LONG BEACH, Calif. — Nicklin Hames and Lauren Stivrins earned Nebraska’s lone point as the Huskers dropped a pair of matches Saturday at the Belmont Shore Challenge.
No. 14 Stanford swept the Huskers 5-0, while Washington claimed a 4-1 win. The Huskers finished the season 12-12.
Hames and Stivrins defeated Washington’s Destiny Julye and Kristen Gengenbacher 21-18, 21-19 in the No. 1 match.
At No. 3, Madi Kubik and Mari Kurkova took Cat McCoy and Samantha Drechsel to three sets but fell 19-21, 22-20, 15-13.
Hayley Densberger and Anezka Szabo won their first set at No. 4, 21-18. But Washington’s Kyra Peterson and Emma Calle rallied to win the second set 21-11 and claimed a 15-11 win in the third.
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Decorated college and high school football and wrestling star. High school teacher, coach and administrator. But Charles Bryant was foremost a pioneer. Bryant, an all-state athlete at Omaha South before graduating in 1950, became the first black football player of the modern era at Nebraska in 1952.
George Flippin was once described by Lincoln Star sports editor Cy Sherman as a “charged bull, into which was bred the tenacity of the bulldog, the ferocity of the tiger and the gameness of the man who knows no fear.” He was Nebraska’s first black athlete, in 1891, before black athletes were banned by the university from 1917 until the late 1940s.
Shelby, Nebraska, is one of the flattest towns in one of the flattest states in America. The elevation difference between the highest and lowest points is 7 feet. It is literally a town without a hill, one of the last places you’d expect to produce an Olympic gold medalist in bobsled. But that didn’t stop Tomasevicz.
Rhodes did it all. The Ansley native held three state high school track records at the same time (vault, long jump, high jump); was player-coach of Ansley’s first football team in 1920, which went undefeated that season; helped Ansley win a pair of state basketball titles; and played baseball. After graduating from high school in 1922, Rhodes went on to earn eight varsity letters at Nebraska — three in football and track, and two in baseball.
Ruud is Nebraska’s all-time leading tackler with 432 stops. As a senior captain in 2004, he was a third-third All-American, a first-team All-Big 12 performer and NU’s defensive MVP. He was selected in the second round of the NFL draft. Ruud played eight NFL seasons, leading Tampa Bay in tackles for four of those.
Skinny 14-year-old Geddes left his father, eight brothers and eight sisters in Jacksonville, Florida, and arrived at Boys Town in 1962. Geddes had played football just once before arriving but took such a beating in a sandlot game against older players that he didn’t plan to play again. But Boys Town coach Skip Palrang spotted him and talked him into giving it a try. He eventually thrived and helped the Cowboys win a state title.
The 1978 Holdrege graduate turned down multiple scholarship offers from other schools, including a football and track package from Iowa State, to walk on with the Nebraska football team. The 150-pound walk-on became an integral part of the Husker offense. The three-year starter ranked in the top 10 in receptions and yards by the time he left in 1982.
While a career in the NBA never materialized for the Omaha Benson and Iowa graduate, Woolridge played overseas for 13 years. Leagues in Turkey, France, Germany, Venezuela, Israel and Cyprus. And the money was good. “To do what I loved professionally for 13 years, I can’t complain about it,” he said in 2013.
Louise Pound, in so many fields, was the trailblazer for women’s athletics in the state. And this while becoming a preeminent educator in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln English department over a half-century. In 1890, Pound won the Lincoln city tennis championship. She captured the university’s men’s singles and doubles titles in 1891 and 1892 — the only female in school history to receive a men’s varsity letter.
Once the last player to survive the cut on Nebraska’s recruiting board, Noonan ultimately became a household Husker name. He earned first-team All-America honors and was named the Big Eight athlete of the year as a senior. His 12 sacks that season are tied for third in school history, and his 24 career sacks are tied for fourth.
One press clipping described Hopp, a first baseman and outfielder, as “a dynamo who, perhaps more than anyone else, typifies the dashing, hell-for-leather play” of the St. Louis Cardinals. Hopp’s 14-year career spanned five teams and as many World Series appearances, including back-to-back World Series victories with the Yankees. In all, he won four World Series and was an All-Star in 1946, when he hit .333 and drove in 48 runs for the Boston Braves.
Hare picked Nebraska from a slew of offers after starting for four years for Omaha Tech, where he averaged 26.4 points a game as a senior in 1963. Tech won the Class A title that year after going 22-2 and cruising through the state tournament by an average of 21 points a game. That team was voted into the Omaha Sports Hall of Fame and recently was chosen as having one of the best starting fives in Nebraska high school sports history.
Osborne remains just one of two men to win The World-Herald’s high school (1955) and state college (1959) athlete of the year awards. In high school, Osborne was all-state in football and basketball in 1954-55 and helped Hastings win a state title on the hardwood. In track, he won the discus at the state meet and placed second in the 440-yard dash. The future coach and congressman also stood out on the baseball diamond and had a pro football career.
As a junior, Henry won golds for Bellevue West in the 200, 400 and long jump. Henry went on to set a national age-group record in the long jump and was part of the USA Junior World Team in 1995. At Nebraska, Henry won the NCAA indoor and outdoor long jump titles in 1996. All told, Henry was a three-time Big 12 champion and a 10-time All-American.
Kindig-Malone won gold medals at state in the long jump, hurdles and relays, but it wasn’t until she started getting scholarship offers from UCLA, Iowa and NU that she realized she might be good. Later, she won Big Eight heptathlon and pentathlon titles at Nebraska, becoming an All-American and helping the Huskers win their first indoor national championship in 1982. Kindig-Malone also won a Class C state basketball title with Hastings St. Cecilia in 1977.
Sauer and Bernie Masterson — No. 43 on the Nebraska 100 — paired together in the backfield to usher in one of the first great runs for Husker football. The two led Nebraska to Big Six championships in 1931, ’32 and ’33, when the Huskers went undefeated in league play. Sauer was an All-American in 1933 for the second-ranked Huskers. He also lettered in track, baseball and wrestling.
Cantwell, from Crete, won four straight Class B shot put and discus titles, including three consecutive all-class gold medals in the shot. She was a two-time NCAA shot put champion at SMU and was the 2002 U.S. indoor and outdoor champion as well as a 1999 world indoor bronze medalist. Cantwell also competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
A two-way football player even during his professional career with Green Bay, Charles Brock helped revolutionize the linebacker position in the pros while helping the Packers win two NFL championships. The Columbus native was recalled as a fierce competitor by the late Lee Remmel, a team historian who covered the Packers for nearly 30 years.
The image of Cory Schlesinger barreling into the end zone for the winning touchdown in the 1995 Orange Bowl burns brightly in the memories of Nebraska football fans. Schlesinger did some barreling in his day, but prided himself on being a bruiser. That trait served him well, especially in his 12 years with the Detroit Lions.
Schmidt represented the U.S. in the 2008 Olympics in the 800. Four years later, she returned to run the 800 and 1,500. The Olympic appearances are accompanied by plenty of other honors: a 2006 U.S. indoor 800 championship; a pair of U.S. outdoor silvers in the 800 (2006, 2008); and while with the North Carolina Tar Heels, two outdoor 800 titles and a distance-medley relay championship.
Mann was a jack of all trades, but a master of all of them, too. “Les did everything well. He was tops at football, basketball, track and baseball. He would have been equally great in other sports,” said Mann’s close friend, Scott Dye, in a newspaper account following Mann’s 1962 death in a car accident.
Dan Brand’s path to an Olympic wrestling medal was anything but typical. He competed in football, basketball and track at Bellevue High, but never was all-conference. He made the Nebraska freshman team in basketball, but after being cut, he signed up for the intramural wrestling tournament. He won and went on to compete in the Olympics.
Vinciquerra played football at Tech High and Creighton University, but is better remembered for making the 1936 U.S. Olympic boxing team. A natural heavyweight, he won a national Golden Gloves championship that year as a 175-pounder. He had a pro record of 42 wins (26 by knockout), four losses and five draws from 1937 through 1941, fighting over 20 times in 1937.
Skinner won two high school state golf titles, two junior state championships and the 1980 state match-play crown. She went to Oklahoma State, where she was a two-time Big Eight champion and was named Golf Magazine’s 1982 college player of the year. On the LPGA Tour, Skinner won events in 1985, ’86, ’87, ’93, ’94 and ’95 before leaving in 2003.
Woohead rushed for the second-most yards (7,962) in the history of college football in all divisions and won the Harlon Hill Trophy (Division II’s version of the Heisman) twice. He finished his NFL career with 2,238 yards and 15 touchdowns rushing, along with 2,698 yards and 17 touchdowns receiving.
As a senior in 1985, Rathman produced the best season ever by a Husker fullback. He ran for 881 yards, a position record by 164 yards. He went on to win two Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers in a nine-year NFL career. In 1989, he led NFC running backs with 73 catches, and he capped the season with two touchdowns in a Super Bowl victory over Denver.
Losing was something Olson never dealt with at Omaha Northwest, going 27-0 with a 0.76 ERA, 276 strikeouts, seven no-hitters — including four in the state playoffs and one in the state championship game — and four state titles before playing at Auburn and being drafted fourth overall in the 1988 MLB draft.
Stecher won the world wrestling championship on July 5, 1915, in Omaha, beating Charlie Cutler in two falls at Rourke Park in front of 15,000 fans. Stecher wore a championship belt studded with 308 diamonds. He became a celebrity across Nebraska. In 1920, he reportedly earned a winner’s purse of $40,000 — four times what Babe Ruth earned the year before.
As a senior, Jones earned all-state honors in football as a halfback and then as a point guard, helping Boys Town win the Class A state basketball championship. But where he really excelled was track. He was the state champion in the mile run, became an All-American at Iowa and was a two-time Olympian.
The first woman from Nebraska to make the U.S. Olympic team, Frost competed in the discus at the 1968 Mexico City Games. In June 2015, at the age of 70, Frost set one world (javelin) and two American records (shot put, discus) for the 70-74 age group. She already owned two USA Track and Field age group records in the discus — 60-64 and 65-69.
Schonewise had been a three-sport star at Bertrand High School, earning All-Nebraska honors in volleyball and basketball while winning state titles in the 100-meter low hurdles in 1981 and 1982. She helped Nebraska reach its first national title game in 1986 and won the Honda-Broderick Award, the Heisman Trophy of volleyball, in 1987.
Scott Frost — a Parade All-American in football and a state champion shot-putter in track at Wood River — battled through criticism to lead the Huskers to the 1997 national title. He became the first NU quarterback to accumulate more than 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 passing yards in the same season.
Nicknamed “The Burr Oak” after his hometown, Steinkuhler rode a strong work ethic when he enrolled at Nebraska in 1979 as a freshman. In practices, he prided himself on finishing first in running drills. The effort paid off. Steinkuhler was a starter at guard for Husker teams that were never ranked lower than eighth in his junior or senior years. In his final season, he became one of only 13 players to win both the Lombardi and Outland — the most prestigious awards given to college lineman — and his No. 71 jersey became one of only 17 to ever be retired at Nebraska.
Hokuf was twice All-Nebraska in football and basketball and state pentathlon champion at Crete High; three-time all-conference in football at Nebraska; two-time All-Big Six in basketball for the Huskers and a charter member of the school’s basketball hall of fame; the 1933 Big Six javelin champion while scoring in three events; played three years in the NFL with the Boston Redskins. Not to mention his versatility for the Husker football team.
Roland “Gip” Locke was called the “greatest of all time” by his coach, Henry Schulte — and for good reason. Locke held world records in the 100 and 220 (20.5 seconds on May 1, 1926). He went on to become the NCAA outdoor champion in both the 100 (9.9) and the 220 (20.9) in 1926. He captained the NU track team in 1925 and ’26, and lettered in football and baseball.
Presnell was a three-year letter winner at halfback for Nebraska, earning All-Missouri Valley Conference honors in 1926 and 1927. As a senior in 1927, he led the nation in total yards. The two-time All-Pro, who was 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds in his playing days, played halfback, quarterback, safety and kicker in the NFL. Presnell led the league in scoring in 1933 for the Portsmouth Spartans — the forerunners of the Lions.
Born near Blue Springs, Nebraska, he had no opportunity to play high school football. But he quickly caught on to the sport when he went to college at Nebraska Wesleyan. He then transferred to Nebraska, where he played mostly halfback his junior year — scoring on runs of 90, 85, 70 and 58 yards — before moving to end as a senior.
In 1976, Vollertsen led Palmyra to its first state tournament, earning all-state honors. After helping the Americans win bronze at the 1982 world championships, Vollertsen was part of a breakthrough for Team USA. The women won silver at the 1984 Los Angeles Games — the first Olympic medal in volleyball for the U.S.
The 1981 Gothenburg High graduate was named to five Pro Bowls and finished his professional career with 422 receptions, 4,630 yards and 30 touchdowns. But what stands out most in a diverse athletic career that also included All-America football and track and field honors at the University of Wyoming? “My highlight was my senior year of high school football at Gothenburg,” Novacek said.
Forget for a moment that he amassed 3,094 all-purpose yards as a four-year starting halfback for NAIA power Central Oklahoma or that he led the NFL in average yards per kickoff return for Detroit in 1969. It’s the winning time by Williams in a now legendary 100-yard dash that still raises eyebrows — nine-and-a-half seconds.
After winning gold medals at state for Omaha Central in the 100- and 220-yard dashes in 1958, Sayers went to Omaha University to compete in track and football. On the track, he won NAIA championships in the 100 in 1962 and the 100 and 200 in ’63. His 100 time of 10.2 in ’62 was tied for second best in the world, and his 200 time of 21.0 was tied for fifth. He beat future Olympic gold medalist “Bullet” Bob Hayes twice in the 100 during ’62.
Projected for greatness by the older fighters at the C.W. Boxing Club as a youth, Terence “Bud” Crawford lived up to lofty expectations by becoming a top-ranked amateur and then Omaha’s first world champion. His accomplishments and stardom have continued to skyrocket since these rankings were released in 2015.
