Several individuals and the St. Mary's girls team brought home championships, with a number of other great performances at the State Track and Field Meet in Omaha. The Lady Cardinals wrapped up the Class D girls title over Arapahoe with a 56-50 advantage at the end of Saturday on the strength of medalling in 12 of 17 events. This was the first title for the St. Mary's girls team, as they join the 1959 St. Mary's boys team as recipients of the first place team trophy. Hartington won the Class D boys race, as they outscored Paxton by 8.5 points.
Another remarkable feat by an area team was the CWC girls winning a thriling 4x100 relay, as they have now brought home the gold for three straight years in that event. Many area individuals made their mark on the State Track meet. As there were so many medalists from our area, we will direct you to the Pinnacle Bank Scoreboard to check out all of the results from the weekend.
Governor Dave Heineman Featured Banquet Speaker For All-Star Classic
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman has accepted an invitation to be the featured speaker at the inaugural Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic Banquet on Friday night, June 7.
The banquet is being held in conjunction with week-long activities in preparation for the first All-Star football game, which will be played on Saturday night, June 8 at Norfolk’s Veteran’s Memorial Park at 7 p.m.
Burns Hall Gymnasium, which is on the campus of Norfolk Catholic High School, will be the site of the banquet. Doors will open at 6 p.m., with the banquet beginning at 6:30 p.m. The banquet will be limited to the first 300 tickets sold. No tickets will be sold at the door. Pre-paid tickets ($15) can be purchased at the Norfolk Area Visitors Bureau, 609 W. Norfolk Ave
Gov. Heineman is a well-known sports enthusiast. In fact, he regularly attends high school and college sporting events.
“Northeast Nebraska football players, coaches and fans are very excited about the upcoming All-Star game,’’ said Mike Fuehrer, Sports Development Manager for the Norfolk Area Sports Council. “The Board of Directors for the Classic wanted to go right to the top and get a high profile speaker for their banquet. Needless to say, you can’t get a more recognizable speaker than the Governor of Nebraska.’’
The Red vs. White All-Star Classic will be featuring 70 of the finest graduated high school seniors from a pool of 59 high school teams from throughout Northeast Nebraska.
The contest also features 12 coaches from the region, including retired National Hall of Fame football coach Bob Schnitzler, who will lead the White team. The Red team will be coached by long-time mentor, Rich Rethwisch.
Advance tickets can be purchased by contacting your local high school Booster Club, or, your local high school football coach. Adult tickets ($5) and Youth tickets ($4) will be sold at both the West Stadium and South Stadium ticket booths on Game Day. Ticket booths will open at 5:30 p.m.
A complete listing of Red and White rosters, coaching staffs and additional information can be found at the event website: www.nenallstarfootballclassic.com.
State Golf Tee Times Released
Here are the tee times for the golfers who will be competing at State Golf. They are based on the scores and places from the districts, with the golfers who shot the lowest scores going later in the day. Day two tee times will be based on how the field performed on day one.
2013 NSAA Class C Boys Golf Championships – Day 1 Tee Times Highlands Golf Course, Lincoln
Tee Time
Name
Grade
School
Score
9:40 am - #1
Nicklaus Heithoff
12
Elgin Public/Pope John
85
9:50 am - #1
Kyle Heithoff
10
Elgin Public/Pope John
84
10:10 am - #10
Tyler Childers
12
Elgin Public/Pope John
97
10:20 am - #1
Brook Klinetobe
9
Stanton
83
11:10 am - #10
Trent Hoefer
12
Elgin Public/Pope John
89
11:10 am - #10
Tanner Homan
11
Creighton
88
11:10 am - #1
Andrew Heithoff
12
Elgin Public/Pope John
78
11:20 am - #1
Sam Meuret
11
Plainview
76
11:30 am - #1
Rylee Reinertson
11
Gibbon
69
2013 NSAA Class D Boys Golf Championships – Day 1 Tee Times Meadowlark Golf Course, Kearney
Tee Time
Name
Grade
School
Score
9:40 am - #10
Seth Gutz
10
Osmond
128
9:40 am - #1
Zachary Kumm
10
Osmond
91
9:40 am - #1
Mitchell Atkinson
9
Boyd County
90
10:00 am - #10
Ben Ramold
11
Ewing
105
10:00 am - #1
Robert Nordby
11
Ewing
89
10:10 am - #1
Blake Krienert
12
Osmond
89
10:20 am - #10
Aric Krienert
9
Osmond
104
10:30 am - #1
Laura Hynes
12
Ewing
86
10:40 am - #10
Damian Summers
12
Ewing
100
10:50 am - #1
Andrew Lechtenberg
12
Boyd County
84
11:00 am - #10
Matthew Blunck
12
Osmond
97
O'Neill To Hold Spring Softball Clinic
The O’Neill High School softball team and coaching staff would like to invite you to a spring clinic and team camp to be held on Sunday, May 19th at the Carney Park Fields in O’Neill. The clinic will serve ages 8U, 10U, and 12U.
The format for the camp/clinic will be as follows:
1:00 – 1:30 PM Check In for players and coaches
1:30 – 3:00 PM Skills clinic for players
Skills include: Hitting, Throwing, Catching Baserunning and Infield and Outfield Defense.
1:30- 3:00 PM Coaches Clinic
Topics to be covered: Practice planning, Age specific drills, Game situations and how to make practice more fun!
3:00-3:15 PM Break and Game Schedules
3:15- 5:00 PM Team Camp
Teams will scrimmage in their age group. The teams will be coached by our high school players and umpires will be provided for 10U and 12U. We will rotate teams on a 2-3 inning basis to ensure that everyone gets plenty of live playing time.
Batters in the 10U and 12U divisions will start with a 1-1 count.
8U games will follow the “Coach Pitch” rules that were used last year.
5:00 – 5:15 PM Wrap up
The cost is $5 per participant and all fees go to the OHS softball program.
Please contact Chuck Price @ 402.340.0494 or chuckprice@telebeep.com if you would like to bring a team. If your team cannot attend, but you would like to come as an individual, we will assign you to a team for the Team Camp.
Area Golfers Throw Down at Districts, Prepare for State
Most tickets are scanned these days. However, it sounds better to say that several tickets were punched by area golfers to State Golf after quality performances at districts. Three districts were held on Monday, May 13, with another being played on Tuesday. Schools in the KBRX area were split into four districts throughout three classes.
In Class B, the O’Neill Eagles went to Quail Run Golf Course in Columbus. The Eagles shot a 378, which put them in a tie for seventh with GI Northwest. They were not able to put any individuals in the top ten to qualify for State. Aurora won the B3 district on the strength of their top two golfers, who shot 77 and 78 to take the District Champion and Runner-Up spots. Columbus Scotus and Seward claimed the other two team qualifying spots.
The C3 district held our area Class C teams, and was held at Indian Trails CC in Beemer. Former Pirate and defending Champion Mitchell Klooz of Laurel-Concord/Coleridge (LCC) finished one stroke behind Plainview’s top golfer Sam Meuret, who earned District Champion honors with a 76. Klooz led a stacked LCC club, who placed three other golfers in the top ten, to the team district title, with LCC compiling a 338 by the end of the day. Hartington CC and Stanton also qualified for State in the team division. The Mustangs were led by freshman Brook Klinetobe, grandson of Wally and Rod Schellpepper of O’Neill and alumnus of the KBRX Junior Golf Tournament. Brook carded an 83 to place fifth and earns the distinction of being the only freshman to make State as an individual from that district. Creighton junior Tanner Homan golfed an 88 to tie for tenth and earn a trip to State. This district only had two senior golfers qualify for State, so there is much talent returning next year. Plainview was edged out of the team qualifying by four strokes, while Creighton placed sixth with a 399. Bloomfield’s team shot 407, West Holt shot 417 as a team, and Niobrara/Verdigre compiled a 454 stroke round during the day as well.
The C4 District was held a day later than most districts in the state, and landed on the hottest day of the young spring. EPPJ was the only area team in our area to be golfing in Grand Island, and battled through the heat to place second as a team to continue a strong golf tradition in Elgin. The Wolfpack was just one stroke ahead of Ord in the team race. Gibbon won the district behind a strong outing by District Champion and college signee Rylee Reinertson. The junior, who has roots in Clearwater, easily captured the district title with a 69, seven strokes better than the runner-up. Individually, EPPJ placed two: Andrew Heithoff was fourth with a 78 and cousin Kyle Heithoff carded an 84 to tie for tenth. Several other Wolfpack members barely missed placing.
The D3 District was the final district of the day to post results, and featured one team and many area individuals playing their way into State. Ewing had another strong showing on the day, placing second in the team race and adding to their streak of State appearances. The Tiger golf team has gone to State an amazing 16 years in a row, winning championships in ’03, then back-to-back in ’05 and ’06, with Craig Flenniken leading the charge in 2006 with an individual title. Hartington led with a 356 on their home course, while Ewing’s 380 just edged out Osmond by a stroke for second. Boyd County was fifth with a 399, followed by Clearwater-Orchard (402), North Central (420) and Neligh-Oakdale (425). CWC’s team posted a 431, and Santee shot a 482 to round out the team scoring. Individually, Hartington junior Ethan Steiner was District Champion with an 84. Andrew Lechtenberg will wrap up his Boyd County career at State after a second place finish, also shooting 84. Laura Hynes held her own and more with a third place 86 to lead Ewing. Fellow Tiger Robert Nordby placed seventh, while another Spartan golfer, freshman Mitchell Atkinson was two places behind. Osmond also placed two golfers in the top 10.
To see the full results from the C3 and D3 districts, check out the Pinnacle Bank Scoreboard. Good luck at State to all of our area golfers!
O'Neill USATF Developmental Meet To Be May 21
The 2013 O'Neill USATF Nebraska Association Junior Olympic Developmental Meet will be held at the O’Neill High School track at 540 East Hynes Avenue on Tuesday, May 21, 2013. Registration will begin at 12:00 noon, Field events will begin at 1:00 p.m. and Track events at 2:15 p.m. For more information, contact meet directors: Cole Hilker, (402) 340-0539 chilker8@esu8.org or Mike Peterson, (402) 340-3513 mpetersn@esu8.org.
Meet registration forms are available at the O'Neill High School office or by navigating to the OHS Track Web Site at www.oneillhighschool.org.
Here are a few shots taken by Mark Moser during the D6 District Track Meet in O'Neill last Wednesday.
Junior Eagles Compete at Jr. High State Meet
Kneeling from left to right: Allison Becker, Dillon Babutzke, and Tori Wendell. Standing from left to right Jason Alder, Jake Young, Corbin Dean, Coby Drueke, Nathaniel Jennings, and Mikayla Marvin.
These nine O'Neill Public School athletes qualified for the 4th annual Nebraska State Junior High Track and Field Championships held Saturday May 11th in Gothenburg. The Eagles picked up medals in three events. The 3200 meter relay team of Nathaniel Jennings, Coby Drueke, Jake Young, and Corbin Dean placed 3rd with a time of 9:46.01. Lexington won the event in 9:43.11. Dillon Babutzke placed 4th in the 100 hurdles. His time was 15.34. Lance Moore of Mullen won the event in the meet record time of 14.41. Mikayla Marvin finished 5th in the girls vault with an 8 foot effort. Jacee Pfeifer of Holdrege cleared 8-10 to win. Also competing for O'Neill were: Allison Becker in the triple jump, Jason Alder in the pole vault, and Tori Wendell in the 100, 200, and long jump.
The O'Neill Eagles traveled to Pawnee Park in Columbus to participate in the ten team B-4 District Track Meet on Thursday.
Although the Girls’ team only qualified one person for the State Track Meet, several personal bests were performed during the day.
Senior Brandi Walters had her best day of the year winning the 300 low hurdles with a personal best time of 47.46 for a district championship in that event. Brandi had qualified earlier for the State Meet with a 3rd place finish in the 100 high hurdles with a time of 15.82. Brandi also placed 5th in the 100 and anchored the 4 x 100 relay that ran their best time of the year, 52.73.
Dani Barelmann placed 6th in the 1600 where she ran 5:57.17. Senior Toni Hamik placed 6th in the shot put with a 34-09.5 toss. The Eagle discus throwers had some breakout throws also. Rahtaya Young threw her best toss of the year of 103-11 to finish 6th and Samantha Slack had a personal best throw of 105-00 to finish in 5th.
The 4 x 100 relay team of Ronnie Ross, Randi Pinkerman, Alex Atkins and Brandi Walters sped to their best time of the year in that event to place 4th. The 4 x 400 relay continued to run well and lowered their best time by running 4:40.53.
Coach Peterson was upbeat: "Although we did not qualify many athletes for the State Meet, I was proud of our efforts. Senior Brandi Walters is a three-time qualifier and she had a great day. I thought our younger athletes improved each meet and that is what we are striving for. We had many personal bests today. We look forward to seeing how Brandi will compete at the State meet."
The O’Neill Boys’ Team placed 5th overall.
Leading the Eagles was the 4 x 800 relay team. In the 4 x 800 the boy’s team earned top honors with a time of 8:21.29. They beat the district favorite Blair by eight seconds. The 4 x 800 team consisted of Michael Hedlund, Charley Burtwistle, Tyson Hostert, and Derrick Hostert. The team is seated in the top 8 times going into the state meet.
The next event Grant and Blake Johnston ran the 3200 meters. Grant placed 3rd earning a birth to state with a time of 10:33.83. Blake fell short with a great effort and placing fourth with a time of 10:36.01. Both ran well. Both gave a great effort.
Tate Laursen placed 5th in the 100 meter run, which was one the six fastest times that was not top three at a districts that qualified for the state meet. Tate earned a runner-up title and birth at state in the 300-intermediate hurdles. Tate's specialty events were extremely competitive compare to the rest of the Class B districts. Tate ran well all day.
Derrick Hostert was district champion in the 1600 meter run. Derrick ran a strong race with little resistance from fellow competitors, time of 4:38.66. Younger brother Tyson ran a time of 4:57.43 to place 6th.
The last event of the day, the 4 x 400, the boy’s team beat the district top rated team from Blair with a time of 3:29.24. The team of Tate Laursen, Derrick Hostert, Michael Hedlund, and Brock Schueth looked strong throughout the race.
“A lot of our athletes ran their personal best, even if they didn’t qualify for the state meet. I was happy with everybody’s effort. I also want to thank all the seniors for their leadership and dedication they have given to the program,” said Coach Hilker.
Next week the O’Neill Eagles will compete at the state meet in Omaha, Burke Stadium. O’Neill will be compete in the afternoon session with the 4 x 800 running the opening event on Friday, May 17th, at 3:30 p.m.
Frazier Selected for College Football Hall of Fame
Nebraska great Tommie Frazier is among 14 players and coaches who are part of the 2013 College Football Hall of Fame class. This year’s list of inductees was announced on Tuesday in New York City by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.
Frazier will become the 16th Nebraska player in the College Football Hall of Fame, along with six former Cornhusker coaches. He and the other members of the 2013 Hall of Fame class will officially be inducted in New York City on Dec. 10. Frazier earned induction into the College Hall of Fame in his third year on the ballot. He is the third Husker in the past five years to be named to the Hall, joining 2009 inductee Grant Wistrom and 2011 honoree Will Shields.
Frazier is the first Nebraska quarterback to be selected for the College Football Hall of Fame. The Bradenton, Fla., native was a four-year starter at quarterback for the Huskers from 1992 to 1995, guiding Nebraska to three straight national title games in his final three seasons, including national championships in 1994 and 1995. Frazier posted a 33-3 record as a starting quarterback for the Huskers.
“This is quite an honor,” Frazier said. “You never play the game and think you are going to be in the Hall of Fame one day. You just go out and try to be the best you can be and whatever happens, happens. I was fortunate that good things happened, but it certainly was not me alone. I had great teammates and coaches that played a big part in this honor.
There have been a lot of great Nebraska quarterbacks before me, guys like Jerry Tagge, Dave Humm, Vince Ferragamo, Turner Gill, Steve Taylor. For me to be the first of that group is a quite an honor. Turner Gill is more deserving than me to be the first Nebraska quarterback in the Hall of Fame because he taught me everything I know. Eric Crouch is also very deserving of the honor and hopefully his time will come soon.”
Frazier was voted as the quarterback of Nebraska’s All-Century Team and was voted as one of the 10 greatest college football players of the century according to Sport Magazine. Frazier’s jersey was retired in the fall of 1996, and he was inducted in the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
“The support of the fans in Nebraska has been constant. The past two years when I didn’t get selected I wasn’t worried because you can only control what you can control. I appreciated all the fan support I received though. That means a lot because I wasn’t out there to play for myself. I played for the fans, my family, my coaches and my teammates.”
2013 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS
Players
· TED BROWN – TB, North Carolina State (1975-78)
* Selection from the FBS Veterans Committee
Coaches
· WAYNE HARDIN – 118-74-5 (61.2%); Navy (1959-64) and Temple (1970-82)
· BILL McCARTNEY – 93-55-5 (62.4%); Colorado (1982-94)
Junior Eagle Girls Finish Season Undefeated
With outstanding performances by several lady eagles, the junior high track team won the Ainsworth Invite to finish the season undefeated. Seventh grade pole vaulter, Mikayla Marvin, placed 1st in pole vault going 8 ft. for her best vault this season and also placed 3rd in the 100 m hurdles and 4th in the 195 hurdles. Other hurdler Allison Becker placed 4th in the 100 m hurdlers then won the triple jump by breaking her own record with a leap of 30’11 ¾”, and placed 2nd in the high jump. Aurora Gutshall fell in the 100 m hurdles, but still finished in 6th place then later in the day she placed 2nd in the 195 hurdles. Tori Wendell had another successful day taking 1st place in the long jump and 200, placing 2nd in the 100, and anchored the 4x100 relay with team members Sabrina Fox, Sam Eichelberger, and Allison Becker. The 4 x 200 relay team of Fox, Briuanna Parks, Kadra Sommersted, and Morgan Fowler won 1st place. Sabrina Fox also placed 2nd in the 200 m dash and finished 3rd in the 8th grade 100. Sam Eichelberger and Bruianna Parks finished in 2nd and 3rd respectively in the 7th grade 100 m dash. Parks and Eichelberger both placed in the long jump with Parks getting 5th and Eichelberger in 6th. Andrea Bennett, Marissa Lichty, Aurora Gutshall and Mikayla Marvin took 3rd place in the 4x400 relay. In the weight events, Emma Krysl placed 1st in the 7th grade shot put and Haley Schmeichel placed 4th. For the 8th grade Emily Morrow placed 2nd with Serena Davis getting 4th. Emily Morrow also placed 3rd in the 8th discus throwing 77’2” for her best effort this season. In the 7th grade discus Gabbie Scott finished in 3rd with her teammate Amanda Brown in 4th place. Other placers at the meet were pole vault -Alexa Dougherty in 5th, and Gabbie Scott 6th; 8th Long jump- Allison Ludwig 5th.
Even though mother nature did not want to cooperate, it was a successful season for the junior high lady eagles. The 8th graders have a lot of good athletes that will be missed, but will add depth to next year’s high school squad. As for the 7th grade, they show a lot of promise as they placed in several combined events this year.
Huskers Announce Addition to 2013 Roster
Nebraska volleyball head coach John Cook announced on Monday that the Huskers will be adding Mary Pollmiller to the 2013 roster. Pollmiller joins the Huskers from the University of Tennessee.
A native of Littleton, Colo., Pollmiller produced a record-breaking freshman campaign as the 2011 SEC Freshman of the Year. She was just the second Lady Vol to be named the AVCA All-South Region Freshman of the Year. Pollmiller also earned second-team All-SEC and honorable-mention All-America accolades from the AVCA. She rewrote the Tennessee record books, setting single-season marks in assists (1,480) and assists per set (11.94). Pollmiller led all NCAA freshmen in assists per set, while ranking fourth in the nation and first in the conference. She was the team’s starting setter in all 32 matches, playing in all 124 sets. She also earned SEC Freshman-of-the-Week honors a league-best five times, which was the second-most in SEC history.
As a sophomore in 2012, Pollmiller played in all 30 matches and recorded 1,260 total assists and an average of 10.59 assists per set. She also tallied 294 digs on the year for an average of 2.47 digs per set. She posted 18 double-doubles on the season and became the seventh Lady Vol to eclipse 2,000-career assists with 45 against South Carolina on Sept. 23. Pollmiller also became the second player in program history to post a triple-double with 49 assists, 14 digs and a career-best 11 kills at Wichita State on Sept. 2. She led the Lady Vols to the NCAA Tournament where they closed the season with a five-set loss to eventual Final Four qualifier Michigan.
Pollmiller was one of four players to transfer from Tennessee after last season. She joins one of those transfers, former Vols teammate Kelsey Robinson, in the Cornhusker State. Robinson arrived during the winter and played sand volleyball this spring in the Huskers' inaugural season.
“This is a great opportunity for both Mary and Nebraska volleyball,” Cook said. “After meeting with Mary, I think she is a great fit here at Nebraska and will embrace all the things we’re trying to do on and off the court.”
The varsity went to Hartington on Tuesday to take part in the Hartington Invite. Nate Gotschall led the Eagles shooting a 78 and placing 5th. Kyle Regan shot a career best round of 81 and placed 8th. Matt Kelly shot an 89 while Adam Soukup shot a 90. Cody Belzer shot a 93 to round out the scoring for the Eagles. The Eagles shot a 338 as a team and placed 3rd.
The JV golfers went to Albion on Monday and got another tournament under their belts. Jon Hofer led the team shooting a 96. Austin Hilker shot a 105. Baylee Colfack shot a 121.
A few pictures taken by Mark Moser during down time at the Stuart Invite in Atkinson on the last day of April.
Kaczor Named NWU Male Outstanding Senior Athlete
LINCOLN, Neb. – Brett Kaczor and Mallory Shanahan were named the Nebraska Wesleyan University Senior Outstanding Athletes for the 2012-13 school year at the NWU Student-Athlete Appreciation night. Kaczor, a member of the football team, was the Male Outstanding Senior Athlete while Shanahan, a member the women’s basketball team, was the Female Outstanding Senior Athlete.
Kaczor (Ewing, Neb.) was named an AFCA NAIA All-American at linebacker this season as a senior and was 1st-Team All-GPAC for the second consecutive year. He had 94 total tackles in nine games during his senior year to rank 14th in the NAIA in tackles per game (10.4). He also recorded 10.5 TFLs, forced two fumbles, recovered two fumbles, had three interceptions and blocked a kick. Remarkably, Kaczor played the final two games of the season with a sternum injury, including the final game where he earned NAIA National Player of the Week for his 16-tackles performance in a win over Hastings.
Kaczor becomes the first football player in NWU history to become a First-Team All-American and a CoSIDA Academic All-American as he earned that honor in 2011. He finishes his career with 253 total tackles to rank 10th all-time.
The O'Neill Golf team was able to get on the course a couple times this week. On Friday they traveled to Hastings to compete in the Adams Central invite held at Southern Hills Golf Course. It was a great day for the kids with temps around 70 and little to no wind. The golf team had a little trouble with the course and with penalty shots, but the team got some valuable experience that they can use in the future to get better at golf management. Nate Gotschall led the eagles with an 86 and placed 11th. Tristan Strong had a strong back nine shooting a 39 and placing 12th with a 87. Matt Kelly, Adam Soukup, and Kyle Regan all shot 95's for the day. The team shot a 363 which placed them 4th.
On Saturday the golf team made a little bit shorter drive as the traveled to Atkinson to take part in the West Holt invite. The players had another very nice day with temps in the upper 70's and little wind to deal with. The golfers took what they learned from the day before and tried to manage themselves around the golf course better then they did the day before and the scores showed it. The team took 23 shots off the team score and placed 3rd with a 340. Nate Gotschall and Tristan strong led the Eagles both shooting 83's. Nate placed 7th and Tristan placed 8th. Adam Soukup also had a nice round shooting an 86 and placing 13th. Matt Kelly was just out of placing shooting an 88. Cody Belzer had a tough day keeping the ball in bounds and carded a 95.
The JV golf program was also in action on Saturday as they traveled to Pierce. Kyle Regan led the JV's shooting an 89 and placed 19th. Austin Hilker had his first round under 100 and carded a 99. Jon Hofer shot a 108 and also shot a round in the forties on his back nine for the first time this year. Baylee Colfack rounded out the scoring for the Eagles shooting an 118.
Eagles Compete at Mid-State Conference Meet
The O'Neill Eagles traveled to Madison for the Mid State Conference track and field meet this last Saturday. It was a beautiful day for track and field and many Eagles competed well.
The O'Neill girls team had many placers in this very competitive meet. In the field events, Toni Hamik placed 4th in the shot put with a throw of 35-0. Teammate Lindsey Appleby finished 6th with a toss of 33-6. In the discus, sophomore Rahtaya Young claimed 4th place with a throw of 101-6. McKenzie Adamson claimed 6th place in the triple jump going 31-7.75. Dani Barelmann finished in 3rd in the pole vault with a season-best height of 8-6. She came back later in the day to place 4th in the 1600 with her best time of the year, 6:00.08.
In the running events, Brandi Walters finished 4th in the 100, with a time of 12.9 and 5th in the 100 high hurdles, running a 16.1. Brandi came back later to finish 6th in the 300 low hurdles with a 49.2 clocking. Brandi was also part of the 400 relay team that finished 6th. The rest of the team members were Ronnie Ross, Randi Pinkerman and Alex Atkins.
Coach Peterson had good things to say about the meet: "I was very happy with many of our performances. Even though some of our kids did not place, many of them had personal bests today. I was really impressed with freshman Ronnie Ross. She decreased her 100 time and qualified for the 200 finals running 27.2. That time would place her in most of the meets we go to. Dani Barelmann had a great day in both of her events. I thought our kids competed well and we look forward to our last regular season meet Thursday at Norfolk Catholic."
The O’Neill boys’ team placed 3rd overall behind Battle Creek and Norfolk Catholic.
In the field events sophomore Jon Marvin vaulted his personal best of 13 feet to earn top honors in the conference pole vault. Brock Schueth placed 2nd in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet, 10 inches.
In the running events the 4 x 800 ran 8:38 to place first. The relay was made up of Michael Hedlund, Charlie Burtwistle, Tyson Hostert, and Derrick Hostert. Freshman Grant Johnston and Blake Johnston once again ran their personal best in the 3200 with Grant being the individual champion and Blake placing 3rd. Seniors Derrick Hostert in the 1600 meters and Tate Laursen in the 300 intermediate hurdles, won their individual races. Michael Hedlund placed 4th and Charley Burwistle 6th in the 800 meter run. Tyson Hostert also ran well with a time of 5:01.2 placing 3rd in the 1600 meter run. Ending the meet the 4 x 400 with members Tate Lauren, Derrick Hostert, Michael Hedlund, and Brock Schueth placed 1st.
“We ran well, fell short in the team race but we gave a good effort. I felt like we made good improvements and just need to keep going forward. We need to be on top of our game come districts which is just two weeks away.” I know we will be running our fastest come May 9th,” commented Coach Hilker.
The Eagles last regular season meet is this Thursday, Norfolk Catholic Invite, which starts at 3 p.m.
Junior Eagle Girls Win at Ord
For the 2nd time this year, the lady junior high Eagles won the team trophy. Nice weather led to several personal bests. Allison Becker broke her own record in the triple jump with a leap of 30’ 7”. She also placed 4th in the 100 m hurdles. Finishing in the 1st in the 100 m hurdles with a time of 18.1 sec and 3rd in the 195 m hurdles with a time of 35.5 sec was Aurora Gutshall. Other hurdlers- Mikayla Marvin placed 2nd and Sam Eichelberger placed 4th in the 195 m hurdles. Marvin placed 2nd in the pole vault with a 7’ 6” vault. Tori Wendell placed 2nd in the 100 m and 200 m with times of 13.2 and 28.2 respectively, and 2nd in the long jump going 14’ 10 ½”. In the 100 m Sabrina Fox placed 3rd with a time of 13.6 sec. Emily Morrow threw 28’ 5.5” in the shot put to win that event and Shea Coventry was 6th with a throw of 24’ 9”. The 4x200 relay consisting of Kadra Sommersted, Sabrina Fox, Morgan Fowler, and Briaunna Parks took top honors with a time of 2:07.1. The 8th grade 4x100 relay of Sabrina Fox, Allison Becker, Tori Wendell, and Sam Eichelberger won that event with a time of 56.5. A team consisting of 7th graders Sam Eichelberger, Morgan Fowler, Briuanna Parks, and Tessa Rainforth took 3rd in the 4x100. In the last event of the day the 4x400 relay of Marissa Lichty, Allison Ludwig, Andrea Bennetts and Aurora Gutshall recieved 6th place.
A few shots taken during the West Boyd Track Invite
Unfortunate Injury Ends Husker Career
Unfortunately, last night we found out that Ewing's Hayley Thramer suffere an injury that will end her Husker volleyball career. Hayley has been a force in the middle for Nebraska over the last couple of years, and has ranked near the top of the Big Ten in blocking for the last two season. We hope Hayley can recover soon. Here is the official statement from the University of Nebraska.
Statement from Head Coach John Cook on Hayley Thramer
“We found out last night that Nebraska volleyball had its heart ripped out with the news of Hayley Thramer suffering a career-ending knee injury. It’s a sad day but we know Hayley will have the support of Husker nation. She is on track to graduate and as a leader on our team she will remain a vital part of our program and will be a great representation of Nebraska volleyball in 2013.”
Three Area Athletes Sign With Wayne State Track Team
Wayne, Neb. --- Wayne State College head track and field coach Marlon Brink announced today that Cassidy Tinsley-Hanika of Omaha, Tessa Ives from Verdigre and Jessica Pongratz of O’Neill have either signed letters of intent or committed to compete for the Wildcats and continue their track and field careers and attend Wayne State College in the 2013-14 academic year. The three join Mary Alderson from Fremont Bergan (sprinter), Michael Dendinger of Coleridge (throws), Andrea DeSimone from Plattsmouth (distance), Emily Kaup of Stuart (mid-distance), Cristina Murillo of Bertrand (distance) and Aryn Smidt of West Point-Beemer (dstance) as members of the 2013 women’s track recruiting class.
Tessa Ives is a multi-sport standout from Verdigre High School that will compete in the throws for the Wildcat track and field team. She is a two-year state track qualifier in the discus and has earned All-Niobrara Valley Conference honors in volleyball and basketball.
“Tessa is a very good all-around athlete that I think can become a good discus/hammer throw at WSC,” said Brink. “She will be a good addition to our throwers and should benefit with having some experienced throwers to train with.”
Jessica Pongratz is from O’Neill St. Mary’s High School and will compete in throws at Wayne State. She is a three year Class D State Track qualifier in the shot put and a two year state qualifier in the discus, medaling at state once in each event. Pongratz was fifth last spring in the Class D shot put and in 2011 as a sophomore finished fifth in the Class D discus. She also excels in volleyball and basketball, earning Class D-1 Omaha World Herald Second Team All-State honors as a senior and helped O’Neill St. Mary’s to a runner-up finish in basketball this spring with a 24-3 record.
“Jessica has potential to become a very good collegiate thrower,” commented Brink. “She has the size, strength and explosiveness that we look for and she has experience as a state meet qualifier. I think Jessica will be a big surprise to some people when they see what she can do in our program.”
Emily Kaup is a versatile runner from Stuart High School who committed to the program earlier this spring. She has competed in volleyball, basketball and track. Kaup has qualified for the State Track Meet in Class D the past two seasons and placed in the 800 meter run both times. She was second in Class D as a sophomore in 2011 with a time of 2:22.41 and fourth in 2012 in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:22.45. She has made appearances at the state tournament in volleyball as her team made the trip to state in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Kaup received All-Niobrara Valley Conference in track in both the 400 meter and 800 meter runs in 2010, 2011 and 2012. She also has academic success being named Principal's Niobrara Valley All-Conference Academic in 2011 and 2012.
“Emily has a great range running everything at her high school from the 200 to the mile,” commented Brink. “I think she will really shine as a middle distance specialist for us. She has the potential to really develop at the college level with a year round training program. She should make an immediate impact on our team next year.”
Wayne State College competes in the 16-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
O'Neill Golfers Able to Get on the Course Last Week
With snow falling during play at the Mid-State Tournament, Frosty joined the Eagle golfers in Battle Creek for a round. Due to NSAA regulations Frosty's score couldn't help the Eagles, but it was rumored he shot well. (thanks to Leann Gotschall for the pic)
It hasn't happened much, but the O'Neill boys golf team was able to get out twice this week. Tuesday brought a dual with Plainview, which saw O'Neill beat Plainview by a score of 163 - 202. The JV also won with a score of 220-250. Top medalist for the dual was Nate Gotschall shooting a 35. Cody Belzer had the second best sore with a 40. Matt Kelly shot a 43, while Tristan Strong shot a 45. Adam Soukup and Kyle Regan both shot 46's. Austin Hilker shot a 56, Baylee Colfack shot a 59, and Jon Hofer shot a 60.
On Saturday the golf team was able to get in an 18 hole tournament that was the Mid States conference meet at Battle Creek's Evergreen golf course. It was a very cold and windy day that actually saw the players playing golf while the snow was falling. There were some very good scores for the conditions. Cody Belzer Led the team with a 77 and placed second. Nate Gotschall won a playoff and place 7th shooting a 84. Adam Soukup and Matt Kelly both shot 92's. Kyle Regan shot a 95 while Tristan Strong shot a 96. Jon Hofer shot a 120, and Austin Hilker shot a 128. The Eagles placed third as a team shooting a very respectable 345 for the conditions. The Eagles have a very busy week this week with four tournaments in five days if the weather cooperates, including their own invite, which was postponed until Thursday the 25th.
Tracksters Endure Outdoor Meets
The weather wasn't great, but the competition was as usual at the NVC meet in Atkinson.
Tad Fry got the win in the 300 hurdles as Travis Kester, Schylar Franssen and Jared Tomjack all stretch for 2nd.
Some of the first full outdoor track meets were held on Saturday all over Northeast Nebraska. The conditions were far from perfect, but the idea was to get times and scores for the Norfolk Classic Track Invite on Thursday. The qualifiers have been announced, and are here on the KBRX sports page. Meanwhile, all results from the track meets held on Saturday, as well as the Mid-State Golf Meet, have been compiled. Check them out in the Pinnacle Bank Scoreboard.
The Norfolk Classic has announced their qualifiers for the annual meet. This year the Classic is Thursday, April 25. Qualifiers are picked based on time, distance, or height from their respective events, disregarding class. Quite a few of our area athletes have been chosen for the Norfolk Classic. To view the list of athletes selected to the Classic and their qualifying marks, click on the title of this article. Results will be found on kbrx.com in the Pinnacle Bank Scoreboard after the event as well.
Huskers No Hit, Sweep No. 10 Razorbacks
Lincoln – A pinch-hit home run from Blake Headley in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled the Nebraska baseball team (16-19, 8-4 Big Ten) to a 4-2 win over the No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks (25-14, 9-6 SEC) in game two of Tuesday’s doubleheader, securing a sweep for the Huskers after three Huskers pitchers tossed a combined no-hitter in 3-0 game one win.
With the game tied, 1-1, heading into the bottom of the eighth, Arkansas Head Coach Dave Van Horn brought in sophomore righty Chris Oliver. Nebraska countered by pinch hitting Headley, a lefty, and after he saw one pitch from Oliver, the sophomore from Omaha blasted his first career home run into the right-field bullpen. It was the first pinch-hit homer by a Husker since Pat Kelly notched one against Northern Colorado last season.
A trio of Huskers combined for the eighth no-hitter in school history in the early game, as Kyle Kubat, Tyler Niederklein and Dylan Vogt held the No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks hitless in a 3-0 Nebraska win in the first game of a doubleheader.
It was the fourth combined no-hitter in school history and the first no-hitter since four Huskers no-hit Peru State on March 6, 1993. Tuesday was the first no hitter against a Division I program since April 5, 1981, when Anthony Kelley no-hit the Oklahoma Sooners in seven innings. The last nine-inning no hitter against a Division I team was on April 20, 1954, when Richard Geier threw a perfect game against the Kansas Jayhawks.
Following the no-no in game one, six Husker pitchers continued to keep the Razorbacks in check in game two. Brandon Pierce started on the mound and gutted out 5.0 innings, giving up one run on three hits. Tyler King, Caleb Hawkins, Jeff Chesnut and Luke Bublitz then combined for three shutout innings, giving up a combined one hit. Roeder closed the door in the ninth to earn his second save of the season.
After being shutout for 13 straight innings on Tuesday, Arkansas got on the board with a solo home run from Mahan in the fifth.
The Razorbacks entered Tuesday leading the country in both team ERA (1.72) and hits per nine innings (6.32). The Huskers scored three earned runs in the first game on five hits and totaled two earned runs in game two on seven hits.
After playing five straight games at Hawks Field, the Huskers head back on the road this weekend for a three-game Big Ten series with the Purdue Boilermakers. The Huskers and Boilermakers kick off the series on Friday night at 6 p.m. (CT) in front a national-television audience on the Big Ten Network. Saturday’s game is also set for 6 p.m. (CT), while Sunday’s finale is scheduled for an 11 a.m. (CT) first pitch.
O'Neill Tracksters Finally Get To Compete
The O'Neill Lady Eagles competed in the Ord Triangular with Ord and Ainsworth on Monday, April 15th. The meet was created to get the schools a chance to compete in a meet after several cancellations and postponements.
The Lady Eagles fared very well in many events. Sophomore Randi Pinkerman won the 200 with a time of 28.2 and freshman Ronnie Ross finished in 2nd at 28.6. O'Neill fared well in the 100 also going 1-2-3. Senior Brandi Walters sped to 1st place with a 13.1 time, Randi Pinkerman was close behind with a 13.3 and Ronnie Ross was 3rd at 13.4. Randi also placed 3rd in the high jump going 4-6. Brandi had a good day in the hurdle events as placed 2nd in both races. She ran the 100 high hurdles in 15.9 and 47.8 in the 300 low hurdles.
Senior Dani Barelmann had a good day also, placing 2nd in the pole vault with a 7-6 vault and 3rd in the 800 with a personal best time of 2:42.2. Dani's teammates in the pole vault Amanda Pischel and Allison Beckwith placed 5th and 6th respectively.
In the weight events, senior Lindsey Appleby placed 2nd in the discus with a throw of 105-8. Sophomore Rahtaya Young placed 5th with a 90-7 throw. In the shop put Lindsey placed 5th with a toss of 33-9 and teammate Toni Hamik placed 6th with a 32-8.5 throw.
In the jumps, O'Neill was led by sophomore McKenzie Adamson who placed 4th in the triple jump and 5th in the long jump. McKenzie leaped 13-3 in the long jump and 29-6.5 in the triple. Teammate Alex Atkins placed 4th in the long jump with a 14-0.75 jump and 5th in the triple with a leap of 28-4.
The Lady Eagles had three placers in the 400 with Catrina Spangler placing 3rd, Cierra Parks 4th and McKenzie Adamson 6th. Liz Price placed 3rd in the 3200 with a time of 13:54.0 and teammate Abby Gillham placed 5th with 14:24.8.
In the relay events, O'Neill placed 2nd in the 400 relay with a 53.9 clocking. Team members included Ronnie Ross, Randi Pinkerman, Bailee Dougherty and Brandi Walters. The 1600 relay team of Cierra Parks, Catrina Spangler, Dani Barelmann and Rahtaya Young placed 3rd.
Coach Peterson stated, “It was nice to finally get out on the track again as our last meet outside was on April 2nd in Ainsworth. We had some really good times recorded for this early in the season and our sprinters and hurdlers are all faster at this time of the year than they were at this point last year. Our shot and discus athletes keep getting better and are showing great improvement each week.
Our freshman are still trying to understand the level of competition at the varsity high school level and are slowly getting better. We are very thankful for Ainsworth and Ord for setting up this meet for us.”
In the boys’ side of things, the O’Neill field events scored 44 points for the team. Leading the team in the field events Brock Schueth jumped 19’8” getting first and Jackson Latzel 18’ 2.25” earning 3rd. In the triple jump Charlie Burtwistle placed 3rd and Jesse Albarran 5th. Michael Collins placed 4th in the discus and shot put with throws of 121’ 2” and 43’ 6.25”. Jon Marvin placed 4th with a vault of 11 feet, and Miguel Ochoa placed 6th.
The Eagles showed improvement on the track. In the individual Tate Laursen won the 100 meters with 11.5 and Brock Schueth 4th with 11.9. In the 3200 meter run Grant and Blake Johnston ran their personal best placing respectfully at 5th and 6th place with times of 10:48 and 10:50. Tyson Hostert ran a personal best of 4:57.1 to place 3rd and David Carr ran a personal best of 5:47 to place 6th. Michael Hedlund gained top honors in the 400 meter run with a relaxed run of 54 seconds. Kedron Koehler placed 5th and Devon Davidson 6th in the quarter mile run. Tate Laursen ran his personal in the 300 intermediate hurdles with a time of 40.4 and Koehler placed 5th. Jackson Latzel placed 6th in the 800 meter run. Freshman Jon Gettert placed 3rd and sophomore Jacob Emme 6th in the 200 meter dash.
In the relays the Eagles showed improvement. In the 4 x 800 the team placed 2nd with a strong time of 8:39.2 placing 2nd. The 4 x 400 placed 1st with a time of 3:37.2, and the 4 x 100 placed 3rd with 50.4.
“It was good to see all the athletes get ready to compete. I really thought with the youth of the team performed well last week. Our upper-classmen performed well. I know that with weeks to come that we will be ready to run that much faster. In the sprints especially, this was the first time that we have ran or competed in some of these events. We now know what we need to work on as individuals and as a team,” said Coach Hilker.
Next week the O’Neill Eagles will compete at the freshman/sophomore meet held in Pierce, April 23rd, the Norfolk Classic Invitational, April 25th starting at 4:45 p.m, and Mid-States Conference April 27th, which is held in Madison, starting at 10 a.m.
2013 NCA Boys Basketball All Stars
The Nebraska Coaches Association has finalized the rosters for the annual NCA All-Star Girls’ & Boys’ Basketball teams.
The 45th annual all-star Boys’ Basketball game will be played that same evening at 8:00 p.m., or immediately following the girls’ game.
Blue Team
Claussen, Marcus
6'3
G
Wausa
Folkerts, Chandler
6'8
P
Milford
Goltl, Jake
6'3
G
Ralston
Hollins, Tra'deon
6'2
G
Omaha Central
Housh, Noah
6'4
F
Lincoln North Star
Larsen, Alex
6'2
P
Northwest
Peterson, Gunnar
6'6
F
Lincoln Southwest
Pettigrew, Deon
6'4
F/P
Bellevue West
Rath, Austan
6'2
G
Sutton
Rogers, Nate
6'4
F/P
South Sioux City
Sharp, Spencer
6'6
F
Millard West
Shepard, Clayton
6'6
G/F
Lincoln East
Head Coach
Chip Bahe, Millard North
Assistant Coach
Tim Barada, Wilber-Clatonia
Red Team
Bohlke, Dylan
6'2
G
Norris
Dougherty, Brett
6'6
P
Papillion-LaVista
Drey, Mitch
6'5
G
Gretna
Gleisberg, Lucas
6'1
G
Medicine Valley
Hadden, Michael
6'2
G/F
Scottsbluff
Kuhl, Nate
6'8
F/P
Johnson County Central
Lusso, Connor
6'6
F
Millard West
Nannen, Jake
6'5
F/P
Lincoln Southeast
Schwetschenau, Brian
6'4
F
Omaha Skutt Catholic
Scott, Kevin (KJ)
G
Omaha Central
Williams, Reid
6'3
G
Lincoln Southwest
Wudtke, Cody
6'3
G/F
McCook
Head Coach
Jim Carlson, Boyd County
Assistant Coach
Tony Siske, Scottsbluff
2013 NCA Girls Basketball All Stars
The Nebraska Coaches Association has finalized the rosters for the Annual NCA All-Star Girls’ & Boys’ Basketball teams.
The 34th annual all-star Girls’ Basketball game will be played on Monday, July 22nd, at Lincoln North Star High School beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Blue Team
Andersen, Dani
5'6
G
Lincoln Christian
Arens, Bridget
6'
F/P
Crofton
Barry, Michaela
5'6
G
Norfolk Catholic
Barry, Darcy
5'6
G
Wahoo
Bucher, Bridget
6'1
F/P
Norris
Shaw, Mikaela
5'11
F/P
Sandy Creek
Silva, Taylor
5'5
G
Bellevue East
Skupa, Mackenzie
6'2
P
Silver Lake
Tvrdy, Hannah
5'10
G
Seward
Wiemers, Kelsey
5'8
G
Kearney
Wolfe, Annie
5'10
G/F
Omaha Marian
Works, Lauren
5'7
G
Lincoln Southwest
Head Coach
Linda Walker, Wahoo
Assistant Coach
Jason Boyd, Kearney
Red Team
Bahensky, Taylor
5'8
G
Millard North
Barnard, Hanah
5'7
G
Beatrice
Baum, Therin
6'1
F/P
Kearney Catholic
Blanke, Marisa
5'7
G/F
Emerson-Hubbard
Dineen, Mary
5'7
G
Millard North
Faxon, Jill
5'10
G/F
Beatrice
Kastanek, Alexa
5'9
G/F
Lincoln Southeast
Millard, Allie
5'10
G/F
Valentine
Miller, Daynlee
5'10
G
Hershey
Nelson, Alex
6'
F
Papillion-LaVista
Tjaden, Cierra
5'10
G
Waverly
Zadina, Kourtney
6'2
G/F
Seward
Head Coach
Trent Benjamin, Holdrege
Assistant Coach
Mark Madison, Fillmore Central
AP Boys Basketball All-State
A little bit late, but the AP Boys All State list came out at the very end of March. Sorry for the delay.
CLASS C1
First Team
Jonathan Abbott, Wahoo, 6-1, Sr.
Michael Daum, Kimball, 6-8, Jr.
Logan Power, Lincoln Christian, 6-4, Jr.
Rylee Reinertson, Gibbon, 6-3, Jr.
Ben Scheef, Wahoo, 6-2, Jr.
Second Team
Grant Anderson, Wayne, 6-5, Sr.
Jalen Barry, Wayne, 5-10, Jr.
Chandler Folkerts, Milford, 6-8, Sr.
Tyler Hedlund, Boone Central/Newman Grove, 6-1, Jr.
Austin Woita, Bishop Neumann, 6-3, Jr.
Honorable Mention
Ainsworth: Nick Martin; Battle Creek: Jared Bellar, Zach Bellar; Boone Central/Newman Grove: Beau Bremer, Derek Gentrup; Norfolk Catholic: , Jordan Bellar, Connor Ketter, Riley Knake; O'Neill: Charley Burtwistle, Derrick Hostert; Ord: Alex Fahey, Trevor Fahrenholtz; Pierce: Zach Fahringer, Eddie Francois, Lane Rohrich
CLASS C2
First Team
James Kaiser, Hartington Cedar Catholic, 5-11, So.
Spencer Kucera, Southern Valley, 6-9, Sr.
Nate Kuhl, Johnson County Central, 6-7, Sr.
Austan Rath, Sutton, 6-2, Sr.
Cole Schuster, Freeman, 6-2, Jr.
Second Team
Dakota Best, Southern Valley, 6-2, Sr.
Creighton Buhr, Doniphan-Trumbull, 6-4, Jr.
Joseph Clinch, North Platte St. Patrick's, 6-2, Sr.
Nate Fisher, Yutan, 6-4, Jr.
Mitch Knobbe, Lutheran High Northeast, 6-3, Sr.
Honorable Mention
Boyd County: Dexter Black, Eric Lechtenberg; Creighton: Bronson Pahl, Cole Thomas; Elgin Public/Pope John: Zach Polk; Hartington Cedar Catholic: Logan Feilmeier, Grant Howell; Neligh-Oakdale: Dillon Smith; Niobrara/Verdigre: Steven LaPointe; Plainview: Dalson Hitz; West Holt: Marcus Marcellus, Connor Osborne
CLASS D1
First Team
Cody Corfield, Paxton, 6-1, Sr.
Blake Jeffres, Burwell, 6-3, Sr.
Matt Gooch, Howells-Dodge, 6-5, Sr.
Adam Moon, St. Mary's, 6-8, Jr.
Ryan Tegtmeier, Bruning-Davenport/Shickley, 6-0, Sr.
Second Team
Logan Fleming, High Plains, 5-10, Jr.
Luke Glenn, Shelton, 5-10, Sr.
Luke Hegemann, Howells-Dodge, 6-4, Jr.
Cole Klingsporn, High Plains, 5-10, So.
Tyler Schnitzler, Kenesaw, 5-11, Sr.
Honorable Mention
Bloomfield: Chet Beckmann; Burwell: Nate Nelson, Austin Svoboda; Chambers/Wheeler Central: Brady Dierks, Mike Tomjack; Clearwater/Orchard: Andy Kerkman, Travis Kester, Trevor Mlnarik; Hartington: Nick Miller; North Central: Carter Camp; St. Mary's: Connor Connot, Ty Eiler, Aaron Ohri
CLASS D2
First Team
Marcus Classen, Wausa, 6-3, Sr.
Mike Glaser, Spalding/Spalding Academy, 5-11, Sr.
Nick Sjuts, Bancroft-Rosalie, 6-2, Jr.
Jackson Sudbeck, Wynot, 5-10, Jr.
Nathan Wieselser, Wynot, 6-8, Sr.
Second Team
Lane Barnhill, Falls City Sacred Heart, 6-1, Sr.
Cody Benson, Sterling, 6-5, Jr.
Dustin Hastings, Giltner, 6-0, Sr.
Lucas Gleisberg, Medicine Valley, 6-1, Sr.
Sam Schumacher, Leyton, 6-0, Sr.
Honorable Mention
Elkhorn Valley: Jacob Heldt; Ewing: Jake Walton, Blake Cunningham, Robert Nordby; Osmond: Daniel Wiese; Spalding/Spalding Academy; Eric Berger, Cain Haschke, Joe Glaser; Stuart: Andrew Broders
Team Jack Reaches the National Stage
While Husker fans have been aware of (and also a part of) Team Jack and Nebraska football’s involvement with Jack Hoffman, the rest of the world was put on notice this weekend. The video of Jack running in one of the biggest touchdowns in Husker history has been played, replayed and shared by Husker Nation throughout the weekend, and now has been recognized on the national stage.
If you have not seen the run, here it is. The Youtube version has been played nearly 4 million times by Tuesday. Voice of the Huskers Greg Sharpe and Matt Davison have the call.
The idea was the brainchild of fullback CJ Zimmerer and Director of Football Operations Jeff Jamrog. Both have been involved with the Nebraska Chapter of Uplifting Athletes. The idea was sent to Coach Bo Pelini on Friday night, and was a relatively spur of the moment thing.
Zimmerer had the chance to speak about the event at the post game press conference:
On what the instructions were for the play involving Jack (Hoffman)
"Yeah, we drew up the play probably 30 seconds before so I'm sure it was all a blur for him. I was telling some of the other reporters that he did a great job. We wanted to get him around the edge, giving him a nice lane to the end zone. He did a great job running his little legs there. He's fast for a little guy. He did a great job for the pressure of 60,000 fans. I'm sure it was not very easy for a 7-year-old."
On whether or not they knew ahead of time that Jack would be scoring a touchdown
"We talked about it a bit last night with (Jeff) Jamrog. I've been involved with the Team Jack stuff and Uplifiting Athletes, so I was in on the planning with it, but they addressed the team today. Coach Bo told us and all the guys were really excited about it. It worked out really well."
On what the huddle was like with Jack
"Like I said, probably a little shock, but he was real happy to be there. He was really excited. We didn't really know when Coach Bo was going to get us out there, so he was pacing up the sideline with me and some of the other guys waiting to get in there. He did great for being on the field, and in front of all those people. It was a great experience"
Bo Pelini also mentioned how much it meant to him and the team: "Obviously, Jack's a young man who has touched the hearts of a lot of people. Our football team and the student body have gotten behind him, and he's become a big part of the team. We weren't sure if he was going to want to do it. We brought the idea to his dad, and I thought it was a pretty special thing."
Taylor Martinez will remember handing the ball off to Jack: "That was awesome for the team and for Jack. He's going to remember that for the rest of his life and so will I. It was awesome for him to score that touchdown."
Jack is listed in Nebraska's official stats as the leading rusher.
From there, social media exploded, with Husker Nation sharing and talking about Jack’s run. With the Spring Game being shown on the Big Ten Network, it was available to the entire country. The moment did not stop with Nebraska fans though. People such as NFL star Larry Fitzgerald, college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, and ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt took to Twitter to share their thoughts. Van Pelt said, “This week in sports was garbage. A 7 year old named Jack Hoffman & Nebraska reminded us why we love them.” Ndamukong Suh also took notice, and tweeted a link to get the Team Jack t-shirt.
By Saturday night, ESPN was featuring the story, making it part of their rotation. Multiple sports websites, such as Bleacher Report and Sports Illustrated were reporting on the story. Then it spread beyond the sports world, and has been making the rounds on CNN, FOX, Good Morning America and every other major news outlet. ESPN also did a follow up story, talking to Jack and Andy Hoffman as well as Rex Burkhead. In one of ESPN’s popular SportsNation features, Jack also got the thumbs up for the “Best of the Best” top play, which had not seen anybody new win since January.
Jack unseated Jadeveon Clowney, who had been reigning champ since January, by a 67-33 margin.
Here are a few more links if you would like to read more about the story and the reaction to it, or learn more about Team Jack.
Wright, Milander Set New WSC Records in Field Events
Senior thrower Brad Wright set a new school record in the discus while also earning a third place finish in the hammer throw to lead the Wayne State College men's track and field team Saturday at the Wildcat Classic held at LeRoy Simpson Track in Wayne. The meet attracted 14 teams, including athletes from Division I Nebraska-Omaha and South Dakota State along with NCAA Division II schools Augustana, Wayne State and South Dakota School of Mines.
Wright had a big day to lead the Wayne State men as the Ewing, Nebraska graduate set a new school record in the discus with a first place throw of 169'3”, which was also good for an NCAA provisional mark. He broke the old school mark of 167' 1" set by Layne Herber back in the 1973 season. Wright also took third place in the hammer throw at 161'6”.
The WSC’s women's track and field team set two new school records with five NCAA qualifying marks Saturday hosting the Wildcat Classic at LeRoy Simpson Track in Wayne, Nebraska.
The WSC women's team was led by senior thrower Lachel Milander of Pierce, who won the hammer throw with a new school record and NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 196'4” to top the previous school mark of 185'4” held by Carly Fehringer, set last May.
Both athletes will now find themselves in the national rankings, as Wright’s discus toss was the 6th best throw by a Division II athlete in this young outdoor track season. Milander’s throw was a full ten feet ahead of the season’s best D-II mark in the country coming into the week.
Hipke Wins Event at Colorado State Rodeo
Three Chadron State College contestants were event winners at the Colorado State University rodeo in Fort Collins over the weekend.
All three of the champions are from Nebraska. Russell Hipke of Stuart was the steer wrestling winnner. He was joined by Devan Frey (Fry) of Hyannis, who won the breakaway roping and Katie Loughran of Broken Bow was first in the barrel race.
Hipke, a junior at CSC, tied for eighth in the first go-round of the steer wrestling in 5.8 seconds, but won the championship go-round in 4.5 seconds to claim his event title by seven-tenths of a second.
Two more Chadron State entries also placed among the top six in the averages of their events.
Eastern Wyoming College at Torrington will host this weekend’s rodeo in the Central Rocky Mountain Region.
Bauer Leads WSC Golf with 18th Place Finish at Wayne State Spring Invitational
Wayne, Neb.--- Sophomore Blake Bauer fired a three-under-par 69 Saturday in the second and final round of the 2013 Wayne State College Men’s Golf Spring Invitational played at the Wayne Country Club. As a team, the Wildcats shot a 319 Saturday for a nine-stroke improvement from Friday’s first round in the first spring event of the season.
Minnesota State won a tightly-contested team race with a 585 (290-295), four shots ahead of second place Nebraska-Kearney at 589 (300-289). Concordia-St. Paul was third at 592 followed by St. Cloud State (593) and Minnesota Crookston fifth at 596 as the top five teams were separated by just 11 shots.
Augustana came in sixth at 600 with Bemidji State seventh at 604. Upper Iowa was two shots back in eighth at 606, Winona State ninth at 608 and Sioux Falls 10th with 609. Northern State (641) and Wayne State at 647 (328-319) rounded out the team scoring.
O’Neill sophomore Blake Bauer led the Wildcats with his 81-69 for a 150 to finish tied for 18th overall. Garret Kuhl carded rounds of 79 and 85 for a 164 with Colin Preston next for the Wildcats at 166 after shooting scores of 86 and 80. Other WSC finishers were Brad Lanman with a 168 (83-85) and Spencer Shadden at 170 with rounds of 85 both days.
The next action for the Wildcats will be April 6-7 when Wayne State plays in the Upper Iowa Invitational in Waterloo, Iowa.
Mid State All-Conference Girls Basketball Selections
MID-STATE ALL CONFERENCE
Jade Gottier, Boone Central
Allison Arens, Crofton
Bridget Arens, Crofton
Quinn Wragge, Crofton
Katelyn Dickes, Hartington Cedar Catholic
Alayna Daberkow, Madison
Michaela Barry, Norfolk Catholic
Amy Miller, Norfolk Catholic
Rachel Wiedenfeld, Pierce
Abby Ortmeier, Guardian Angels Central Catholic
HONORABLE MENTION:
Katelynn Zila, Battle Creek
Darienne Pokorny, Boone Central
Tiffany Tramp, Crofton
Maria Wortmann, Crofton
Emily Knobbe, Guardian Angels CC
Melanie Stratman, Guardian Angels CC
Emily Schrempp, Hartington CC
Lexi Steffen, Hartington CC
Jacy Bretschneider, Pierce
Krystina Koepke, Pierce
Rachelle Tucker, Pierce
Lindsey Appleby, O’Neill
Brandi Walters, O’Neill
Sarah Maxson, Wayne
Jalyn Zeiss, Wayne
The 2013 O’Neill Public/St. Mary’s Alumni Basketball & Volleyball Tournament was held over the weekend. Here are the results:
Volleyball - 1st Place 2012
Volleyball - 2nd Place 1999-2001
Women’s Basketball – Championship 2008 Team with a 41-39 victory
Women's Basketball - Runner-Up 2012 Team
Men’s Basketball – Championship The 1995-96 Team defeated the 2006 Team by one point in overtime. This was the fourth time the 1995-96 team has won.
Men's Basketball Runner-Up - 2006
Thanks to all of the people who helped make the 11th annual Alumni Basketball/Volleyball weekend a huge success, especially James Burtwistle, Chuck Price, Mike Peterson, Nick Hostert, Greg Buller, Bart Becker, Monte Grossnicklaus, Barbie Gutshall, Becky Dean, Crystal Matthews, Lowell Brown, Dr. Ptacek, Dr. Cuddy, Mike Pardun, Terry Tomjack, John Kruse, Kelley Price, Kay Appleby, Kathy Hostert, Teri Brown, Mary Miller, Aaron Kruger, Les Hall, Jodi Fox, and Crystal Knabe. A Special Thanks to our Tournament Director, Gary Hostert, for all the time and work he does to make this a great weekend for all involved.
Rosters Announced For All-Star Football Classic
Team rosters have been announced for the first Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic, which will be played on June 8, 2013 at Norfolk’s Veteran’s Memorial Park.
Mike Fuehrer of the Norfolk Area Sports Council said the coaching staffs have spent the past 30 days putting their rosters together. “The coaching staffs will start the process of communicating with their teams,’’ he said. “Both teams will arrive in Norfolk on June 3. The Red team will practice at Norfolk High and the White team will practice at Norfolk Catholic.’’
The Red and White teams were broken down from a pool of 59 high school squads representing the greater Northeast Nebraska area. All players participating were nominated by their respective high school football coaches.
Click to view the list of KBRX area athletes who were selected to play in the All-Star Football Classic.
Click to view the full Red team roster.
Red team Head Coach Rich Rethwisch will be assisted by Jeff Jensen of Creighton, Jeff Bellar of Norfolk Catholic, Tim Kassmeier of Norfolk Catholic, Greg Warneke of Pierce and Doug Konopasek of Niobrara/Verdigre.
The Red team’s roster includes the following area players: Chet Beckmann of Bloomfield; Trevor Krugman of Boyd County; Levi Nielsen of Creighton; Eli Schreier of Niobrara/Verdigre; Ty Eiler of St. Mary’s; Marcus Claussen of Wausa; Caleb Akins, Ben Borer and Marcus Marcellus of West Holt.
Click to view the entire White team roster.
White team Head Coach Bob Schnitzler will be assisted by Bill Mimick of Lindsay Holy Family, Carlie Wells of Elgin/Pope John, Joe Anderson of Oakland-Craig, Rod Brummels of Osmond and Steve Porter of Norfolk.
The White team’s roster comprises of area players: Beau Bremer, Tanner Mazour and Blake Slizoski of Boone Central/Newman Grove; Travis Kester of Clearwater/Orchard; Blake Anderson, Andrew Heithoff and Ross Schindler of Elgin/Pope John; Michael Hedlund, Derrick Hostert and Tate Laursen of O’Neill; Andrew Folkers and Carlin Krienert of Osmond; and Frank Hartley of Spalding/Spalding Academy.
Bellar, who serves as President of the Board of Directors, said more than 120 student-athletes were nominated by their head football coaches. “We are very excited to have the first teams selected to play in the Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic,’’ Bellar said. “The game will represent many of Northeast Nebraska’s best football players and quality young men.
“We think it will be a great experience for these players as well as their families. We’re also looking forward to show casing our great facility at Veterans Memorial Field as well as bringing many people into our great community on game day. This should be a great week for the players and a great event for all to enjoy.’’
The O’Neill Rotary Club’s 34th Running of the Shamrock Fun Run was held Saturday with a total of 382 registered participants, down 112 from the prior year.
Thanks to all the runners and walkers who braved the cold blustery day to participate!
Results can be found on www.allsportcentral.com under Recent Results, click on 34th Annual Shamrock Fun Run and pick your race category, and under awards change to overall for your time and to awards for age category awards. If you did not receive your medal Saturday, please contact Cindy Cole @ 402-336-1878.
Huskers Kick Off Inaugural Sand Season
The Nebraska sand volleyball team is set to begin the 2013 season this week as they travel to southern California for a string of matches from March 14-22. The complete schedule is below.
The Huskers will compete in a dual format, where the No. 1 pair from one school plays the No. 1 pair from the opposing school, No. 2 vs. No. 2 and so on and so forth. A team must win three of the five matches in order to clinch the team victory.
Nebraska Ranked Ninth in Preseason Poll
The Nebraska sand volleyball team has been ranked ninth in the AVCA Collegiate Sand Preseason Poll released on Monday. Defending champion Pepperdine starts the year ranked first. The Huskers will face six of the top 10 teams this week.
The top ten programs, as voted on by the participating institutions:
1. Pepperdine
2. Long Beach State
3. USC
4. Florida State
5. University of Hawaii
6. UCLA
7. College of Charleston
8. Florida International University
9. Nebraska
10. Stanford
Projected Teams for California
The projected pairs competing in this week’s matches are:
1. Kelsey Robinson and Alexa Strange
2. Hayley Thramer and Amber Rolfzen
3. Kadie Rolfzen and Morgan Broekhuis
4. Kelsey Fien and Cecilia Hall
5. Sheridan Zarda and Alicia Ostrander
Alternate: Meghan Haggerty
2013 Sand Schedule Date Opponent Time
March 14 Florida State 12 p.m.
at Chula Vista Olympic Training Center
March 14 Pepperdine 5 p.m.
at Chula Vista Olympic Training Center
March 15 Chula Vista Tournament 4 p.m.
(Florida State, Pepperdine, CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon)
March 16 Chula Vista Tournament 12 p.m.
(Florida State, Pepperdine, CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon)
March 19 Long Beach State TBA
Long Beach, Calif.
March 20 UC-Irvine 3 p.m.
Irvine, Calif.
March 21 Loyola Marymount 3 p.m.
Irvine, Calif.
March 21 UCLA 3 p.m.
Santa Monica, Calif. (Anneburg Beach House)
March 22 USC 12 p.m.
Los Angeles, Calif. (Merle Norman Stadium)
March 22 Hawaii 3 p.m.
Los Angeles, Calif. (Merle Norman Stadium)
NECC Lady Hawks Set For NJCAA Tournament
The Northeast Community College Lady Hawks (28-4) are the 17th seed and will take on 16th seed Weatherford College of Texas (24-5) in the first game of the tournament on Monday, March 18th at the Bicentennial Center in Salina, KS. Game time is 10 a.m.
Northeast’s seeding comes following the D1 District K Championship game on Saturday. Crowder College of Missouri defeated Northeast 75-70. Weatherford lost in the Region 5 Championship game to Midland College of Texas, 79-74.
If Northeast defeats Weatherford, it will take on top seed Trinity Valley Community College of Texas (32-1) in a second round game on Tuesday, March 19, at 2 p.m. Trinity Valley has an opening round bye.
This year’s national tournament will feature a new bracket, which includes four at-large teams, four ‘zone’ qualifiers and 16 district champions. The 24-team seeded tournament will be played at the Bicentennial Center for the 16th-consecutive season.
Girls NVC All-Conference Teams
Girls 1st Team
Name
School
Grade
Brooke Bauer
St. Mary’s
11
Bridget Schneider
St. Mary’s
10
Stephanie Bode
EPPJ
11
Chelsi Mescher
EPPJ
12
Emily Filsinger
Clearwater / Orchard
11
Katie Koenig
Ewing
10
McKenna Rossmeier
Boyd County
12
Hannah Sobotka
Boyd County
11
Girls 2nd Team
Justine Blumenstock
St. Mary’s
11
Emily Everitt
St. Mary’s
11
McKayla Eisenhauer
Niobrara / Verdigre
11
Tessa Ives
Niobrara / Verdigre
12
Riley Funk
Ewing
11
Ryann Ickes
Clearwater / Orchard
11
Kelsey Knust
Clearwater / Orchard
12
Marissa Koenig
CWC
10
Honorable Mention
Macy Ahlers
Boyd County
11
Brittany Reiman
Boyd County
12
Natalie Rihanek
Boyd County
11
Brittany Hanzlik
Stuart
10
Caitlin Kunz
Stuart
12
Jaden Schafer
Stuart
9
Laura Hynes
Ewing
12
Tami Marcellus
CWC
9
Jordan Wietzki
CWC
12
Jenna Parks
EPPJ
9
Hannah Rittscher
Clearwater / Orchard
11
Sadie Stec
North Central
11
Jamie Turpin
North Central
11
NVC Boys All-Conference Teams
Boys 1st Team
Name
School
Grade
Adam Moon
St. Mary’s
11
Ty Eiler
St. Mary’s
12
Dexter Black
Boyd County
12
Carter Camp
North Central
12
Travis Kester
Clearwater / Orchard
12
Andy Kerkman
Clearwater / Orchard
9
Jake Walton
Ewing
11
Steven LaPointe
Niobrara / Verdigre
10
Boys 2nd Team
Blake Cunningham
Ewing
11
Trevor Mlnarik
Clearwater / Orchard
10
Travis Martin
Clearwater / Orchard
12
Ross Schindler
EPPJ
12
Andrew Broders
Stuart
12
Tyler Knox
North Central
10
Eric Lechtenberg
Boyd County
12
Connor Connot
St. Mary’s
12
Honorable Mention
Robert Nordby
Ewing
11
Tad Fry
Ewing
12
Damian Summers
Ewing
12
Beau Purviance
Boyd County
12
Trevor Krugman
Boyd County
12
Trent Hoefer
EPPJ
12
Nick Heithoff
EPPJ
12
Zach Polk
EPPJ
12
Lance Vakoc
Niobrara / Verdigre
12
Brady Dierks
CWC
12
Skylar Franssen
CWC
12
Brenden Pelster
CWC
9
Trevor Ramm
Stuart
11
Alex Kunz
Stuart
10
Kyle Pardun
St. Mary’s
11
Aaron Ohri
St. Mary’s
12
Tate Schutt
Clearwater / Orchard
11
Cardinals, Other Area Athletes Named to State Tournament Teams
Several Cardinals were named to the Class D1 State Tournament Team by the Omaha World Herald and the Lincoln Journal Star.
In girls Class D1, Brook Bauer received honors from both papers, while Bridget Schneider was named to the team by the Lincoln Journal Star.
Adam Moon garnered honors from both publications in the boys division.
Here are all of the selections from classes C1-D2.
CLASS C2
Bridget Arens, Crofton
Allison Arens, Crofton
Quinn Wragge, Crofton
Daynlee Miller, Hershey
Clare Hamburger, Hastings St. Cecilia
CLASS D1
Paige Ballinger, Pender
Maggie Fillipi, Pender
Marisa Blanke, Emerson-Hubbard
Brook Bauer, St. Mary's
Abby Ortmeier, Guardian Angels CC
CLASS D2
Laurel Krohn, Osmond
Carissa Gutz, Osmond
Maggie Goltz, Falls City Sacred Heart
Maggie Schulte, Wynot
Samantha Wieseler, Wynot
Omaha World Herald
CLASS C1
Jonathan Abbott, Wahoo (captain)
Brock Stuart, Wahoo
Tyler Hedlund, Boone Central/Newman Grove
Grant Anderson, Wayne
Michael Daum, Kimball
CLASS C2
Spencer Kucera, Southern Valley (captain)
Dakota Best, Southern Valley
Austan Rath, Sutton
James Kaiser, Hartington Cedar Catholic
Cole Wiseman, Sutton
CLASS D1
Matt Gooch, Howells/Dodge (captain)
Luke Hegemann, Howells/Dodge
Cody Corfield, Paxton
Adam Moon, O'Neill St. Mary's
Nate Nelson, Burwell
CLASS D2
Jackson Sudbeck, Wynot (captain)
Kyle Bloom, Spalding/Spalding Academy
Nathan Wieseler, Wynot
Lane Barnhill, Falls City Sacred Heart
Marcus Claussen, Wausa
Lincoln Journal Star
CLASS C1
Jonathan Abbott, Wahoo
Brook Stuart, Wahoo
Derek Gentrup, Boone Central/NG
Tyler Hedlund, Boone Central/NG
Mike Daum, Kimball
CLASS C2
Austan Rath, Sutton
James Kaiser, Hartington Cedar Catholic
Spencer Kucera, Southern Valley
Dakota Best, Southern Valley
Cole Schuster, Freeman
CLASS D1
Cody Corfield, Paxton
Zachary Morland, Paxton
Luke Hegemann, Howells/Dodge
Matt Gooch, Howells/Dodge
Adam Moon, O'Neill St. Mary's
CLASS D2
Nathan Wieseler, Wynot
Jackson Sudbeck, Wynot
Kyle Bloom, Spalding/Spalding Academy
Lane Barnhill, Falls City Sacred Heart
Brennen Cruise, Leyton
DeVries Places 4th in Pentathlon During NAIA Championships
The end of February and beginning of March marks the end of the season for the college track and field indoor sports. NCAA Division I, II, and III, as well as NAIA national championships are held across the country to end the season. Erin DeVries, a graduate of Chambers High School, was one of our former area athletes to take part in a championship event. The Doane trackster qualified for and competed in the Women’s Indoor Pentathlon at the NAIA National Finals in Geneva, Ohio, which was held Feb. 28 – March 2.
The Pentathlon is a series of five events: high jump, long jump, 60 meter high hurdles, shot put and 800 meter run. Points are accrued for each event to make up the final score, so consistency is the key. DeVries found a solid level of consistency, finishing fourth overall with 3354 points. The winning score was 3751, accrued by Briana Vander Woude, a senior from Dordt College in Iowa. DeVries also had three other teammates competing in the Pentathlon, with all of them finishing in the top 10. Senior Jillian Ourada of Doane placed 2nd to lead the Tigers.
DeVries wound up in the top 10 of each event. In the first event, the 60 meter hurdles, she placed 10th with a time of 9.62 seconds. A 5 ft., 3in. leap in the high jump was good enough for a tie for 3rd with her teammate Susan Rollman. DeVries tossed the shot put 33’ 3.25” for 5th, and then picked up her best individual finish with 2nd in the long jump, a 17’ 10.75” leap. Ourada was the only athlete to beat her, doing so by a full 8 inches. Finally, Erin ran a 2:32.16 800 meter run to place 6th in that event.
DeVries helped Doane to a 4th place finish in the women’s division in the NAIA. She also helped Doane to their 3rd straight women's GPAC title las week with a 3rd place finish in the Pentathlon, and 4th place finishes in the long jump and high jump.
As chronicled earlier on KBRX, Brad Wright and Lachel Milander of Wayne State qualified for the NCAA Div. II Championships. Wright is a graduate of Ewing, and Milander comes from Pierce, with grandparents and many other relatives in the O’Neill area. Both qualified in the weight throw. The Division II Championships are held March 7-9 in Birmingham, Alabama. Both athletes’ throw times and rankings can be found further down on this page.
St. Mary's Cardinals Finish as State Runner-Up
Winning the first game in school history at State Basketball wasn't enough for the St. Mary's girls team.
The Cardinals won their way to the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Championship Saturday to play in the school's first ever title game. In what was the final game of the night at Devaney, St. Mary's fell to Pender in a well fought battle, 42-36. Pender jumped out to an early lead with the help of a strong post game, and St. Mary's played from behind nearly the whole game. The Cardinals were able to chip back, eventually taking a lead late in the 3rd period. Several seconds into the 4th quarter, however, the Cards lost the lead for good, as Pender went on a 7-0 run during the final seven minutes. Pender won their first ever girls championship, after finishing 3rd last year and 2nd in 2011.
St. Mary's had a very good outing in Lincoln in a tough D1 field. With the top 2 seeds being wild card teams, D1 had the makings of being an exciting tournament. The Cardinals came in as a 4 seed, and matched up with #5 Sutherland in the first game. St. Mary's made adjustments after going down early, and with a run in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, won 52-34. In the school's third trip to State, 2013's Cardinals were the first to play a Friday game. Guardian Angels CC of West Point was the next opponent. One of the best teams in the State, GACC was coming off of an 83-28 drubbing of Arapahoe. The Cards had the hot hand early, jumping out to a 14-5 lead. Guardian Angels kept the game from getting out of hand despite a cold shooting night with great pressure defense, forcing 24 St. Mary's turnovers. But the Cardinals were able to hold a consistent 5-10 point lead throughout, hit some big shots, and in the end make enough free throws to down the #1 seed GACC.
The Cardinals finish the year with a 24-3 record. Only one senior, Jessi Pongratz, will be departing.
With St. Mary's making it into the State Tournament this year, the NVC continues a strong tradition of girls basketball. The Niobrara Valley Conference has been represented for 13 straight years now by a variety of teams from the area. The last time the NVC was not represented at State was 2000. Even so, O'Neill, Elkhorn Valley and Petersburg qualified that year, giving our part of the state a strong showing. Other than 2000, the NVC's tradition of having at least one team qualify for state stretches at least back into the 1980's and possibly further, with a number of championships and trophies coming back to our area.
Area Athletes Qualify for Nationals at WSC
Wayne, Neb. --- The Wayne State College indoor track and field team has five national qualifiers in six events for next weekend’s NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama March 7-9. The official qualifying list for the national meet was announced today by NCAA as the Wildcat men have one national qualifier with the women’s team earning four national qualifiers in five events.
Brad Wright, a senior from Ewing, is the lone Wildcat men’s qualifier and will compete in the weight throw on Thursday, March 7th at 7 p.m. He is ranked 16th in NCAA Division II in the weight throw after recording a season-best mark of 59’ 2” to place second and earn All-NSIC honors at last weekend’s NSIC Indoor Championships in Mankato, Minnesota.
Lachel Milander, a senior from Pierce, has qualified for the weight throw and will compete on Thursday, March 7th at 4 p.m. She is ranked 12th in NCAA Division II after recording a top throw of 60’ 6 ¾” last weekend at the NSIC Indoor Championships in Mankato, resulting in a second place finish and All-NSIC honors. She is the granddaughter of Earl and Norma Strong of O'Neill.
Emily Wells, a junior from Albion, ranks 16th in the weight throw after recording a season high toss of 58’9 ½” at the Concordia invitational on February 8th. She will compete at nationals on Thursday, March 7th at 4 p.m.
Sara Wells, a sophomore from Albion, has qualified in the shot put that will take place on Friday, March 8th at 3:30 p.m. She is ranked 5th nationally entering the event after throwing 48’ 4 ¾” at the South Dakota Open on February 15th. Sara Wells earned All-NSIC Honors with a third place finish at last weekend’s NSIC Indoor Championships in Mankato.
Eagle Grapplers End Season at State Duals
The O’Neill wrestlers were one of eight Class C teams qualifying for the first annual NSAA State Dual Championships in Kearney this past weekend. The Eagles came in as the sixth seed in the bracket. The qualification and seeding was determined using a formula which included the number of points scored in the district tournament, combined with the number of entries and state qualifiers. This outcome pitted the Eagles against the 3rd seed, rival Valentine in the first round. The Eagles were dealt a blow before the tournament began as state medalist Joe Gillham came down with illness in the middle of the week. Without the ability to practice Gillham was far less then 100% and unable to weigh-in at his usual weight class of 113lbs. "Not having Joe at full strength and down at 113 put us at a serious disadvantage. We came in having to spot everyone in the tournament 12 points, that's tough to overcome," commented Coach Corkle. "I'm not sure people gave us much of a chance when they looked at the match-ups to begin with, then when we had to shuffle the line-up the way we did and spot everyone 12, we were clearly a long shot. But, that's the funny thing about competition, you get kids to step up, grab some momentum… It’s a credit to these kids.”
With the dual starting at 145 lbs, Valentine jumped out to an early 12 to 0 lead with pins from 3 time state champion Marcus Nelson and state medalist Tristan Eklund. O’Neill came storming back with falls from state medalists Tate Laursen and David Fox. O’Neill then grabbed the lead for good with a major decision by Spencer Knopp and never looked back. The drama was high in a swing match at 195 lbs. where sophomore Zach Storjohann was able to come away with a pin. It continued when Valentine moved their state medalist from 195 lbs, Cory Assarson up to wrestle Thomas Schipporeit. Assarson jumped out to an early lead and looked to have the match in hand before Schipporeit lateral dropped the Valentine wrestler to his back in the third period for a fall. “Valentine had the ability to make some moves that looked to really give them an advantage on paper. I think a lot of people thought they could steal matches at 195 and 220 and it seemed like a sound game plan, but as they say, these things don’t get wrestled out on paper and our guys really stepped up. Zach and Tom’s pins were huge,” commented assistant coach Dan Fernau. After a pin at heavyweight for Valentine and the two forfeits by O’Neill at 106 lbs. and a 113 lbs. O’Neill sent Joe Gillham out for his one and only match of the day. Recovering from illness, Gillham did exactly what he had to do scoring a decision over Valentines Cameron Parrett. This allowed O’Neill to move Jon Marvin up to avenge a previous loss on the season with a fall over Trevor Bukaske. “Those two performances, by Gillham and Marvin, they’ll give you goose-bumps. We’ll be talking about those for awhile,” commented assistant Coach Tyler Cole. Those two matches were the start of an exclamation point finish for the Eagles as O’Neill won the last four matches of the dual.
The celebration was to end abruptly as O’Neill dropped their semifinals match-up to eventual champion Madison 40-19. Coach Corkle summed it up in saying, “We didn’t have any margin for error in any of these duals, but especially this one. They were able to keep us out of the bonus points (wins by major decision, technical fall, or pin) and came up with some victories in the key swing matches. We just weren’t up to the task and they were. It’s a credit to them and their coaches.” Junior Dion Nemec turned in one highlight of the dual with his victory over Caleb Haskell. The two wrestlers had been back and forth all year with the Eagle notching the victory in the final matchup of the season.
In the third place bout O’Neill faced off against David City. Tyler Cole talked about the feelings leading into that dual, “The bout with Madison took the wind out of our sails a little bit. We couldn’t afford to hang our heads, as coaches we just wanted to get the message across to our guys that the only fitting way to honor the season we had was to end it with a victory.” The Eagles were up to the challenge O’Neill started by winning the first three matches. David City battled back tying the dual up after eight matches. O’Neill then took control for good winning five of the last six bouts for third place honors. Sophmore Ty Sawyer was able to see his first action of the day notching a victory by fall in the final match of the dual.
The Eagles were led by Blake Walters, David Fox, Spencer Knopp who all finished 3-0 on the day.
Bradley Wright Sets WSC Record in Shot Put
Brad Wright set a new school record in the shot put and hit NCAA provisional marks in two events Friday evening the fifteeth of February at the South Dakota Open indoor track and field meet at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion while Wildcat runners competed Friday evening at the Nebraska Tuneup Open in Lincoln.
Wright, a senior from Ewing, had a stellar night for the Wildcats, setting a new school record in the shot put with an NCAA provisional mark of 52' 6 ¾” to place fifth in the event. The old school record was 52' 5 ½” set by Randy Ditter in 1985. He also achieved an NCAA provisional mark in the weight throw placing third at 57' ¼”.
Wayne State will compete at the Northern Sun Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in Mankato, Minnesota February 22 and 23.
Area Boasts 1 Champion, 12 Medalists at State Wrestling
Twelve of our area wrestlers medalled at the State Wrestling Championships this weekend in Omaha. Wrestlers from O'Neill, West Holt, Neligh-Oakdale and Plainview were all able to find the podium on Saturday afternoon. Josh Coyle of West Holt brought home the area's gold medal with a 6-3 decision win in the finals, capping of a 33-2 junior season. O'Neill and Plainview each put three wrestlers in the finals, all of whom had to settle for the silver medal, despite wrestling well. In addition, O'Neill was able to bring home a team trophy, placing second in Class C to Central City. The Eagles took the lead early due to contributions from every team member, and did not relinquish it until Friday night's semifinal round, where the Bison were able to get a good push in the team race. The Eagles finished 19.5 points behind the Bison in the team standings. Plainview was also able to claim third place in the Class D team race with 90 points. Overall, 12 of the 34 area qualifiers made it to Saturday's medal rounds. Congratulations to all of our area wrestlers on competing well and representing the area at State. Check out the State Wrestling Page for all of the results from Omaha.
34 Wrestlers Qualify for State
Thirty-four area wrestlers from eight schools have qualified for the Nebraska State Championships. State Wrestling, which will be held at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, begins Thursday morning at 9:30. To qualify for State, wrestlers must place in the top four in their weight class at districts. Area schools were divided into three districts this year. O’Neill and Creighton/Verdigre were sent to the C-2 District at Wisner. West Holt made the long haul to Oxford (Southern Valley) to join the C-4 District, and O/C, EPPJ, Plainview, North Central, and Elkhorn Valley joined host Neligh-Oakdale in the D-2 District. Here is the breakdown on schools with State qualifiers.
Individual qualifiers:
O'Neill - Joe Gillham, Jon Marvin, Dion Nemec, Blake Walters, Cory Rowse, Tate Laursen, David Fox, Spencer Knopp, Thomas Shipporeit
Creighton/Verdigre - Garret Zimmerer, Eli Schreier, Braden Forker
West Holt: Cole Gibbens, Trey Rossman, Josh Coyle, and Caleb Akins.
Plainview - Tayven Sauser, Dylan Moore, Taylor Sauser, Tyan Boyer, Corby Forbes, Evan Aschoff, Tony Steinkraus, Tyson Bolling
Neligh-Oakdale - Kyle Wilkinson, Garrett Allemang, Viktor Jonseth, Connor Bentley, Chad Henn
EPPJ - Ryan Pelster, Andrew Fangman, Shane Beckman
Clearwater/Orchard - Shane Willats
North Central - Justin Dearmont
Results for all of our area wrestlers that competed at districts can be found on the Pinnacle Bank Scoreboard.
Classes A and D will wrestle in the early sessions, starting at 9:30 AM each day, with classes B and C beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, and 12:30 p.m. on Friday. The big Friday night semifinal round will involve all classes at 5 p.m. This round will be broadcasted live on KBRX. Finally, Championship Saturday begins at 9:30 a.m. with the consolations. The Championship round will commence at 3 p.m.
KBRX will have full wrestling coverage as always, with updates on the radio every hour (usually at half past the hour) throughout the day Thursday and Friday. Our broadcast on Friday night will start around 5 p.m. depending on who is scheduled to wrestle, with Kevin Young joining Mark Moser in the booth to call the action. Updates will be aired throughout the day Saturday. Full coverage will also be provided right here on our website.
Hedlund, Marcellus To Continue Football Careers
As the excitement of following the Husker (and major college football) recruiting season dies down after the National Signing Day, we turn the spotlight upon two area football players who have made plans to continue their careers at the next level. Michael Hedlund, a senior at O’Neill High, committed several weeks ago to play for the Concordia Bulldogs in Seward. Marcus Marcellus of West Holt also signed his Letter Of Intent to play for the Northern State Wolves, located in Aberdeen, SD.
Michael Hedlund capped off his career at OHS with a bounce-back year after missing most of his junior year due to injury. Helping the Eagles to a State Playoff berth, the senior was an impact player at multiple facets of the game, starting at quarterback, kicker and punter. As a quarterback, Hedlund completed 61 of 94 passes for 854 yards and 12 touchdowns, while rushing for 342 yards on 83 carries, tacking on another 9 TDs. He took care of the ball with only 3 turnovers. As a kicker, Hedlund was outstanding at pinning opponents back, pounding away 25 touchbacks out of his 38 kickoffs, while helping his coverage team allow only 6.8 yds per return. He also hit three of six field goals on the year with a long of 41 yds. As a punter, he averaged nearly 34 yards on his 25 punts. Again he helped his coverage team, only allowing 83 return yards the entire year. Hedlund had several offers to play either quarterback or kicker in Nebraska, but ultimately chose to become a Bulldog. The 6-1, 185 pound Hedlund signed with Concordia as the only quarterback in coach Vance Winter’s recruiting class.
Coach Brock Eichelberger stated, “Michael is a fierce competitor with "no quit" mentality! He continued to overcome adversity over and over throughout his career battling many injuries. He was a great leader for our team this season helping reach the play-offs for the first time in 16 years with a 6-3 season. Michael is ready to write the next chapter in his athletic career and he will be a great asset next year for Concordia's football team.”
Marcus Marcellus finished off an accomplished career at West Holt High School by helping lead the Huskies into the second round of the C-2 playoffs. The Honorable Mention All-State pick from both the Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha World Herald also was named to the First Team All-Area and C2-6 All District Team. In the meantime, he finished his career as a four time Academic All-State pick. As a defensive lineman, Marcus put up 50 tackles (10 tackles for loss), two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries for the Huskies, despite the fact that teams would try to run away from his side. Although many of the teams West Holt played featured ground oriented offenses, Marcellus also managed to tab six sacks on the year from his defensive end spot. He finished his defensive career with 72 tackles, ten sacks and 22 tackles for loss. While offensive linemen don’t put up many stats, Marcellus also helped anchor an offensive line that paved the way for C-2’s leading rusher. The 6-4, 230 pound lineman will become just the third Nebraskan on coach Tom Dosch’s Northern State team.
Head Coach Steve Neptune commented, "We are extremely proud of Marcus and his accomplishments especially after sitting out his entire Junior year."
KBRX congratulates these two athletes on their careers and wishes them luck in the college game.
The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat: NVC Style
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The Boyd County Girls upset St. Mary's for the NVC Championship.
The O/C Cyclones won a hard fought 3rd place victory in the NVC Consolation.
4th place in the NVC is still something to smile about, as the EPPJ girls pose.
The St. Mary's Cardinals make it back-to-back NVC Championships.
The O/C boys played a good one, but have to settle for 2nd.
Ewing played a good NVC Tournament, shown here flourishing the 3rd place plaque.
In a tough boys division, CWC brought home the 4th place hardware.
Some highlights from the NVC Basketball Tournament in Atkinson
NE Nebraska All-Star Classic Announces Coaches, Team Boundaries
Coaches have been selected and team boundaries have been established for the first Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic, which will be played on June 8, 2013 at Norfolk’s Veteran’s Memorial Park.
Retired National Hall of Fame football coach Bob Schnitzler of Battle Creek will coach the White team and long-time Northeast Nebraska area football coach Rich Rethwisch of Wayne will coach the Red team.
Mike Fuehrer, Sports Development Manager for the Norfolk Area Sports Council said the All-Star Classic Board of Directors unanimously approved both head coaches at a recent meeting. “We are truly humbled to have Bob and Rich represent the All-Star Classic Red and White teams for our inaugural game,’’ Fuehrer said. “Both of these coaches have spent lifetimes mentoring football players and are champions all of us can be proud of.’’
Fuehrer said Schnitzler will be assisted by Bill Mimick of Lindsay Holy Family, Carlie Wells of Elgin/Pope John, Joe Anderson of Oakland-Craig, Rod Brummels of Osmond and Steve Porter of Norfolk.
Rethwisch will be assisted by Jeff Jensen of Creighton, Jeff Bellar of Norfolk Catholic, Tim Kassmeier of Norfolk Catholic, Greg Warneke of Pierce and Doug Konopasek of Niobrara/Verdigre.
Neither Schnitzler nor Rethwisch are active football coaches. “Bob has given so much to high school football,’’ Fuehrer said. “He was the first one everyone on the board of directors acknowledged. And, Rich, has given 37 years of his life coaching area athletes. The idea of having an all-star football game was initially his.
“The Board of Directors are simply laying the foundation for what we think will be a top-notch event. In the future, we’ll have a nomination process to name both all-star coaching staffs, which will include assistant coaches from our area schools. They are deserving, too.’’
Fuehrer also said the Board of Directors voted to name the teams Red and White and broke down the teams from a pool of 59 high school squads representing the greater Northeast Nebraska area.
The Red team will consist of nominated players from the following football teams: Allen, Bloomfield, Boyd County, Creighton, Crofton, Emerson-Hubbard, Hartington, Hartington Cedar Catholic, Homer, Laurel-Concord/Coleridge, Lutheran High Northeast, Macy, Newcastle, Niobrara/Verdigre, Norfolk Catholic, O’Neill St. Mary’s, Pender, Pierce, Ponca, Randolph, Santee, South Sioux City, Stuart, Wakefield, Walthill, Wayne, Wausa, West Holt, Winside, Winnebago and Wynot.
The White team will consist of nominated players representing the following football teams: Bancroft-Rosalie, Battle Creek, Boone Central/Newman Grove, CWS Chambers/Wheeler Central, Clarkson/Leigh, Clearwater/Orchard, Elgin/Pope John, Elkhorn Valley, Guardian Angels Central Catholic, Howells-Dodge, Humphrey, Humphrey St. Francis, Lindsay Holy Family, Logan View, Lyons-Decatur Northeast, Madison, Neligh-Oakdale, Norfolk, Oakland-Craig, O’Neill/Ewing, Osmond, Plainview, Scribner-Snyder, Spalding/Spalding Academy, Stanton, Tekamah-Herman, West Point-Beemer and Wisner-Pilger.
Bellar, who’s Norfolk Catholic teams have won the past three Class C1 state championships, and who serves as President of the Board of Directors, said more than120 student-athletes of been nominated by their head football coaches. “The next step is for both the Red and White coaching staffs to evaluate nominated players,’’ Bellar said. “A lot of that work will be done in upcoming weeks.
“Then, hopefully by March 1st we’ll announce who will be playing on each team and their probable positions. We know we’ll have to make some adjustments as we go.’’
“We have a lot of work to do between now and June 8,’’ Bellar said. “Faith Regional Health Services of Norfolk is our Title Sponsor. We’re in the process of adding additional sponsors as we build momentum. We want this game to be a signature event all of our coaches, athletes, volunteers and football fans throughout Northeast Nebraska can be very proud of.’’
Did you know that there is a town called Mascot in Nebraska? Apparently, there is (or used to be). It is located in Harlan County and used to have a school. The mascot of Mascot was the Eagles. Did you know that Farnam was the only school in the nation known to have their mascot name at the time?
This fall we began down memory lane, coming up with names of all of the small towns in our area we could think of. As entertained as we were by the few towns in our area, we turned to the HuskerlandPreps message boards to tap the knowledge of folks across the state, asking about the history in their areas. It took off, and a huge list of Nebraska history was compiled.
We decided to post the list here. To see the entire thing, please click on the title of this article to open it up.
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman has accepted an invitation to be the featured speaker at the inaugural Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic Banquet on Friday night, June 7.
Gov. Heineman is a well-known sports enthusiast. In fact, he regularly attends high school and college sporting events.
Although the Girls’ team only qualified one person for the State Track Meet, several personal bests were performed during the day.
Leading the Eagles was the 4 x 800 relay team. In the 4 x 800 the boy’s team earned top honors with a time of 8:21.29. They beat the district favorite Blair by eight seconds. The 4 x 800 team consisted of Michael Hedlund, Charley Burtwistle, Tyson Hostert, and Derrick Hostert. The team is seated in the top 8 times going into the state meet.
Nebraska great Tommie Frazier is among 14 players and coaches who are part of the 2013 College Football Hall of Fame class. This year’s list of inductees was announced on Tuesday in New York City by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.
With outstanding performances by several lady eagles, the junior high track team won the Ainsworth Invite to finish the season undefeated. Seventh grade pole vaulter, Mikayla Marvin, placed 1st in pole vault going 8 ft. for her best vault this season and also placed 3rd in the 100 m hurdles and 4th in the 195 hurdles. Other hurdler Allison Becker placed 4th in the 100 m hurdlers then won the triple jump by breaking her own record with a leap of 30’11 ¾”, and placed 2nd in the high jump. Aurora Gutshall fell in the 100 m hurdles, but still finished in 6th place then later in the day she placed 2nd in the 195 hurdles. Tori Wendell had another successful day taking 1st place in the long jump and 200, placing 2nd in the 100, and anchored the 4x100 relay with team members Sabrina Fox, Sam Eichelberger, and Allison Becker. The 4 x 200 relay team of Fox, Briuanna Parks, Kadra Sommersted, and Morgan Fowler won 1st place. Sabrina Fox also placed 2nd in the 200 m dash and finished 3rd in the 8th grade 100. Sam Eichelberger and Bruianna Parks finished in 2nd and 3rd respectively in the 7th grade 100 m dash. Parks and Eichelberger both placed in the long jump with Parks getting 5th and Eichelberger in 6th. Andrea Bennett, Marissa Lichty, Aurora Gutshall and Mikayla Marvin took 3rd place in the 4x400 relay. In the weight events, Emma Krysl placed 1st in the 7th grade shot put and Haley Schmeichel placed 4th. For the 8th grade Emily Morrow placed 2nd with Serena Davis getting 4th. Emily Morrow also placed 3rd in the 8th discus throwing 77’2” for her best effort this season. In the 7th grade discus Gabbie Scott finished in 3rd with her teammate Amanda Brown in 4th place. Other placers at the meet were pole vault -Alexa Dougherty in 5th, and Gabbie Scott 6th; 8th Long jump- Allison Ludwig 5th. 
A native of Littleton, Colo., Pollmiller produced a record-breaking freshman campaign as the 2011 SEC Freshman of the Year. She was just the second Lady Vol to be named the AVCA All-South Region Freshman of the Year. Pollmiller also earned second-team All-SEC and honorable-mention All-America accolades from the AVCA. She rewrote the Tennessee record books, setting single-season marks in assists (1,480) and assists per set (11.94). Pollmiller led all NCAA freshmen in assists per set, while ranking fourth in the nation and first in the conference. She was the team’s starting setter in all 32 matches, playing in all 124 sets. She also earned SEC Freshman-of-the-Week honors a league-best five times, which was the second-most in SEC history.
LINCOLN, Neb. – Brett Kaczor and Mallory Shanahan were named the Nebraska Wesleyan University Senior Outstanding Athletes for the 2012-13 school year at the NWU Student-Athlete Appreciation night. Kaczor, a member of the football team, was the Male Outstanding Senior Athlete while Shanahan, a member the women’s basketball team, was the Female Outstanding Senior Athlete.
Unfortunately, last night we found out that Ewing's Hayley Thramer suffere an injury that will end her Husker volleyball career. Hayley has been a force in the middle for Nebraska over the last couple of years, and has ranked near the top of the Big Ten in blocking for the last two season. We hope Hayley can recover soon. Here is the official statement from the University of Nebraska.
Wayne, Neb. --- Wayne State College head track and field coach Marlon Brink announced today that Cassidy Tinsley-Hanika of Omaha, Tessa Ives from Verdigre and Jessica Pongratz of O’Neill have either signed letters of intent or committed to compete for the Wildcats and continue their track and field careers and attend Wayne State College in the 2013-14 academic year. The three join Mary Alderson from Fremont Bergan (sprinter), Michael Dendinger of Coleridge (throws), Andrea DeSimone from Plattsmouth (distance), Emily Kaup of Stuart (mid-distance), Cristina Murillo of Bertrand (distance) and Aryn Smidt of West Point-Beemer (dstance) as members of the 2013 women’s track recruiting class.
Lincoln – A pinch-hit home run from Blake Headley in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled the Nebraska baseball team (16-19, 8-4 Big Ten) to a 4-2 win over the No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks (25-14, 9-6 SEC) in game two of Tuesday’s doubleheader, securing a sweep for the Huskers after three Huskers pitchers tossed a combined no-hitter in 3-0 game one win.
In the jumps, O'Neill was led by sophomore McKenzie Adamson who placed 4th in the triple jump and 5th in the long jump. McKenzie leaped 13-3 in the long jump and 29-6.5 in the triple. Teammate Alex Atkins placed 4th in the long jump with a 14-0.75 jump and 5th in the triple with a leap of 28-4.
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Three Chadron State College contestants were event winners at the Colorado State University rodeo in Fort Collins over the weekend.
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The Northeast Community College Lady Hawks (28-4) are the 17th seed and will take on 16th seed Weatherford College of Texas (24-5) in the first game of the tournament on Monday, March 18th at the Bicentennial Center in Salina, KS. Game time is 10 a.m.
The end of February and beginning of March marks the end of the season for the college track and field indoor sports. NCAA Division I, II, and III, as well as NAIA national championships are held across the country to end the season. Erin DeVries, a graduate of Chambers High School, was one of our former area athletes to take part in a championship event. The Doane trackster qualified for and competed in the Women’s Indoor Pentathlon at the NAIA National Finals in Geneva, Ohio, which was held Feb. 28 – March 2.
Brad Wright set a new school record in the shot put and hit NCAA provisional marks in two events Friday evening the fifteeth of February at the South Dakota Open indoor track and field meet at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion while Wildcat runners competed Friday evening at the Nebraska Tuneup Open in Lincoln.
Marcus Marcellus finished off an accomplished career at West Holt High School by helping lead the Huskies into the second round of the C-2 playoffs. The Honorable Mention All-State pick from both the Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha World Herald also was named to the First Team All-Area and C2-6 All District Team. In the meantime, he finished his career as a four time Academic All-State pick. As a defensive lineman, Marcus put up 50 tackles (10 tackles for loss), two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries for the Huskies, despite the fact that teams would try to run away from his side. Although many of the teams West Holt played featured ground oriented offenses, Marcellus also managed to tab six sacks on the year from his defensive end spot. He finished his defensive career with 72 tackles, ten sacks and 22 tackles for loss. While offensive linemen don’t put up many stats, Marcellus also helped anchor an offensive line that paved the way for C-2’s leading rusher. The 6-4, 230 pound lineman will become just the third Nebraskan on coach Tom Dosch’s Northern State team.
Coaches have been selected and team boundaries have been established for the first Northeast Nebraska All-Star Football Classic, which will be played on June 8, 2013 at Norfolk’s Veteran’s Memorial Park.
