graduate high school and arrive at college, the vast majority have specialized in one sport. But for Klein, he has excelled as a two-sport athlete, competing for the Red Men’s varsity football and baseball teams.
 
Not only does Klein compete on the gridiron in the fall, but at the most vital position on the field as his team’s starting quarterback. In the spring, he laces up the spikes as Carthage’s starting outfielder.
 
The time commitment is something Klein has embraced ever since childhood and has continued during his time with the Red Men.
 
“I love being overwhelmed with things to do,” he said. “Otherwise, I’d just be bored with my day.”
 
With the baseball season upon him, Klein’s day is a mixture of class, followed by football film session, class, film session, then baseball practice in the afternoon.
 
The preparation has paid off. Klein made seven starts at quarterback in 2019 as he compiled a 65 percent completion rate, totaled 1,637 passing yards and threw 15 touchdown passes. He came back from injury in the final game of the season and threw for 313 yards and four touchdowns.
 
During the 2019 baseball season, he was named an American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Second Team All-Central Region player. He started 34 games, batted .441 (63-for-143), slugged .615, and had an on-base percentage of .518.
 
“Colton is what being a Division III student-athlete is all about,” Carthage baseball coach Augie Schmidt said. “He not only excels in two sports, but also in the classroom, in the community, and also socially with his peers. For a Division III athlete, it’s about so much more than athletics. Colton embraces that mindset with his involvement in a number of things on campus and in the community.”
 
The Division III focus has always been on shaping the entire student-athlete; not just in athletics, but in academics and the community as well. Carthage football coach Dustin Hass sees that embodiment in Klein.
 
“Colton is a multi-sport athlete who maintains a 3.7 GPA as a business major. Not only that, but he’s active with the Little League in Kenosha and the Boys & Girls Club. He’s someone of high character and a great leader for our team.”
   
Klein’s drive to always stay active began at an early age when he learned how to play baseball and continued into a career as a three-sport athlete at McHenry High School.
 
“I was never pushed to play sports,” he said. “My parents were on my side for whatever I wanted to do. My dad said I just happened to pick up a bat and just ran with it. From there, I was always asking him to throw me batting practice when he’d get home from work.”
 
Sports helped Klein foster relationships with his peers, which in turn he’s used in the classroom as a business major. He’s currently working on a class project that involves using social media to be a role model for perspective student-athletes. His goal is to serve as a positive influencer towards those athletes who are interested in playing two sports in college.
 
“I’m taking a marketing class right now where I’m creating a page that will focus on sharing my experiences as a two-sport athlete – how it’s done, how I think an athlete can benefit,” he said.
 
“My end goal is to help people and that’s sometimes what gets lost. It’s not about making money. Yes, that’s important, but I think in the real world, helping people reach their goals is what’s most important. I feel my academic major is perfectly suited for helping people.”
   
Klein was put in the unfamiliar position of having a decreased workload following the end of last year’s baseball season. Carthage’s academic calendar extends deep into the month of May, which left a three-week gap between the end of the baseball season and the end of the academic year.
 
The desire to stay busy kept itching at Klein, which made him seek out other activities outside of his class work.
 
“There was a three-week period where I was just like ‘what am I going to do with all this free time’,” he said. “No football and no baseball. All I had to do was focus on class and getting ready for finals.”
 
From there, he discovered that a well-known organization was seeking help.
 
“I was able to use that free time to umpire for the Little Leaguers of Kenosha. The coordinator called one of our coaches to see who would want to do this and I raised my hand immediately. I had never umpired before, but I was there every Friday night, and Saturday and Sunday morning. This eventually led to getting kids to come to the Carthage camp, which we held last summer for several of those same Little Leaguers. I had a blast doing all of it.”
   
Carthage finished seventh in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin last season, missing a conference tournament berth by one spot.
 
Heading into this year, the Red Men were recently picked to finish sixth in the CCIW standings based upon the results of the conference’s annual preseason poll. A sixth-place finish would qualify for the conference tournament, but Klein and his teammates have bigger aspirations.
 
“I know that at the beginning of every year, everyone says how it’s going to be a great year, but I’m excited about what we have coming back,” he said. “I’ll just say that we’re not going to settle for sixth.”
 
Klein and the Red Men open the 2020 season at the Tucson Invitational in Tucson, Arizona March 7-15. The first game is a scheduled double header against Luther on Saturday, March 7 beginning at 3 p.m. MST.

CCIW Student-Athlete Spotlight
Colton Klein - Carthage (February 2020)
Michaela Johnson - Carroll (January 2020)
Luke Sawicki - Augustana (December 2019)?
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2018-19 academic year, the CCIW honored over 2,200 academic all-conference recipients, 18 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 43 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, and over 100 all-Americans.