Husker N Side

Big Ten Honors McDermott and Southworth

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:22:00 -0400

Megan Southworth and Conor McDermott receive $7,500 scholarships.

By Randy York

The Big Ten Conference Thursday honored Husker student-athletes Conor McDermott and Megan Southworth with $7,500 postgraduate scholarships. McDermott, a tight end letterwinner on Nebraska’s 2012 football team, graduated last December with a Bachelor’s degree in Business, Economics and Finance. Southworth, a letterwinning infielder on the Huskers’ 2013 softball team, graduated this month with a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Human Science. Both Big Ten scholarship winners in this inaugural Big Ten program are from Omaha. McDermott graduated from Creighton Prep High School and Southworth from Papillion-LaVista High School.

“This scholarship will provide great assistance to reach my goals,” McDermott said. “I’ve decided to enroll in UNL’s law program, and I want to dual enroll in an MBA program. With my undergrad degrees in law and finance, I can combine my passions with law and business.” A walk-on, McDermott persevered in football and eventually changed to tight end. He worked his way onto the travel roster and ended up playing in every game in his final season as a Husker.

“The Big Ten scholarship will assist me with my first year of postgraduate study and is profoundly important to me in pursuing my Doctor of Occupational Therapy degree at Creighton,” Southworth said. “Within three years, I will complete the academic and clinical work required to earn the highest degree in that field. Creighton is one of three universities that offer this program with the most advanced training available in the School of Pharmacy program.” Southworth also will earn her fourth varsity letter in softball this spring.

One male and one female student-athlete from each of the 12 Big Ten institutions receive the conference scholarships that are based primarily on academic achievements. Southworth, a 2012 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award winner, carries a 3.784 GPA. McDermott, a 2012 First-Team Academic All-Big Ten selection, has a 3.664 GPA.

“Conor is an intelligent young man who continually challenges himself to develop leadership skills and achieve academically,” said Dennis Leblanc, Nebraska’s senior associate athletic director for Academics. “Conor is dedicated and determined, and he has good time management skills. He was selected to our Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll nine times during his football career. He did it all while double-majoring in Finance and Economics and still graduated in 4½ years. Conor is well-prepared to handle the rigorous demands of law school.”

Nebraska Softball Head Coach Rhonda Revelle said Southworth is an equally focused and persistent young lady who has strategically mapped out her educational and professional goals. “Megan has balanced the demands of being a Division I athlete with four letters and was still a standout in the classroom,” Revelle said. “Megan is so much more than her grade-point-average and her scholastic honors, though. She’s a very conscientious, dedicated and resilient person who aspires to become the best professional she can be. She’s passionate about serving people, and in particular, people with special needs. Serving and giving back runs deep in her genetic makeup. She has a huge heart and is a true champion for people in need.”

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Seniors Lead Huskers into NCAA Tournament

Sun, 12 May 2013 23:41:00 -0400

Senior Courtney Breault’s successful bunt helped Nebraska beat Purdue.

Host Huskers Earn No. 14 National Seed

By Randy York

You don’t see her in the headlines, but you can’t miss her in the box score. Yes, Nebraska has two of the five unanimous 2013 All-Big Ten Conference selections in junior twins Tatum and Taylor Edwards, but there’s another Californian making a steady difference in Nebraska’s high hopes to create momentum in the NCAA Women’s Softball Tournament. Meet Courtney ‘Spark Plug’ Breault (pronounced BREE-alt), one of four seniors on this year’s Husker team. Breault, a 5-9 senior infielder from Roseville, Calif., came to Nebraska by way of Arkansas, where she made the 2010 SEC All-Freshman Team before battling injuries and transferring to Nebraska and earning back-to-back second-team All-Big Ten honors.

Nebraska Softball Coach Rhonda Revelle has nicknames for all four seniors, and three of them are among the top five hitters in Nebraska’s batting order – third-baseman Gabby ‘Momma Bear’ Banda, Brooke ‘Constant Leader’ Thomason and Breault, the team spark plug. Breault and Thomason both have achieved second-team All-Big Ten status two years in a row, and Revelle will be counting on her senior class to be the experienced-based glue that helps deliver a Lincoln regional title next Sunday. No. 14 seed Nebraska (40-13) hosts the University of Northern Iowa (26-24) Friday at 7 p.m. after Stanford (37-19) plays Tulsa (42-14) at 4 p.m. The 64-team 2013 NCAA Softball Tournament field was released Sunday night. The winner of the double-elimination Lincoln regional will move on to the Super Regionals May 23-26 against the winner of the Eugene Regional, hosted by No. 3 national seed Oregon. The eight Super Regional winners will advance to the NCAA Women’s College World Series. Revelle believes all four Big Ten teams in the NCAA Tournament — No. 8 national seed Michigan, Big Ten Tournament champion Wisconsin and Minnesota, which edged Nebraska in the tournament’s semifinals Saturday in Lincoln, have the capability to compete at the highest level. If you’re looking for the classic case in point, remember Nebraska handed Oklahoma its first loss of the season in early March.The Sooners (47-4) earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2013 NCAA Division I Softball Championship and will host an NCAA Regional in Norman.

Even though the Huskers feature talented younger players, Revelle will ask her seniors to continue to be psychological catalysts. Banda, in season four as a starting infielder, plays her “Momma Bear” role like a fiddle, knowing when to motivate, endure and help relieve stress and reduce pressure. The 5-5 senior from Angleton, Texas, is so tough she played her entire junior and senior seasons with a torn ACL. When the going gets tough, she helps her team get going. Friday, she went 1-for-3 at the plate. Breault went 1-for-2, and Thomason was 2-for-3 with a crucial RBI and a run scored, proving why Revelle considers the 5-8 senior outfielder from Overland Park, Kan., a constant leader. Like Banda, she is in her fourth year as a starter and owns a school record two grand slam homeruns, including an historic shot in Nebraska’s first-ever Big Ten Conference softball game against Northwestern. She hit a solo homerun in the sixth inning and a grand slam to win the game with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

Revelle is understandably proud of all four senior leaders, and that includes the role Megan Southworth has played. The 5-4 senior from Papillion-LaVista High School in suburban Omaha was recruited as a catcher and made the transition to outfield, starting 28 games as a sophomore. Nebraska’s deep and talented group of outfielders reduced Southworth’s role to pinch-hitting and pinch-running, but make no mistake, she is a superstar in the eyes of her head coach. “Graceful and grateful are the two words that describe Megan,” Revelle said. “She exudes everything good about being a Husker, and she influences this team every day in her own way.” A speech-language pathologist major, Southworth won the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award. She is the ultimate team player, and Revelle sees her succeeding in the biggest game of all – life.

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Wade’s Boyhood Dream Now Highest Honor

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:45:00 -0400

Nebraska: The Birthplace of Strength Training

YouTube: N’Side Interview with James Dobson

By Randy York

When Chad Wade was a 13-year-old living in Weeping Water, Neb., he could not wait for the mailman to deliver what became the highlight of his week – the latest weightlifting program from the Detroit Lions, where his uncle, Gary Wade, was the head strength and conditioning coach. “Gary’s my dad’s brother, and my dad was just as interested in getting that program as I was. We’d both start lifting the day we got it in the mail,” Chad recalled Friday after receiving the highest honor in the strength and conditioning coaching profession – a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach (MSCC) designation from the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa).

As much as Wade prefers to work in the shadows for the benefit of Nebraska football, this honor was one time when he could not avoid the spotlight, especially when the presentation is the annual highlight of CSCCa’s national conference. Nearly 400 people at the Downtown Kansas City Marriott Hotel applauded Wade Thursday night when James Dobson, Nebraska’s head strength and conditioning coach, presented Wade a blue Master Strength and Conditioning Coach jacket.

A year ago, Dobson had received the same MSCC designation to become the second Nebraska strength coach to earn that honor. The only other current Husker coach who has achieved that level is Mike Arthur,director of strength and conditioning at Nebraska. Arthur’s 35-year association in Nebraska’s pioneering strength and conditioning program has been so crucial that he joined Boyd Epley in the first induction class into the USA Strength and Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame.

“Gary worked for Boyd, and Boyd hired me as a graduate assistant for football in 1996,” recalled Wade, who became a fulltime strength coach for Nebraska basketball from 1997 to 2002 before moving back to Husker football in the spring of 2002. “I feel very fortunate to have worked in this field with so many great people over a long period of time, including Boyd, Mike, Dave (Kennedy) and James. It was humbling to be up there and see people I work with every day – Willie Jones, Tyler Clarke and Lauren Harris – in the same room.”

“This is an incredible honor for Chad,” said Dr. Chuck Stiggins, CSCCa’s executive director. “Being named a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach signifies a commitment to the student-athlete, the University of Nebraska athletic program, and the strength and conditioning profession. We’re honored to have Coach Wade as a member of our association and to have him join the ranks of our Master coaches. He is truly a model of an outstanding strength and conditioning professional.”

Among the five criteria to earn the Master’s designation is having a minimum 12 years of experience as a full-time strength and conditioning coach on the collegiate or professional level. About 10 percent of the CSCCa members have achieved the Master’s designation.

One of the presenters at CSCCa was Eric Kapitulik, who has been working with Nebraska football over the past two seasons with his Boston-based company called The Program. “He nailed his presentation on shared adversity,” Dobson said. “All 400 people in the room were listening and writing down notes. It was right on target.”

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Husker Women Closing in on Tennis History

Thu, 09 May 2013 18:22:00 -0400

Patricia Veresova and Mary Weatherholt: Nation’s No. 3 doubles team.

Senior Tribute Video Features Four Huskers at the Finish Line

Huskers Play Wichita State Tulsa, UNLV Join Regional

NCAA Women’s Bracket Buy, Print Tickets Here

By Randy York

Nebraska’s Scott Jacobson and Hayden Perez make a productive tandem as tennis coaches just like Husker seniors Mary Weatherholt and Patricia Veresova combine to make one of the best doubles teams in NCAA women’s tennis. The coaches’ shared vision and the competitive commitment of Nebraska’s top two players are fundamental keys for the No. 15-seeded Huskers to make history this weekend in Lincoln. Jacobson and Perez are in lockstep agreement on the mental and physical requirements to defeat Wichita State in Friday’s first-round match. If the Huskers win that, they will play the winner of Friday’s Tulsa-UNLV match to go where Nebraska women’s tennis has never gone before – to the NCAA Sweet 16.

Jacobson is a Minnesota native in year No. 22 as Nebraska’s head tennis coach. Perez, who claims Texas as his roots, is in his eighth year as the Huskers’ associate head coach. The two bring different leadership elements to a diverse group of student-athletes, who are determined to carve their niche in Nebraska athletic history. Jacobson is all about cooperation, compassion and the ability to handle adversity with courage. Perez always links life on the court to life in the classroom, and that’s why he’s so successful as an international recruiter. Perez, who played at Cameron (Okla.) University and coached at Florida State, is a walking billboard for enthusiasm, positive energy and leadership.

The Jacobson/Perez joint leadership team blends, complements and enables the Weatherholt/Veresova team’s rise to a No. 3 ITA national doubles ranking entering this weekend’s 64-team NCAA field. Anyone who can’t see the connection between academic rigor and competitive fire might be interested in a fact that both coaches believe relates to their energy on the court. Weatherholt, a Prairie Village, Kan., native, was named the 2013 Nebraska Student-Athlete of the Year. She graduated a year ago with a 3.873 GPA in Business Administration and has focused this past year on her master’s degree. Veresova has a 3.847 GPA in Business Administration and is on track to graduate in December.

Weatherholt Has No. 11 National Ranking in Singles

Weatherholt has won back-to-back Big Ten Conference Tennis Player of the Year honors. After peaking at a No. 6 national ranking – the highest individual ranking in Nebraska history – Weatherholt will take a No. 11 ITA singles ranking and a 23-1 individual record into the NCAA first-round and second-round matches. With six wins against ranked opponents and an overall 19-2 record, Weatherholt and Veresova qualify as a legitimate contender to win an NCAA National Championship.

Weatherholt is the Big Ten’s automatic singles qualifier and will be among 64 players to compete in singles play. She also joins Veresova as the conference’s automatic doubles qualifier with the No. 3 seed in the 32-pair competition. The NCAA Championships are set for May 22-27 in Urbana, Ill. – a competition that will follow the team portion of the tournament that runs from May 16-21.

But let’s get real here. Jacobson and Perez, like John Wooden and Tom Osborne, never mention the word “win” during their team’s daily workouts, monthly grinds or even throughout this unusually outdoor weather-ravaged season. “It reflects the senior leadership we’ve had all season long,” said Jacobson, who includes Janine Weinreich and Stefanie Weinstein in that senior leadership category with Weatherholt and Veresova. Both have been competitive in singles and rock-solid as the Huskers No. 2 doubles team. The two natives of Germany went 25-1 together and 11-0 in Big Ten doubles, leading their coaches pointing to their combined academic/athletic success. Weinreich has a 3.76 GPA as an International Business Management and Marketing Major. Weinstein has a 3.92 GPA in Business Administration. Is there any wonder why the tennis team won the Herman Award in both 2012 and 2013 for having the highest team GPA among all Husker women’s sports programs?

Nebraska Reinforcing Its International Recruiting Ties

Nebraska’s depth cannot be confused with the loaded lineups from such perennial women’s tennis powers as Florida, Stanford, Georgia and North Carolina. Still, Nebraska’s ability to tap into the international recruiting pipeline has been steady and could be poised to blossom even more. When the Huskers beat Notre Dame, Tennessee and Georgia Tech early in the season, Jacobson remembers coaches from an SEC power and another school with ACC clout asking him directly what Nebraska was doing to emerge in a sport dominated by schools in warmer climates. He also remembers getting emails from at least four different countries recommending potential recruits. Less than a week ago, Jacobson and Perez received a signed National Letter of Intent from Varberg, Sweden native Lisa Andersson,who ranks No. 7 nationally in her age group. That signature will bring Andersson to the top of Nebraska’s tennis roster, which currently has seven of its eight team members having last names that start with V, W or Z.

We should point out, however, that the Huskers will continue to recruit aggressively within its own region. Weatherholt is, after all, the lead catalyst in Nebraska’s tennis renaissance, and she recruited Nebraska just as much as the Huskers recruited her. After taking an unofficial visit to Nebraska during her junior year of high school, Weatherholt targeted Lincoln as the place she most wanted to play before she was 16 years old. When her parents discovered that their already under-aged daughter wanted to graduate from high school a semester early to kick-start her college career, they assumed she not only would have to walk on, but take a redshirt first year so she would not threaten the position of any incumbent players. Their daughter, however, seized an immediate opportunity. She finished 20-2 that spring, was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Singles Team.

Astute Nebraska fans know the rest of the story. Weatherholt has led Nebraska to unprecedented heights both in the Big Ten and in the NCAA. The Huskers have reached the NCAA second round twice, but lost to Northwestern in 2010 and then to Texas in 2012. This year, Nebraska is a definitive favorite to advance into the Sweet 16 and play the winner of a regional that includes Tennessee, Virginia Commonwealth, South Carolina and North Carolina, the No. 2 overall seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Saturday: First NCAA Tennis Match in Lincoln History

This weekend will be historic because it marks the first time Nebraska will host an NCAA Tennis Tournament. Friday’s first-round match against Wichita State will begin at 2 p.m. at the campus courts at 17th and Vine Streets. Saturday’s second-round match is also scheduled for 2 p.m. If weather threatens outdoor play, the NCAA Tournament will relocate to the Nebraska Tennis Center on 70th Street, a mile north of Cornhusker Highway.

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N-Sider’s Three Best Tommie Frazier Stories

Tue, 07 May 2013 19:07:04 -0400

With runs like this against Missouri, Tommie Frazier finished second in the 1995 Heisman Trophy voting. Omaha World-Herald Photo

By Randy York

Someone asked this morning if I had any good Tommie Frazier stories, and I have three. But I also want to share my first experience with Tommie and thank him for signing an 11x14-inch photograph of his fabled 75-yard touchdown run in the 1995 national championship romp over Florida in Tempe, Ariz. I’m looking at that photo right now in my office, and I will never forget how gracious Tommie was to sign it at a downtown Kansas City event. Here now are my three favorite Tommie Frazier stories, gleaned from interviews I’ve done with him or events I’ve attended:

Story No. 1…a sappy saga: My favorite story was listening to Tommie answer questions for a full hour at Bo Pelini’s late July Football 202 class at the Hawks Center four years ago – the same day I met Rick Burkhead, Rex’s dad. We both loved hearing Tommie talk about his on-the-field conversations with Miami All-America defensive tackle Warren Sapp during the 1995 Orange Bowl that produced Tom Osborne’s first national championship. In that game, Sapp kept baiting Tommie, who was making his first start after missing the previous seven games with a blood clot. When Frazier went back into the national title game to replace the late Brook Berringer, Sapp tried to get inside Tommie’s head. “Where you been Tom? Where you been?” Sapp asked Frazier, who told him his name was Tommie, not Tom. So the next time Frazier came back into the game late in the third quarter, Sapp said: “Where you been, Tommie? Where you been?” Finally, Frazier told the Football 202 class, he turned around, looked squarely into Sapp’s eyes and said: “It’s not where I’ve been … it’s where I’m going, fat a _ _!” Frazier’s punch line brought the house down. So did his animated impersonations of two coaches he played for at the same time – Osborne, his head coach, and Turner Gill, his position coach. For Osborne, the mock conversation was understandably slow, and for Gill, the dialogue became fast and inspired. “It was almost like Coach Osborne was on No Doz for four years, and Coach Gill was on Red Bull, the energy drink,” Frazier quipped. “Try putting up with that for four years!”

Story No. 2 … a hard place to sleep: Most of us have forgotten that one of Frazier’s last games as a freshman quarterback starter was a 38-24 triumph over Kansas State on Dec. 5, 1992, in, of all places, Tokyo, Japan - a mutually agreed upon replacement for a K-State home game, 6,300 miles from Manhattan. “I’ll never forget that 13-hour plane ride from Kansas City to Tokyo - the longest plane ride in my life at the time,” Frazier recalled in an interview “I was sitting between two big offensive linemen - Zach Wiegert and Lance Lundberg. For a while, I thought it would take forever to get there.” Fortunately, though, like all good offensive linemen, Wiegert and Lundberg created some extra room for their quarterback and kept him happy. “Zach wandered off somewhere, and Lance laid down and went to sleep on the floor,” Frazier recalled. When the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Wiegert and the 6-foot-4, 300-pound Lundberg vacated their seats, things opened up for Touchdown Tommie, who put the arm rests down, threw a pillow next to the window and spread himself across three large seats to take a long and well-deserved winter’s nap.

Story No. 3 … mom definitely knows best: Five years ago, when I had the honor to help induct Tommie into the Nebraska Black Hall of Fame at the North Omaha Boys and Girls Clubs, he mentioned the most important life lesson he learned from Priscilla Frazier, his mother, after receiving his award. Frazier remembers how much he struggled when he arrived on UNL’s campus. He also mentioned how difficult it was to go beyond southern Alabama, his previous northern-most location. Not surprisingly, Tommie got so homesick, he finally summoned enough courage to call his mom and ask if he could come home. “You can come home, but you ain’t gonna live here,” Tommie’s mother told him and he made sure he re-enacted the conversation as closely as possible for the banquet crowd that night. “I had no choice. I had to stay in Lincoln,” Tommie said before adding: “But everything worked out okay – in football and in life.”

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NU Media Relations Staff ‘Super 11’ Worthy

Mon, 06 May 2013 19:00:00 -0400

Husker offensive coordinator Tim Beck draws a crowd of Nebraska media.

By Randy York

If this is a Monday that deletes winter from spring and delivers sunshine all the way to Memorial Day, then maybe we really can trust that day. This Monday certainly was not everything we hoped it would be, nor was it something we could guarantee, but we still feel rather bullish about these three quick-hitters from an N-Sider’s point of view.

No 1: Congratulations to Nebraska’s Media Relations Team, led by Assistant Athletic Director Keith Mann. That hard-working group was more than worthy of another “Super 11” designation from the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), headquartered in Dallas. Tim Griffin, the FWAA’s 2010 president and chairman of the Super 11 selection committee, says the award represents “the best of the best” sports information departments that support football. Griffin pointed out that Nebraska is the only school that has won a Super 11 honor from two different conferences and told me that is considered no small feat by the selection committee, which admires the NU Media Relations Team’s ability to adapt and adjust to dramatic change. If asked to choose 11 words to describe what fuels ‘Super 11’ status, the first seven would be culture, content, contacts, conduct, criteria, conferences and coaches. The last four would be media access and player accommodation, before and after practices and pregame/postgame. Nobody does it better than Nebraska, which has a long, proud, half-century history of meeting media demands. Of the 11 schools achieving Super 11 status for 2012, nine are first-time honorees in this four-year-old category. Georgia, Nebraska’s New Year’s Day opponent in Orlando’s 2013 Capital One Bowl, has earned Super 11 status in all four years. USC ranks second with three Super 11s and Nebraska is tied with three other NCAA Division I schools with two awards each. Clemson, Utah and future Big Ten member Rutgers are the only other multiple winners. Kudos to Mann’s full-time staff: Jeff Griesch, Shamus McKnight, Jeremy Foote, Matt Smith, Hilary Winter, Scott Bruhn, Annie Wood and Vicki Capazo. Mann’s team is uniquely gifted in the way it integrates the efforts of other full-time staff members and student interns to accommodate the media in every way possible. If Nebraska doesn’t serve the largest media corps that regularly covers a college football program, it would have be close to the largest. The only other three Big Ten Conference schools that have merited Super 11 honors are Minnesota (2012), Michigan State (2011) and Northwestern (2010).

No. 2: Monday’s announcement from Mann’s team that Nebraska will host two BTN primetime games struck a chord here. Love opening the season at home in a 7 p.m. CT nationally televised game Aug. 31 against Wyoming, the school that sent Bob Devaney to Lincoln and Nebraska to immediate and unprecedented heights that include the best record in college football over the last half century and 50 consecutive years of home sellouts at Memorial Stadium. A week later, on Sept. 7, Nebraska will host Southern Miss in another BTN nationally televised non-conference contest. Kickoff for that one is 5 p.m. Hey, maybe we can invite Drew Carey to the game. It will be, after all, a five o’clock world when the whistle blows, and Tim Beck will have his offense tuned up and ready because, one week later, UCLA comes to town for the third of five consecutive home games (followed by South Dakota State and Illinois). By the way, does anyone remember Memorial Stadium ever having a 5 o’clock kickoff? Mann can’t remember one, but that only means the answer will require some research.

No. 3: How do you feel about Nebraska selling out its men’s season basketball ticket allotment six months before Pinnacle Bank Arena opens its doors to big-name entertainment and big-time Big Ten basketball? Stunned is the first word that comes to mind. I mean, I know former players and even loyal donors who were shocked with that development but are only blaming themselves for failing to act. One thing seems certain. If the new season ticket holders are unavailable for just about any game in the upcoming inaugural season, they won’t have trouble finding friends, family or others who want in on the action. Tim Miles was the consummate communicator whenever he had a spare moment, and Husker fans bought what he was selling. The next step, of course, is bigger and decidedly more difficult, and Miles doesn’t sidestep what he wants to see to help hold up his end of the bargain. “I want everybody to show up,” he said. “I want everybody to stand up, and I want everybody to shout at the top of their lungs when they get inside the arena.” The fans who shared Miles’ vision will be the ones sitting in their precious new seats. Now I know what Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman meant when he said Husker fans seized this opportunity to get in on the ground floor. “You know how we’ve all watched for a long time those people who bought 50-yard line tickets to Memorial Stadium in the 1920s and how successful that’s been as an investment,” Perlman said. “It’s like buying an insurance policy for future success.”

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Diminutive Evenstad a True Husker at Heart

Sun, 05 May 2013 22:39:00 -0400

Graduation lineup: Jeremiah Sirles, Dennis Leblanc and Lora Evenstad.

By Randy York

As different as Nebraska’s student-athlete speakers looked for Saturday’s luncheon to celebrate spring commencement exercises, Dennis Leblanc could not have selected more appropriate spokespeople to frame up what life is like as a Husker. Nebraska’s senior associate athletic director for Academics, Leblanc selected Lora Evenstad to represent UNL’s female graduates and Jeremiah Sirles to represent the male graduates. Talk about incongruity. The diminutive 5-foot-3 Evenstad is a good 15 inches shorter than the 6-foot-6 Sirles. She’s also roughly one-third his size, if that. Here’s the kicker though. Football is Evenstad’s favorite sport to watch, and it looks like the Husker All-America gymnast just might end up living in Nebraska, along with her parents, who are strongly considering moving from Grand Forks, N.D., to Lincoln when they retire.

In her short speech to fellow graduates Saturday, Evenstad thanked God, her parents, Chance Unger, her family, Tom Osborne, Shawn Eichorst, her coaches and teammates and NU’s incomparable staff support in Life Skills, Academics and Compliance. She congratulated all student-athletes who embraced Nebraska’s holistic approach to academics, athletics and life and then went on to describe her Nebraska Experience and the impact it has on the promising future she has systematically carved out.

Evenstad will marry Chance Unger, a former Nebraska student athletic trainer, in August. While she works to become a registered dietician, he will begin his University of Nebraska Medical Center journey in Omaha to become a doctor. Evenstad may be tiny, but she dreams big, competes big and delivers big. The Grand Forks, N.D., native has the same passion for Nebraska as Darin Erstad, a Jamestown, N.D., native who fell in love with Lincoln and moved back after spending 14 years in Major League Baseball. Erstad, of course, is now Nebraska’s head baseball coach.

Evenstad’s Parents Never Missed a Competition

“I love Nebraska,” said Evenstad, who can’t wait to apply her passion for nutrition and wellness in one of the state’s two largest cities. In Saturday’s speech, Evenstad pointed out how her parents, Dean and Vicky, never missed seeing her compete from 7-years-old through her final competition as a Husker – more than 200 meets in all.

“We have a map at home with pins stuck where we’ve watched Lora compete – from California to Florida and from Washington to Pennsylvania,” Dean said. “We’ve been all over the country, but there was no place like Lincoln.”

Evenstad pointed out how she first dreamed of competing for the Huskers when she was a sixth-grader. She attended Nebraska camps in the summer and competitive meets in the winter. Lora and her parents remember how exciting it was to see Lincoln’s skyline after a 500-mile drive from North Dakota.

“I call Lincoln a mini-metro,” Lora said, “because it has a metropolitan flavor but still feels like the right size of city … smaller and friendlier.”

Her dad agrees. “Vicky and I have grown to love Lincoln,” he said. “Our goal is to retire here. It’s an unbelievable city … a very progressive city. We’ve always liked it.”

For Evenstad, Life at Nebraska More than Winning

As much as Lora grew up loving Nebraska, she was encouraged to take recruiting visits so she could compare Nebraska with other top-tier gymnastics programs. She had all kinds of options and ended up taking official visits to NCAA powers Michigan, Nebraska and Utah and also checked out Oklahoma, Arkansas, Iowa State and North Carolina State.

“We never took it for granted that Lora was going to come here,” Nebraska Head Women’s Gymnastics Coach Dan Kendig said after listening to Evenstad’s speech on Saturday. “I think the more she looked around, the more it confirmed what she had felt all along. She knew what she wanted to do. She knew how to do it, and she knew how to get others to help get it done. Faith played such a big role in her life as a student and an athlete. She’s one of the most talented young ladies we’ve ever had here. She led us to the last Big 12 championship and the first Big Ten championship in back-to-back years.”

In her speech, Evenstad talked about her recruitment and how “Tom Osborne blew me away” with the dramatic transformation of Nebraska’s gymnastics facilities. “We went from tin lockers, magnetic shelves and bean bag chairs to 2,000 more square feet of training space that included carpet, a lounge, TVs and TiVos,” she said. “It definitely takes the recruiting game up a few notches. We’re right there with anybody on a national basis and our student-life complex is the best in the country. We’ve always been a great program, but it just keeps getting better every year. I expect great things.”

Evenstad takes one more chapter out of Osborne’s book. “Competing at Nebraska is about so much more than winning,” she told her fellow graduates. “For me, it became an opportunity to impact the community and prepare for the future. Having the opportunity to be a student-athlete at Nebraska was such an honor and is so much more than becoming a national champion, winning conference titles or being named an All-American. It’s an opportunity to impact others, and each step of the journey has definitely prepared me for life after gymnastics.”

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May 2013 Nebraska Women Student-Athlete Graduates

Evenstad, Lora (Women’s Gym) - Grand Forks, N.D. (Dietetics/Nutrition, Exercise & Health Science)

Furlan, Jessica (Track & Field/Cross Country) - Regina, Saskatchewan (Environmental Studies)

Hagemann, Ashley (Softball) - Elkhorn, Neb.(Elementary Education/Coaching)

Hamik, Erica (Track & Field/Cross Country) - Kearney, Neb. (Nutrition Science)

Harmon, Kailey (Swimming & Diving) - Bothell, Wash. (Nutrition, Exercise & Health Science)

Hubl, Paige (Volleyball) - Lincoln, Neb. (Business Administration)

Keiser, Katie (Women’s Golf) - Gothenburg, Neb. (Sociology)

Kim, Joyce (Rifle) - Gilbert, Ariz. (Textiles, Merchandising & Fashion Design)

Larson, Kelsey (Swimming & Diving) - Newport Beach, Calif. (Biochemistry)

Mickelson, Kristi (Bowling) - Bellevue, Neb. (Criminology & Criminal Justice/Psychology)

Moore, Lindsey (Women’s Basketball) - Covington, Wash. (Communication Studies)

McNeal, Allison (Volleyball) - Schulenberg, Texas (Elementary Education)

Southworth, Megan (Softball) - Papillion, Neb. (Speech-Language Pathology)

Weinreich, Janine (Women’s Tennis) - Tespe, Germany (Marketing/International Business)

Weinstein, Stefanie (Women’s Tennis) - Much, Germany (Business Administration)

White, Katie (Track & Field/Cross Country) - Broken Bow, Neb. (Nutrition Science)

Woltersdorf, Katelyn (Rifle) - Battle Ground, Wash. (Art)

Workman, Haley (Softball) - Easley, S.C. (Psychology)

Wright, Kirby (Softball) - Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. (Marketing)

Sirles: From Bobble Head to Student-Athlete

Sun, 05 May 2013 00:19:00 -0400

Husker offensive lineman Jeremiah Sirles received his diploma Saturday from Donde Plowman, Dean of Nebraska’s College of Business Administration.

By Randy York

Jeremiah Sirles would be a model commencement speaker, but Nebraska’s second-team All-Big Ten offensive lineman settled for something he considers more intimately important and meaningful memorable. The 6-6, 310-pound Lakewood, Colorado, native who still dreams of winning a Big Ten and national football championship this fall, represented 37 Nebraska senior male graduates Saturday afternoon in an Athletic Department reception on the third floor of Memorial Stadium. In his short speech, Sirles, a Management major, covered the emotion, passion and sense of self worth Husker student-athletes feel when they reach the finish line of their academic and athletic journeys.

“I want to thank (Nebraska Senior Associate AD) Dennis Leblanc and everyone in Academics for allowing me to get up here and speak on behalf of the male athletes in the class of 2013,” Sirles said. “There are so many people that have helped me become the man that stands here today. My parents have supported me since I first put on a helmet and looked like one of those little bobble heads out there running around. Nebraska instilled a work ethic in me that truly showed me that I am a student before an athlete. I thank Coach (Bo) Pelini and his entire staff for giving me the great opportunity to come here and become a part of the Husker family, and I thank my teammates for making my experience here one that I will never forget, both on the field and off the field.

“Most of us here probably remember the long hot walks from Selleck Quad to workouts in the mornings, or the cold dark winter walks to workouts at 6 a.m., or the countless number of times we’ve made the walk from the parking lots to class and back just to wake up and repeat five days a week,” Sirles said, pointing out how every football player listened to fellow classmates talk about how tired they were in a 9:30 a.m. class. “I remember looking at them and thinking how I’ve been up for about four hours, just like every football player,” he said. “But we keep it to ourselves knowing that’s just what we do.”

They Say You’re Tired; They Mean You Look Awful

Sirles said his all-time favorite memory of Nebraska was people looking at him and saying: “You look tired. Are you okay?” He remembers thinking what they really wanted to say was: “You look awful. What happened?”

“Little do they know that my weight-lifting session ran long, and I had to sprint to class so that’s why I look a little tired,” Sirles said. “We all have our own personal little memories that make this place special for each one of us, and that’s mine.”

Sirles’ fellow graduates who had received their diplomas before the athletic department luncheon all laughed because they could all relate. Describing his years at Nebraska as “full of ups and downs and good times and hard times,” Sirles said: “All of these experiences have shaped us to go out into the world and excel in everything that we do. As athletes, we’ve overcome things in college that other students haven’t even dreamed of. We know what it means to balance a schedule and how to have our priorities in order. Because if we didn’t, let’s face it. None of us would be sitting here today with a diploma in hand.

“So I say congratulations to everyone! We’ve made it!” Sirles said. “We’ve withstood the test that the Big Red has thrown at us, and we’ve won and become part of a legacy that will forever follow us in our journeys. As they say: ‘Once a Husker, always a Husker!’”

(Sunday’s blog will feature 2013 spring NU women student-athlete graduates and their athletic department speaker, gymnast Lora Evenstad)

37 Nebraska Male Student-Athlete Spring Graduates

Almeida, Andre (Men’s Basketball) - Sao Paulo, Brazil (Ethnic Studies/Sociology)

Ankrah, Jason (Football) - Gaithersburg, Md. (Child, Youth & Family Studies)

Aumueller, Christopher (Men’s Tennis) - Bayreuth, Germany (Economics/Marketing)

Blatchford, Justin (Football) - Ponca, Neb. (Nutrition, Exercise & Health Science)

Barrefors, Bjorn (Track & Field) - Stockholm, Sweden (Computer Science)

Christensen, Chad (Baseball) - Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Finance)

Coffey, Jesse (Football) - Denton, Texas (Civil Engineering)

Dean, Jase (Football) - Bridgeport, Neb. (Fisheries & Wildlife)

Fisher, Sean (Football) - Omaha, Neb. (Business Administration)

Fox, Mike (Men’s Basketball) - Beatrice, Neb. (Mathematics Education)

Gillick, Kevin (Men’s Golf) - Lincoln, Neb. (Finance)

Grande, Ross (Wrestling) - Palatine, Ill.(Dietetics/Nutrition, Exercise & Health Science)

Grieb, Brett (Track & Field/Cross Country) - York, Neb. (Biological Sciences)

Hirsch, Zach (Baseball) - St. Charles, Ill. (Finance)

Ingram, Cole (Track & Field) - Lincoln, Neb. (Criminology & Criminal Justice)

Jean-Baptiste, Stanley (Football) - Miami, Fla. (Sociology)

Johnston, Dan (Baseball) - Papillion, Neb. (Business Education/Cooperative Education)

Kiley, Ridge (Wrestling) - Eagle Grove, Iowa (Marketing)

Killeen, Michael (Men’s Gymnastics) - Olathe, Kan. (Landscape Architecture)

Klinginsmith, Michael (Wrestling) - Kearney, Neb. (Biological Sciences)

Koehn, Tyler (Wrestling) - (Pittsburg, Kan.) - (Business Administration)

Mangieri, P.J. (Football) - Peoria, Ill. (Business Administration)

Niemann, Christopher (Men’s Basketball) - Kuhlungsborn, Germany (Computer Engineering/Computer Science)

Onwiler, Tim (Track & Field) - Panama, Neb. (Fisheries & Wildlife)

Osborne, Steven (Football) - Garland, Texas (Economics)

Phipps, Chris (Track & Field) - Patterson, N.J. (Psychology)

Polacek, Nate (Track & Field) - Kearney, Neb. (English Education)

Qvale, Brent (Football) - Williston, N.D. (Nutrition, Exercise & Health Science)

Reinertson, Jordan (Men’s Golf) - Gibbon, Neb. (Finance)

Shapland, Taylor (Men’s Track & Field) - Waterloo, Neb. (Construction Management)

Sirles, Jeremiah (Football) - Lakewood, Colo. (Management)

Stucky, Sam (Baseball) - McPherson, Kan. (Agricultural Economics)

Sutterfield, Erik (Track & Field) - Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Psychology)

Ubel, Brandon (Men’s Basketball) - Overland Park, Kan. (Broadcasting)

Videtich, Brandon (Men’s Tennis) - Lincoln, Neb. (Business Administration)

Walford, Teran (Track & Field) - York, Neb. (Nutrition Science)

Zimmerman, Austin (Men’s Golf) - Lincoln, Neb. (Accounting)

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Surprised Miles: Sold Out Sign Just a First Step

Fri, 03 May 2013 20:10:00 -0400

Nebraska’s new downtown basketball arena is now sold out for the men.

Pinnacle Bank Arena Waitlist Has Started

By Randy York

Lane Grindle had the tweet of the day Friday when he heard a sold out sign is needed six months before Nebraska plays its first basketball game at Pinnacle Bank Area.

How many schools in America have a wait list for season tickets in Football, Volleyball & Men’s Basketball? Husker fans are unreal!
— Lane Grindle (@lanegrindle) May 3, 2013

Grindle, one of the voices on Husker football and baseball, makes a compelling point.

Football has been sold out for an NCAA record 50 consecutive years, but will have 6,000-plus new seats this fall with the East Stadium Expansion Project increases Memorial Stadium capacity to 92,000-plus.

Volleyball has been sold out for 12 consecutive years – the longest sellout streak in the history of NCAA women’s sports. The Huskers will increase their venue capacity by 3,000-plus this fall when they move into a renovated Devaney Center.

The real shocker in this triple crown sellout achievement is men’s basketball joining those two legendary Nebraska programs. The Huskers have sold out their new 15,000-plus seat home in the downtown West Haymarket Area.

“I truly am surprised that we sold out the arena this quickly,” Nebraska Coach Tim Miles told me early Friday evening. “I think we’re blessed with tremendous fans. I think they want to see a winner, and I think they’re excited about their new surroundings.”

Miles Asks Fans to Show Up, Stand Up and Shout

As excited as he was, Miles reminds everyone he wants more than just a sold out sign to keep Husker fans motivated. “I want everybody to show up. I want everybody to stand up, and I want everybody to shout at the top of their lungs when they get inside the arena.

“This is just the first step in a whole bunch of steps that we need to be a championship-level type team. That’s the goal,” Miles emphasized. “Selling out is very important in my book, but it’s just part of getting the wheels to turn up on that hill that we will all start climbing together.”

Selling out a season for the first time in Nebraska basketball history “is a great thing for our program,” Miles said. “It says a lot about our fans. It says a lot about the excitement of Pinnacle Bank Arena. It’s a positive sign for everyone associated with our basketball program. I give a lot of credit to our administration for making tickets affordable, so people can get inside that building and become an important part of the experience.”

Fans Make Their Statement with a Sold Out Sign

Marc Boehm, Nebraska’s executive associate athletic director in charge of basketball, said NU’s administrative team set an aggressive goal of selling 11,000 season tickets for the Huskers’ first year in the arena. “This is a great statement for our fans,” Boehm said. “But it’s also a testament to our people who have worked hard behind the scenes to make all this happen.”

Nebraska’s Marketing, Ticket Office, Husker Athletic Fund and Media Relations teams worked closely together to pull off a preseason upset. “I have to say our social media played a big part in this success, too,” Boehm said. “Tim’s one of the best and most creative coaches in the country. He knows how to communicate just like he knows how to coach. It’s going to be a lot of fun filling that place up. It’s a new era, and there’s a lot of excitement that comes with it.”

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10 Questions: James Dobson on ‘The Program’

Fri, 03 May 2013 11:21:00 -0400

Strength Coach James Dobson is always looking for ways to improve the team.

Cross Training: Imani is a Natural Leader

The Program Video: Unique Highlight Reel

Huskers Give Marine the Michigan Game Ball

By Randy York

“The Program” has pulled off something difficult to accomplish – worked its way into the Nebraska football vocabulary. The two-word catch phrase has become a four-minute video that showcases the Huskers’ high-level off-season challenges. James Dobson, Nebraska’s head strength coach, oversees Nebraska’s relationship with the Boston-based training experts.

Eric Kapitulik (pronounced Kappa-too-lick), the founder and CEO of The Program, is so immersed in helping Nebraska develop a combat-like mindset that he has the full endorsement of Bo Pelini. Nebraska’s sixth-year head coach paid The Program his ultimate tribute last fall when he presented Kapitulik the game ball after the Huskers stopped Michigan in its tracks, 23-9, in Lincoln. Earlier in the week, the N-Sider asked Dobson for an update on The Program and a broader view of Nebraska’s involvement with Kapitulik and his dynamic organization.

Q-1: In a nutshell, what is The Program?

A: For our players and our team, The Program is another way to develop leadership through shared adversity. The Program had the same message as last year but they presented it in a different way. Hopefully, the change in presentation got the message across to guys that didn’t get it the first time around and reinforced it to those who did get it.

Q-2: Who benefits most – the older guys or the younger guys?

A: Both benefit. Anytime you can bring in legitimate people from the outside with a different approach to things everyone can benefit from that. The older guys have been through this process once and will get reinforcement about The Program’s message and the young guys will get that message for the first time. We all benefit from facing the adversity that The Program presents.

Q-3: How good is the U.S. Military?

A: They’re great! I have a tremendous amount of respect for our armed forces. They are the best and the most successful armed force in the world. They have legitimacy the minute they walk in the door. They’ve had to cope with every stressful thing you can imagine. They can do things that normal people can’t do. We take more from their message than just how you can be a better player. It will make you a better person.

Q-4: Why is it so hard to be a good teammate these days?

A: I believe we live in a very selfish world for the most part and being a good teammate means that you have to be very selfless. It is hard to be selfless in times of adversity. It is at these times when a good teammate truly worries about the guy next to him and not himself. The Program stresses the importance of this. Their code of honor addresses the team higher than themselves. That’s the essence of The Program … team first in every case.

Q-5: After losing an early conference road game in 2012, Coach Pelini said his team had to win the next six, and he was going to do everything possible to make that happen. Was The Program imbedded in that?

A: You would have to ask Coach Bo. I wouldn’t be surprised that The Program’s message had some influence but Coach Bo has always had and continues to have high expectations for this team academically, athletically, and socially. Coach Bo has always challenged the team and the staff to meet those expectations. Coach has promoted and nurtured this environment since I’ve been a part of his staff. I don’t think anyone in this football program would have it any other way.

Q-6: I know you prefer not to name names, but some leaders from last week’s training have to move to the front of your mind. Even at the risk of missing some, can you throw out a few names for some quick kudos?

A: The Program is about the “Team”. The team did well with the training, and I am positive that the team will produce leaders that we can all be very proud of.

Q-7: What does “It’s not about me” really mean?

A: To me, it means that every day you need to be a good teammate. It’s about the guy next to you and not yourself. To be a good teammate, you have to set high expectations and hold each other accountable to meet those expectations. In order to do this, trust becomes very important. The minute you start to trust each other, you’re on your way to become a better team.

Q-8: Kenny Bell emerged last year as a team leader. Is he still leading?

A: Yes. I think that Kenny has his own type of leadership skills that he applies with his teammates. I believe he would be the first to say that The Program has helped him with these skills and how he can be a good teammate.

Q-9: The sign on your wall quotes Dan Gable, the Olympic wrestling icon. It says: “They have options. You don’t.” What does that mean?

A: It means if you want to become a champion, you have no options.Period.

Q-10: Last question. How would you describe Bo’s take on The Program?

A: You would need to ask Bo about that one, but I know that Bo would not put people in front of this team that he didn’t believe in. I believe Bo wants to develop the guys on this team to be great men and set them up for a successful life, and I think that The Program has a message that will help in that pursuit.

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Graeber Generosity Helps Walk-On Program

Thu, 02 May 2013 18:27:05 -0400

Ken Graeber, right, made a significant donation to Nebraska Athletics and Associate AD Paul Meyers in honor of Tom Osborne and Charlie McBride.

By Randy York

In a recent lunch to celebrate a significant gift to the Nebraska Athletic Department, the donor was asked if he realized the potential benefits of his generosity. Ken Graeber curtailed the conversation immediately, explaining that he didn’t want or expect anything in return. All the former Blackshirt middle guard wanted was the certainty that his gift would continue to support the nation’s best walk-on program.

Tom Osborne, Graeber’s former head coach and now Nebraska’s Athletic Director Emeritus, was not surprised. Candor is one of the best qualities of an un-recruited walk-on who paid his own way to Lincoln from Minneapolis in the early 1980s and played on three teams that were legitimate national championship contenders in 1982, ’83 and ’84.

“That’s the way so many walk-ons are,” Osborne said. “They all learned early in college not to expect anything in return, even though they worked every bit as hard, if not harder, than our scholarship players. Sometimes, the most generous people we deal with are the walk-ons who have come up the hard way, and Ken certainly exemplifies that.”

Scholarship Honors Coaches Osborne, McBride

Graeber’s gift to his alma mater came straight from his heart. “I grew up a Christian and have given almost exclusively to Christian causes, but I felt compelled to make a gift to the walk-on program,” he said. “I gave to honor Coach Osborne, who I believe ran the program under a Christian framework, and Coach (Charlie) McBride. In my mind, those are two of the best coaches in the history of college football. They both treated every walk-on player who stepped foot on that field the same way they treated every scholarship player. There were no distinctions then, and I hope that philosophy continues forever. That is what makes Nebraska different from everyone else.”

Osborne agrees, and even though walk-ons cannot receive any financial benefit from the generosity of donors like Graeber, the money can go to support equipment, uniforms, locker room space and all the other extra expenses inherent in fielding dozens of extra players.

“Ken was one of those guys who just played hard all the time, whether it was practice or in a game,” Osborne said. “All he ever wanted was a chance, and fortunately, we were equipped to give him that chance. We really appreciated his efforts and his accountability. When your heart’s in the right place and you give great effort, he was able to do what all walk-ons strive to do – get better every single day.”

Walk-Ons Heart-and-Soul of the Osborne Era

Walk-ons were the heart-and-soul of Osborne-coached teams for a quarter century. “About 40 percent of our travel rosters were walk-ons over that period of time,” Osborne said. “Just about every player who traveled played, whether it was on offense, defense or special teams. If we couldn’t spend the extra money to provide practice opportunities for those walk-ons, we couldn’t have accommodated them.

“The No. 1 benefit of walk-ons is the depth you’re able to achieve on the team,” Osborne said. “That depth enabled us to practice differently than just about everybody else in the country. We were always able to have two offensive stations and two defensive stations going simultaneously because of No. 3 teams. A lot of those guys just kept getting better and better.”

That ascent happened quickly for Graeber, who grew up in Minnesota yearning to play for either Nebraska or Oklahoma. He chose the Huskers because of its sustainable culture for walk-ons, which he equated to the land of opportunity.

Graeber Sat Down and Wrote Osborne a Letter

“I had so much appreciation and respect for Coach Osborne I finally decided to write him a letter and ask if I could walk on,” Graeber said. “I had such admiration for two of the greatest programs in the country. Oklahoma recruited me to a degree, but didn’t offer. So I knew where I was going – to Nebraska, where Frank Solich was in charge of the walk-on program at that time.”

Graeber immersed himself in the culture and ended up earning three letters, including two where he was considered either the starter or a co-starter. “Walk-ons like Ken were major factors in establishing the culture of the team,” Osborne said. “The scholarship players would see the sacrifices the walk-ons were making just to get on the field, and their drive and effort were rather contagious. They really were the heart and soul of our teams in more ways than one.

“Recruiting is such an inexact science,” Osborne added. “Walk-ons earned their time on the field through their character, their attitude and above all else, their tenacity. They were willing to hang in there through their freshman and sophomore redshirt years to create an opportunity. I would say that Ken’s tenacity was pretty high. He might have been close to the very top. He really worked hard, and he really improved.”

Tenacity Paid Off in Business World, Too

Graeber, in fact, became the strongest player on the Blackshirts during his tenure. He could bench press 425 pounds and lift 850 pounds on the hip sled, yet still run a 4.82 40 as a 6-foot-2, 255-pound senior.

Ken Graeber worked just as hard in building an Omaha-based natural gas business with his partners (Encore Energy) as he did building his body and his playing time at Nebraska.

Osborne sees Graeber’s generosity as both a thank-you and an endorsement of a walk-on program that helps Nebraska overcome a statewide population of only 1.85 million people. “It’s a compliment when a walk-on, who came through the program and has succeeded in business just like he succeeded on the football field, makes a generous contribution to something he strongly believes in,” Osborne said.

Steve Graeber Following in Dad’s Footsteps

That isn’t the only contribution from a Mechanical Engineering graduate. Graeber earned a high GPA at the same time he played on teams that won 34 of 38 games, including Orange and Sugar Bowl wins over LSU that became bookends for the ’83 Huskers that came within inches of a national championship. We all remember how that one ended, 31-30, after a failed two-point conversion under a moon over Miami.

Hope in this Omaha household, however, springs eternal. Steve Graeber, a 6-foot-1, 255-pound defensive tackle, is Ken’s youngest son. A first-team Super State selection from Millard North’s Class A state championship team, Steve Graeber is also a member of Nebraska’s 2013 class of walk-ons.

“He’s a much better athlete than I was and very smart,” Ken said of Steve. “He can power clean 365 pounds, squat 510 and runs a 4.71 in the 40.” Like his dad, Steve is quiet and not boisterous. “He’s stronger right now than I ever was,” Ken said. “You don’t see that animalistic defensive lineman attitude displayed in his day-to-day life, but when he gets on the field, he plays like a madman. I tell him what Coach Osborne and Coach McBride told every walk-on who ever played at Nebraska – It all comes down to a matter of work and how much you put into it. If you use your God-given talent, you overcome a lot of things, but it’s still a matter of who works the hardest. Those are the ones who get to the finish line.”

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Enduring Memories from a White House Visit

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 23:35:00 -0400

Rex Burkhead joined his little buddy, Jack Hoffman, at the White House.

The Biggest 15 Minutes in Team Jack History

Little Jack and His Family Go to Washington

By Randy York

Surely you saw 7-year-old Jack Hoffman staring up at President Barack Obama on Monday. It was a compelling photo for brain cancer awareness with the light dramatizing one of Jack’s scars from two major brain surgeries … an important reminder of why the Hoffmans were at the White House talking to the free world’s most important leader.

That scar became its own badge of courage that commemorated a day when Andy and Brianna Hoffman described an experience so dreamlike it simply could not have been more memorable. Today’s N-Sider gives you a closer look at the enduring memories from a surreal Monday that was chronicled on the front pages of Nebraska’s two largest newspapers, just like ABC News, ESPN and the Cincinnati Bengals Blog that ties Jack to his big brother-like buddy, Rex Burkhead.

Tuesday, I asked Andy and Bri for some reflection upon returning from the Nation’s Capital back to their hometown in Atkinson, Neb., where they love living and will forever frame their White House memories. When the Hoffmans were in the West Wing waiting room to see the President, Bri told her three children that they were about to experience something most people only dream about, so they should “look around and pay real close attention because this is the last time you will ever see this part of the White House again,” she said. A nice man, also waiting to see the President, heard the comment and politely corrected a mother he did not know. “Don’t say that,” he told Bri. “Any one of these three kids could be President someday.”

Obama Focused First on Jack, Then on Rex

Bri and Andy smiled, picking up the positive vibes and agreeing with that assessment. Even though the family would walk out the door and Andy would accommodate interviews with USA Today, NBC and CBS, among others, they cherished every second of their 15 illuminated minutes of White House fame. They were thrilled that President Obama used that precious time just like they envisioned and wanted him to use it – the vast majority focusing on Jack and everything left over acknowledging Rex’s role and the inspiration the two draw from each other.

“What a nice guy,” Andy said. “I really liked the way he honored Jack.”

“Saw you on ESPN,” the President told Jack. “Boy was that a nice run!”

The President thenasked Jack to introduce him to his parents, his two younger sisters and his special guest.

“I’ve got something for you, Jack,” Obama said, admitting that his white football with the Presidential White House Seal and a special message to Jack “isn’t nearly as cool” as having a signed football from his favorite team, but he wanted to give it to him anyway.

“Jack, we’re so proud of you!” the President said, repeating the same message he wrote on the white football before signing it himself.

President Knows Hard Knocks Coming Rex’s Way

PresidentObama also engaged with Burkhead, the honorary captain of college football’s 2012 Good Works Team.

“Cincinnati Bengals?” the President asked Burkhead. He asked Rex what was ahead for him. When Rex finished his answer, Obama changed to a serious tone, implying that he knows what comes next. He then confided the source of his information: Hard Knocks on HBO. Yes, it was truly another lighthearted moment.

The President seemed to grasp the essence of Team Jack. “You could tell he took the time to understand what the story is all about,” Andy said. PresidentObama then thanked Rex for everything that he had done for Jack. “It was a nice Presidential thank you for Rex, and that gesture was a very rewarding part of the visit,” Andy said.

When the Hoffmans thanked President Obama for raising awareness for pediatric brain cancer, the President seized the opportunity to discuss with the Hoffmans and Rex the new brain science initiative that he was working on. The President said he was committed to science and to brain research and went on to explain his new initiative.

This Bo-liever Didn’t See Bo, the White House Dog

Jack was hoping to see Bo, the First Family’s dog. “We didn’t get to see Bo, but we got his trading card in the gift bag,” Jack said.

“That was the quote of the day from Jack because he ended up getting some M&Ms and some coins and some pictures and the Bo card and a yo-yo,” Andy said. “Jack really enjoyed being able to read about Bo.”

We’re talking Bo the dog, not the other Bo, even though Coach Pelini is right at the top of Jack’s major hero list.

The Hoffmans gave the Obamas six Team Jack Tee-shirts. They were impressed with the President’s engagement with all three kids. “Jack was Jack. He was very calm,” Andy said. “Even though his little sisters became somewhat rambunctious, the President handled them well.”

Bri agreed. “The scene was somewhat surreal, but the President was awesome,” she said. “He’s charismatic, concerned, and I found him to be very warm. When we got up to leave, the president was shaking everyone’s hand.”

Instead of shaking her hand, Obama said: “Moms get hugs.” He then leaned forward and gave Bri a Presidential hug.

Presidential Advice: Thank Your Nebraska Senator

“I thought he was really nice and really genuine,” Bri said. “While we were there, I got the feeling that he really wants to help people, and I feel the same way now. I don’t know how the experience could have gone much better.”

On their way out the door, President Obama reminded the Hoffmans to thank Senator Deb Fischer because she helped enable the White House visit from the very beginning.

“We have thanked Deb, and we will thank her again,” Andy said, “even though it’s still hard for us to believe that all of this actually happened.”

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The Biggest 15 Minutes in Team Jack History

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:10:00 -0400

Jack Hoffman, 7, meets President Barack Obama in the Oval Office.

Little Jack and His Family Go to Washington

Who Else Showed Up at the White House?

Historical Close-Up of Two Husker Legends

By Randy York

Team Jack has been a part of the Nebraska football conversation for more than a year-and-a-half now. On Monday, April 29, 2013, that conversation went from one small step in Husker lore to one giant leap nationally and even internationally. What many national commentators were calling the biggest play of the year in sports became the biggest and most important 15 minutes in Team Jack history. Over the noon hour Monday, President Barack Obama hosted six loyal members of Team Jack – 7-year-old pediatric brain cancer patient Jack; his parents, Andy and Brianna; his two younger sisters, Ava, 5, and Reese, 2; and the coolest, calmest catalyst for bringing awareness to any disease … #22 Rex Burkhead, who made it to Washington D.C. so he could meet President Obama with his “second family”.

“Having Rex with us to meet the President was awesome … super-duper awesome,” Andy Hoffman said, using the same expression Jack used when he scored a 69-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of Nebraska’s Spring Game earlier this month. “Getting those 15 minutes with the President was a chance of a lifetime for all of us. This isn’t just a football-related conversation anymore. It’s a national conversation for all the kids across the country and around the world with pediatric brain cancer. We still don’t know why God chose us to help raise awareness for this horrific disease, but it’s a responsibility we accept.”

Somehow, mostly through national columns, network television analysis and countless TV and radio interviews with Andy defining a quarter-century of neglect in a uniquely positive way, Team Jack became famous. In fact, on Sunday, while the family was waiting to see the U.S. Constitution as D.C. tourists, one person standing right next to them in line, pulled out Jack’s memorable run on his smart phone and asked if the kid standing next to him in the red tee-shirt with “Believe” on it, was the same boy in the video. Andy and Bri’s smiles answered the question. “I knew it,” he said, explaining he was an Oklahoma fan who had watched that inspiring Spring Game touchdown run more than once.

In fact, when an emotional U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) met with Obama, one of the Hoffmans’ family friends didn’t even have to explain who Jack was because the President already had seen his TD video on YouTube, along with nearly 8 million others. “I can’t say enough about Senator Fischer’s resolution last week that was unanimously approved to designate Sept. 26, 2013 (Jack’s 8th birthday) as National Pediatric Brian Cancer Day,” Andy said, adding how surreal it can be when you’re standing next to the president of the United States and having a conversation.

“All of us want to fight this disease and beat it,” Andy said. “This is truly a bi-partisan cause and a bi-partisan effort, and it’s humbling to see a U.S. Senator and the President of the United States putting this disease on their shoulders and trying to find a better way to tackle it. Getting national attention and the awareness that goes with that attention is a great place to start. We thanked the President for our visit and let him know that it should help us start a truly national conversation about pediatric brain cancer.”

The President presented Jack with a football in the Oval Office. Dressed in khakis and wearing his favorite jersey, Jack looked up and connected with the President eye-to-eye. Obama looked down and told Jack how proud he was of him. Fully invested in the moment, Jack is engaged and involved. But just like his “big brother” – who will be introduced to his new NFL home in Cincinnati Tuesday – Jack also was quiet and appreciative. Study the classic photo at the top of this column. You’ll see how even a 7-year-old can communicate without saying a word.

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Little Jack and His Family Go to Washington

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:05:00 -0400

Ava Hoffman, 5, and Reese, 2, join brother Jack in Washington, D.C. Sunday.

Little Jack Talks to President Obama

Who Else Showed Up at the White House?

Historical Close-Up of Two Husker Legends

By Randy York

So what does a 7-year-old pediatric brain cancer patient do after thrilling 60,000 fans at Nebraska’s Spring Football Game, plus nearly 8 million YouTube viewers, with an inspiring 69-yard touchdown run? After throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Saturday’s nationally televised Nebraska-Michigan softball game in Lincoln, Jack flew to Washington D.C. with his dad, Andy, mom, Bri and sisters Ava 5, and Reese, 2.

On Sunday, the Hoffmans took in the sights of our Nation’s Capital in advance of a Monday noontime scheduled visit with President Barack Obama at the White House. “We were thrilled to get invited, and we hope it all comes off,” Andy Hoffman, Jack’s dad, said Sunday night.

“There is no advance agenda. I am here simply as Jack’s dad, and Bri is here as Jack’s mom,” Andy said. “Of course, we hope that the President wants to support a conversation about pediatric brain cancer, but no matter what might happen if we get to meet President Obama, we’re honored that he has followed Jack’s journey. We’re honored because Jack represents every kid who has gone through this horrific disease without any changes in the first-line protocol to treat his form of pediatric brain cancer in 25 years.”

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VOICES FROM HUSKER NATION

I am a Nebraska Alum (College of Law ‘93). It was just announced in our Sunday Press that the VanAndel Institute here in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is starting research on incurable pediatric brain cancer. We have followed the story of Jack Hoffman and pray daily for this young boy and his family. Following Jack brought extra meaning to what this research could mean, and I want to share this information with you and everyone interested in the beginning of this area of research. Thank you for all your stories and your updates concerning Jack. The Spring Game still brings tears to my eyes every time I see Jack’s run. I can’t even begin to imagine what this boy and his family go through on a daily basis. GBR. Tom Bont, Caledonia, Michigan

Jack meets the President today. He would trade all of his fame in a heartbeat for a healthy, normal, quiet childhood. Godspeed on your journey, Jack Hoffman. Chuck Sinclair, Kent, Ohio

It is alarming and mystifying to know that the line of treatment for pediatric brain cancer is the same as it was 25 years ago. Thank you, Jack, for bringing this disease to public attention. Thanks also to Jack’s parents for your tenacity and strength. God bless you all. Gwen Porter, Ceresco, Nebraska

We are shocked that the NFL Draft didn’t pick up Jack Hoffman. They missed a good one there. Val Riedel, Hadar, Nebraska

Sunny Russell Taking Aim as New Husker Leader

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 23:12:00 -0400

Sunny Russell is the president of NU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

By Randy York

The vast majority of Nebraska fans have never been to a rifle meet. Many probably don’t even know the Huskers compete in an Olympic sport so highly specialized that 96 percent of perfection is considered marginally competitive while 98 percent of perfection is NCAA record-setting territory. In that two-percentage point spread is greatness, and Nebraska has a junior Air Rifle, Small Bore shooting specialist from Stratford, Texas, who not only is taking aim at her sport, but also shooting higher for all 600-plus student-athletes at Nebraska.

Meet Sunny Russell, who this week was elected president of Nebraska’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). That means Russell looks at total student-athlete development in terms of lifetime success because she, in essence, leads the group that is considered “the voice” of all student-athlete experiences. Talk about a talented young lady who exemplifies the student-athlete experience.

“Sunny is one of those people who any coach would enjoy having on your team,” Nebraska Rifle Coach Stacy Underwood said. “She’s obviously very coachable and also has the personality that her teammates respect. She really embraces leadership and likes to help others. She looks at SAAC as one very important way she can pursue leadership while she’s still in college.”

Sunny lights up a room when she walks in. “Her name reflects her personality,” Underwood said. “She’s all sunshine and makes everyone’s day a little bit better. Everyone who has ever been around her knows it’s going to be good attitude and good vibes all the way around with her.”

Underwood also knows that Nebraska Athletics is loaded with capable leaders, but few match Russell’s skill sets. “Maybe it’s because her personality isn’t overbearing,” Underwood said. “She just seems to be a little bit more open to others. So much so that others feel they can communicate easily at any time. I think Sunny will be a great liaison between the athletes and the Athletic Department and everyone else she will communicate with in the Big Ten.

“Sunny just has that humble attitude,” Underwood added. “She doesn’t take life so seriously, but clearly understands when things have to be very serious. She communicates very well and interacts well and connects with all the student-athletes around her. They see her as a great advocate for them and as someone who will be on their side and represent them very well.”

Given Nebraska’s high level of success in academics, athletics and life skills, leadership is crucial. “Sunny sees the vision of Nebraska Athletics very clearly in terms of honoring tradition and making sure we have a top-notch program all the way around and making sure that our student-athletes are well taken care of,” Underwood said. “I’m confident that her perspective and her leadership will lead to some positive changes in different ways.”

Keith Zimmer, the associate athletic director who leads NU’s Life Skills program, is equally confident in SAAC’s new leader. “Sunny will thrive in the president’s role,” he said. “She’s an excellent facilitator. She’s inclusive, caring, genuine and committed to excellence in all that she does.”

Zimmer, however, points out that SAAC’s other three recently elected officers also will play pivotal roles. Ryan Grassel, a junior golfer from Chesterton, Ind., will serve as vice president of SAAC. Mattie Fowler, a sophomore infielder on Nebraska’s softball team from Tucson, Ariz., will be SAAC’s Big Ten representative from Nebraska. Jake Griess, a sophomore shot put/discus/hammer thrower on the Husker men’s track and field team, will lead SAAC’s community outreach efforts.

Interestingly, three of the four SAAC officers have siblings who also compete in college athletics. Russell’s brother, Rustin, is a member of the rifle team at Memphis. Grassel’s brother, Kyle, plays golf at the Colorado School of Mines, and Fowler’s sister, Kenzie, is a two-time senior All-America pitcher for the Arizona Wildcats.

We’ve all heard how leaders are people who see more than others see, see farther than others see and see before others see. If that’s true, then this SAAC team should get a head start because whenever they huddle up with family members this summer, they will be honing their leadership skills for the fall. “This is a solid group of leaders,” Zimmer said. “They will accomplish a lot of great things over the next year.”

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Can You Solve This Equation: WLST = GVICS?

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:56:00 -0400

Jack Hoffman, a 7-year-old YouTube star, will throw Saturday’s first pitch.

World’s Largest Softball Tailgate

Huskers Host No. 9 Michigan

Jack’s Historic 69-Yard Run

Senator’s Emotional Speech

By Randy York

The N-Sider has its fair share of inquiring minds and Husker loyalists, but I’m betting few, if any, can translate this: WLST = GVICS. Give up? Here’s your answer: World’s Largest Softball Tailgate = Greatest Value In College Sports! How do I know? Nebraska Athletic Marketing tells me so. Honestly, those hard-working marketers can back up facts with specific truths that should be self-evident for any family smart enough to follow the Huskers to Bowlin Stadium on Saturday. It’s more important to bring a song in your heart than cash in your pocket. No. 16 Nebraska hosts No. 9 Michigan, which brings a nation-leading 22-game winning streak to Lincoln. Where else can a fan see a matchup like that for absolutely nothing? Yes, admission to the game is free Saturday, but not on Friday or on Sunday. The tailgate will run from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with first pitch at 1 p.m.

But wait. There’s more to help make Saturday a day of fun and opportunity. Hot dogs, chips and Pepsi are also free, while supplies last. Get there early so you can see one of the year’s biggest littlest national heroes – 7-year-old Jack Hoffman, who will throw the ceremonial first pitch after joining some Husker softball and football players in the autograph zone beginning about 11:40 a.m. Little Jack inspires many Nebraskans, including the Husker softball team, so the team invited Jack and the Hoffman family to be a part of this big day to show support for Jack’s brave fight and for increasing awareness of the disease itself.

Talk about timing. Jack’s name was discussed on the U.S. Senate Floor Thursday afternoon when Deb Fischer (R-Neb) emotionally introduced a bipartisan resolution to designate Sept. 26, 2013, as National Pediatric Brain Cancer Day. A friend of the Hoffman family, Fischer introduced the unanimously approved legislation in honor of Jack, an iconic 7-year-old with brain cancer. His 69-yard Spring Game touchdown 19 days ago has more than 7.7 million video views.

The autograph zone will be open for two hours beginning at 10:20 a.m. and will feature members of Nebraska’s NCAA Sweet 16 women’s basketball team, the Huskers’ NCAA national champion women’s bowling team, plus the Nebraska soccer, volleyball, rifle, men’s basketball, football and softball teams, with each team taking turns signing for short periods of time. Fans will have the opportunity to check out the Husker Helicopter and the Nebraska Football Equipment Truck. They also will be able to take their photo with the Big Ten Softball Trophy. Door prizes that will be given away include day camps with some of our Husker coaches and gift cards from First National Bank. There also will be inflatable fun, balloon artists, face painters and more. Saturday is, after all, the World’s Largest Softball Tailgate. Put everything together and you have an AFE …an Absolutely Free Experience, turning the WLST into the GVICS … Greatest Value In College Sports. Who knows? Saturday’s game may even become a true NUSWOYW … National Upset Special Without Opening Your Wallet.

Softball/Twitter Softball/Facebook

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Economics Ph.D.: Weatherholt is ‘Exceptional’

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:53:00 -0400

The NCAA ranks Mary Weatherholt No. 11 in singles and No. 4 in doubles.

Huskers Taught Barrefors the Art of Leadership

By Randy York

Twelve years ago, Carlos Asarta was a finalist for the Nebraska Student-Athlete of the Year Award. An accomplished swimmer from Spain, he served as president of Nebraska’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2000-01. Today, Asarta is a Ph.D. associate professor of Practice in UNL’s Department of Economics. As a faculty member who has taught more than 6,000 students over the past six years, Asarta is certain of one thing. “Mary Weatherholt,” he said, “is the most exceptional student-athlete I have ever had the pleasure to teach. She’s an intelligent, applied, involved, personable and polite student-athlete leader who deserves recognition for every accomplishment.”

Arriving at Nebraska as a 17-year-old freshman tennis star from Shawnee Mission, Kan., South High School, Weatherholt realized what she had to do to excel – be an expert in time management, balance various athletic, academic and life skills responsibilities, be a good team player, develop and hone her leadership skills and prove she could work hard and be competitive every day.

Weatherholt met those goals and earned the highest individual honor a Nebraska student-athlete can receive. She also became the first Husker in history to sweep the top academic honor as the Student-Athlete of the Year, plus win the Heart & Soul Award, the top annual honor bestowed in Life Skills. Less than a week after that double-barreled feat, Weatherholt led the Huskers to their first regular-season conference tennis title in 35 years. Sunday’s 4-0 win over Wisconsin enabled Nebraska (21-4 overall and 10-1 in the Big Ten) to share the league championship with No. 6-ranked Michigan. Weatherholt and fellow senior Patricia Veresova are No. 4 nationally in doubles with an 18-1 record. Weatherholt also ranks No. 11 nationally in singles with 22-1 record. That includes an 11-0 Big Ten mark that should allow a repeat conference player of the year honor.

Weatherholt Learns Five Valuable Lessons

One of Weatherholt’s favorite college professors was not surprised. In 2012, the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska (ASUN) named Asarta the Outstanding Educator of the Year for teaching classes with 60 or fewer students. Having spent most of his childhood moving around France and Spain, Asarta moved to America and went on to earn three degrees at UNL. He takes great pride in going the extra mile to learn his students’ names and to equip them with the tools they need to succeed.

Weatherholt is in Asarta’s “extraordinary” student category. He marvels at the perfect score she achieved on the Principles of Macroeconomics, a 200-level course designed to introduce students to macroeconomics and prepare them for further training. She also had a perfect attendance record and completed all optional homework assignments. She did equally well in another 200-level econ course, plus a 300-level course on theory that required courses in calculus and statistics. “Mary earned the only perfect score in her class and was in the top 2 percent of students overall,” Asarta said. “She is truly an outstanding student, and an equally outstanding athlete.”

As a freshman in 2009, Weatherholt was named the Big12 Conference Freshman of the Year in Tennis. In 2012, she was named the Big Ten Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Year. Weatherholt, 21, achieved a GPA of 3.87 while juggling priorities. She believes that intercollegiate athletics taught her five lessons that will be helpful throughout the rest of her life:

1) Athletics taught Weatherholt to respect authority. “Since your coaches are with you for years,” she said, I learned to trust and support their decisions and focus only on what I can control and what I can do to be the best player I can be for them and for my teammates.”

2) Athletics taught her that relationships are the most important ingredient in life. “They’re important for both success and joy, and forgiveness and humility are vital for close relationships to thrive,” she said. “At one point, one of my teammates and I didn’t get along, and it affected the whole team chemistry, dynamics and success. When we forgave each other and mended our relationship, it helped us to have the best season in school history and have more fun as a team than we’ve ever had.”

3) Athletics taught her that success goes beyond talent, smarts and ability. “It’s about attitude and effort and loving and caring for one another – in sports and in the real world,” she said. “A cohesive team cares about each other, has the same goals and is incomparably stronger as a group rather than just a bunch of individuals.”

4) Athletics taught her about overcoming adversity and hardships. “When I tore my knee my junior year, rehab was painful and not being able to compete was excruciating,” she said. “I learned how to have a positive attitude despite what was thrown my way. I learned how to be the best teammate off the court and how to motivate, inspire and help my teammates, even though I couldn’t play. The injury taught me how dependent I really am.”

5) Athletics taught her how important community is. “From coaches, teammates and other athletes to trainers, doctors and staff in Academics, Life Skills and Compliance, I had more care and support than I could have fathomed,” she said. “From security and training table workers to athletic directors, I felt like part of the Husker family. I’ve learned how valuable people are, and those connections run deep. They provide the backbone of life.”

Bottom line, Weatherholt learned that in athletics, “it really isn’t about me or what I’ve done or can do to help myself,” she said. “It’s about giving my best effort and having the best attitude I can have in all areas of my life, whether it’s to glorify God, represent the University, achieve team success or help as many people as possible. I am so grateful to be a student-athlete at Nebraska. It has formed me into the person I am.”

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Huskers Taught Barrefors the Art of Leadership

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:02:00 -0400

Björn Barrefors accepts his NU Student-Athlete of the Year Award.

Barrefors, Weatherholt Earn Top Honors

By Randy York

Nebraska’s 2013 Male Student-Athlete of the Year is steeped in athletic and academic achievements. Björn Barrefors is a school record-setting decathlete who won a Big Ten Conference title the same year the league honored him as a Distinguished Scholar. He’s on the verge of becoming the first four-time Academic All-American at a school that tops the charts for the College Sports Information Directors of America’s prestigious honor. A Computer Science major with minors in Mathematics and Physics, Barrefors has achieved a 3.748 GPA at the same time he’s pole vaulted 16-8¾, long jumped 24-2 and high jumped 6-9. He’s also competitive in the sprints, hurdles, middle distance, distance, plus the shot put, discus and javelin.

That’s a load when you arrive in Lincoln, Nebraska, from Stockholm, Sweden, and feel fully prepared to show the world how athletic you are and how smart you are. But a funny thing happened on Barrefors’ way to the top individual honor a Husker student-athlete can achieve. He grew up. He learned why community outreach was important. And he completely redefined what he considered a leader. Even though he became a captain and a member of NU’s track and field Leadership Council, “I didn’t know how to lead in the beginning,” he said. “But luckily, there were plenty of good role models I could look up to and learn from.”

Osborne, Leblanc, Zimmer, Yu, Grimes Inspire

One was Tom Osborne, who always wants what’s best for the people around him and inspires others to feel the same way.

One was Dennis Leblanc, who keeps a laser-like focus on every student-athlete’s academic performance, especially when he’s one of Nebraska’s most decorated student-athletes ever.

One was Keith Zimmer, who encouraged community involvement so Björn could mingle with kids who didn’t have it as easy as he did.

One was Dr. Ying Lu, an associate professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department who taught Barrefors to pursue his major with the same gusto he gave Kris Grimes, his combined events coach for the decathlon.

“Nebraska has opened up doors I never even knew existed,” Barrefors said. “The major I chose coming in my freshman year has become more than just homework and tests. It’s become a part of my identity. I’ve always had the potential to be a top student, but until I came here, I rarely enjoyed school, so I didn’t put that much work into it.”

Problem-Solving Skills Help Make a Difference

Nebraska inspired Barrefors to optimize all of his skills, athletically, academically and socially. “In computer science, I found a way to make a difference in the world, using my problem-solving skills and cognitive thinking.”

Dr. Lu convinced Barrefors to do undergraduate research with her on cluster computing. When Björn learned from a recent study that the improvements in cluster computing could save the government up to $5 billion in energy, he knew the importance of graduate school this fall. “With the knowledge I have and the inspiration Dr. Lu provides, I can’t wait to begin helping with that research,” Barrefors said.

It’s a team-first deal, and Nebraska has nurtured the art of leadership for a student-athlete who arrived in Lincoln thinking otherwise. “I came from a very different culture, where the individual cares about himself,” Barrefors said. “Growing up, I was always someone that would take charge and lead in group projects. But coming to Nebraska, for the first time, I was called upon to lead a team.”

After a couple of tough conference losses, Barrefors learned to look at productivity through the eyes of a team instead of through his own lens. He joined the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to sharpen his leadership skills and found himself getting involved with the Lighthouse Community Center, where he hung out with kids and learned to appreciate people who didn’t come from a similar background.

Now It’s Time to Help Other Achieve Success

“At Nebraska, I’ve had the pleasure to meet so many inspiring people that have helped me become a better person,” Barrefors said. “Now, it’s my turn to help others reach the same success I have.”

Life Skills became refuge from his daily pressure-cooker. “Keith Zimmer is very humble and very empathetic,” he said. “He and his whole team are always there to help any student-athlete, whether it’s nailing an interview, searching for a job or just having somebody to talk to …. about anything. For me, and for any student-athlete at Nebraska, Life Skills workers are more than members of the athletic department. They’re friends. They’re mentors, and in a fast-paced world, when pressure to perform comes from everywhere, that skill is invaluable.”

Barrefors took Dr. Lu’s 310-level course on data structures and algorithms and took her 455-level course on distributed operating systems. “Björn is very active in my classes and often raises questions that demonstrate his capability in critical thinking,” Lu said. “He’s among the very few students who always actively participate in in-class problem-solving and shares his answers with classmates. It’s a pleasure to have a student with his problem-solving skills, his enthusiasm and diligence and such excellent interpersonal skills. He’s an asset to the work place. He’s already been admitted and awarded a research assistant position in our Holland Computing Center and will become a graduate student in our department this fall.”

Whatever individual mindset Barrefors brought with him from Sweden to Nebraska is now behind him. He’s proven to be a great leader with a team focus … and a future every bit as bright as a changed mind inside a changed man.

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A Husker Trailblazer, Linda Olson, Retiring

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:24:29 -0400

Last Sunday night, Linda Olson received NU’s prestigious Trailblazer Award.

By Randy York

A week from today, the coordinator of Registration and Records at the University of Nebraska will spend her last day in the office. Linda Olson will end 35 years of working for the university and 25 years as the first and only athletic certification coordinator in Nebraska history. She is the very definition of an unsung hero … someone you never hear about, yet somebody who plays a big part in the very lifeline of Nebraska Athletics.

“The mantra on the wall for Nebraska Athletics is integrity, trust, respect, teamwork and loyalty, and Linda was all of that. She was the voice that every coach and athlete needed to hear regarding eligibility,” said Matt Martin, who has recruited dozens upon dozens of international student-athletes for the Nebraska track and field team. “A lot of people have become institutions around here … Tom Osborne, Bob Devaney, Al Papik, Gary Pepin, Francis Allen, George Sullivan, Don Bryant … those people spent a long time here and worked in the public eye, but for my money, this lady right here, is one of those institutions. I only wish the people of Nebraska could know what a big part she played and what a big impact she’s had on Nebraska Athletics.“

Dennis Leblanc, Nebraska’s longtime senior associate athletic director for Academics, feels the same way as Martin, who has translated global transcripts with Olson for 17 years. “I was the recruiting coordinator for track and field when I first met Linda,” Leblanc recalled. “I had a lot to learn about eligibility and calculating grade-point-averages and everything else. Linda is a very smart woman with great intuition. She’s a true professional and a real superstar for everyone she worked with and around. She has done an amazing job.”

So amazing that Leblanc thought long and hard about what to give a quiet leader who worked so tirelessly and effectively for an athletic department that couldn’t claim her as an employee, but will forever claim her as an important colleague and a great friend. At a packed reception Thursday inside the Student Life Complex, Leblanc presented Olson with a ring that included the words “Academics” and “Athletics”.

Leblanc: Olson Connected Academics with Athletics

“Linda has probably done a better job than anybody connecting those two words,” Leblanc said. “We put Academics first and Athletics second, and that’s exactly what she taught us all. We had already recognized Linda Sunday night with the Trailblazer Award, but we also wanted to host a reception for faculty and staff. We all know how important her role was.”

A fan of the arts more than athletics, Olson was humbled to receive the Trailblazer Award named in honor of Dr. Barbara Hibner, a longtime member of the Nebraska Athletic Department and the inaugural recipient of the Trailblazer Award. Dr. Hibner died on March 7, 2007, and her legend lives on alongside such honored coaches as Terry Pettit, Rhonda Revelle and Carol Frost, plus an impressive list of donors and others who have enriched and enhanced Nebraska Athletics.

“I worked with Dr. Hibner for many years,” Olson said. “I was in the Registrar’s Office, and we had to add two full-time positions (Jayne Kapke and Lisa Dority) to do the job we needed to do. I am so proud of all the academic accomplishments achieved by our student-athletes. Even though I didn’t work with them directly, I marvel at the way they could handle all their schedules, assignments and requirements. They break down all the stereotypes some have about student-athletes.”

With a challenging job and a high level of her own pressure, Olson found a way to cope. She enjoys camping, family, birds, biking, reading and movies. “I enjoy going to theaters in Lincoln and Omaha,” she said. “That’s how I relieve my stress. I go to one football game a year and some volleyball. The sport I enjoy watching most is tennis.”

New Bike is Olson’s Retirement Present to Herself

To celebrate her retirement, Olson bought a new bike this week and plans to camp more often in Louisville, about halfway between Lincoln and Omaha. “I like to camp at Two Rivers State Park and Branched Oak Lake, too,” she said.

Revelle had some fun at Thursday’s reception, revealing how she once asked Olson for a shoe size and remembered a long pause on the phone when she said she wanted to send over a pair of adidas shoes. Olson called it a conflict of interest, and Gary Bargen was not surprised. Nebraska’s longtime associate athletic director for Compliance drove from Kansas City Thursday to communicate the benefits of retirement to a dedicated colleague following in his footsteps.

Having retired from the Nebraska Athletic Department himself 8½ months ago, Bargen assured Olson she would enjoy retirement. “Linda had a very heavy load at Nebraska, but she never complained,” Bargen said. “Her integrity and honesty were never questioned and will never be questioned. She won’t miss all the NCAA meetings and all the conference meetings she attended, but they will miss her because she was the one asking all the important questions and interpreting the feedback to come up with the right answers. She will be missed, but she leaves everything in great hands.”

Isn’t that what all true trailblazers do? Blaze the trail with innovative solutions to complex problems and then let the next generation reinforce what they’ve already solved?

Happy Retirement from the NU Athletic Department

Happy retirement, Linda, from all the student-athletes you helped certify for competition, plus their parents, their coaches and all the staff members who respect you and admire the job you’ve done so well for a quarter century. You have earned the opportunity to retire from work, but not from life.

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‘Orchestrated Fun’ Keys Bowlers’ NCAA Title

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:49:00 -0400

Bill Straub, left, went red-and-white to inspire his national champion team.

By Randy York

Bill Straub has seen it all, and Dr. Larry Widman has tried it all, and when Nebraska’s head bowling coach connects with a Husker sports psychiatrist, the result is a fourth NCAA national bowling championship and the first that can be traced to what both call orchestrated fun. Yes, a young Nebraska team with only one senior defeated Vanderbilt last Saturday night on national television. Kristina Mickelson is that steady senior from Bellevue, Neb., and Liz Kuhlkin is her super sophomore teammate from Schenectady, N.Y. In Straub’s mind, Kuhlkin is the nation’s best female collegiate bowler, statistically, mentally and by any other measure you might want to throw into the conversation.

But make no mistake. This Nebraska team – with four freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors and one senior – beat Vandy more emotionally than competitively. “We feel like we’re the most fundamentally sound team in the country, but no matter how good you are, you have to take emotional control at the most important time, and Larry certainly helped us do that,” Straub said of Widman, who was a state champion junior bowler at Omaha Westside High School before moving on to Washington University in St. Louis and then the University of Nebraska Medical Center. From there, he branched out from his psychiatric training to become a sports psychiatrist.

When the Huskers won the 16-team Mid-Winter Invitational in Jonesboro, Ark., last January, Widman congratulated Straub in the lobby of the North Stadium. Nebraska’s head coach said thanks, but he needed major help. The daily grind was wearing on his young team, and he needed some ideas on how to keep them emotionally inspired at the same time he was teaching them how to improve.

The Youngest, Most Lighthearted Tournament Team

“Bottom line and in black-and-white, Larry had a big impact on this team,” Straub said. “He talked to the kids about breathing and how to stay calm, and he took it from a perspective that the more lighthearted you are, the farther you are from distress. I think it paid off measurably. We were probably the youngest team in the NCAA Tournament, but we were also the most lighthearted, and that wasn’t just my observation.”

The NCAA Tournament director for the last 10 years told Straub he had never seen a Nebraska team so loose and lighthearted. A national television audience saw the same thing. The Huskers were as poised as collegiate athletes can be when the bright lights come on and the ESPN cameras bring live action into American homes and business establishments.

“Our performance,” Straub said, “was in direct correlation to the way Larry helped us prepare for the biggest pressure points.”

When the pressure surfaced, Nebraska’s fun meter went from the 7 Widman originally worked with to an 8, 9 and borderline10. “The goal all along was orchestrated fun, and I have to say, it worked. It really worked,” Straub said. “The whole team benefited, but we had two girls, in particular, whose performance really reflected the lightheartedness we were able to build up by strategy and design.”

Sophomore Ruiz, Junior Ling Major Benefactors of Fun

One major benefactor was Andrea Ruiz, a sophomore from Bogota, Colombia. “That girl is mature beyond her years,” Straub said. “I don’t mean that she’s the glue that keeps things together. I’m talking about her ability to be lighthearted. She connected to that strategy immediately, and she had all the vibes that helped everyone else. She’s competed internationally, and she came here to get better. It’s been a win for us and a win for her.”

The second major benefactor from orchestrated fun is Yan Ling, a junior from Auckland, Singapore. “She’s the girl that may have done the best and became our most reliable bowler on national television,” Straub said. “She’s like a middle infielder who’s not going to hit home runs and get a lot of RBI, but she’s steady, and she performed way, way, way beyond anything she’s ever done for us in the past. I think she may have benefited most from the orchestrated fun. She really turned the corner on the way she’s handled pressure.”

Ling’s performance was not coincidental. “I have a long history of being too nervous in tournaments, even when I was in high school in Singapore,” she said. “Dr. Widman was the first one who really helped me to calm down, and it was more than just deep breathing. When the television lights came on and it got really bright, all my training helped me stay loose and comfortable. I was able to have fun before we came on the air, while we were competing and afterwards. The whole experience was so fun for me.”

She Loves Her Team Role: Come in and Save the Day

It was fun because Ling has learned how to handle her hopes and tackle her fears. “I have always thought of myself as someone who can come in and turn things around,” she said. “I’ve done it so many times. I just have that confidence that when Coach Straub needs me, I have to perform. He’s always telling me that I’m the hero who can come in and save the day. That’s his analogy, and I have fun with it. I usually go in when we get into a slump, and I try to pull us out of that slump. It was so much fun. I watched the replay on ESPN, and we were definitely the team having the most fun while we were bowling, in between shots and when TV would break for a commercial.”

For Widman, orchestrated fun was the result of interviewing Nebraska’s bowlers and coaches separately and then finding ways to remove the barriers that would prevent the Huskers from winning the national championship. Both groups wanted a young team to be more cohesive and have more fun. “They wanted to take their fun meter from the 7 they were experiencing to that 8 and 9 level,” Widman said. “They all agreed on what they needed to do and how they wanted to do it. They wanted to deal with anxiety, stay together as a team, remain calm under fire and make fun a strategy.”

Widman knew he was dealing with a special group of elite bowlers the first time he met with them. “I studied their record and their ability to handle adversity and come from behind in a big tournament,” he said. “I just needed them to believe in their greatness. That’s my job – to help them understand why they’re already great and then eliminate the barriers and maximize their confidence. When they believe it, they can achieve it.”

Widman: Fun is a Simple Choice and a Simple Strategy

Just like happiness is a choice, “fun is also a choice,” Widman said. “The more we talked about it, the more this team realized that it could make a conscious decision to control the amount of fun they can have. It was a simple choice and a simple strategy. They knew they all played a role in bringing the troops up to an 8 or a 9 on the fun meter.”

Straub was more than willing to do his part. He wore a rather outrageous red-and-white short-sleeved shirt to match the confidence his team had wearing designed shirts. “I think this whole lighthearted approach took some pressure off Liz, who’s our anchor in the No. 5 spot,” Straub said. “It helped her not to feel so burdened with the weight of the world on her shoulders.”

Widman believes Straub’s experience and influence was dramatically showcased in that national championship game. “Without superior coaching and superior athletes, my role would be inconsequential,” he said. “I thank Coach from the bottom of my heart for recruiting such talented-athletes to work with.”

Biggest Question: What Will Huskers Do for an Encore?

I asked Straub the question I wanted to ask him last Saturday night while watching the Huskers have a world of fun on national television: Is the shirt you picked out for the ESPN cameras designed to lighten the load for the team? “We do practice harder than any team in the country,” he said. “Sometimes, it gets like boot camp because I’m ridiculously strong on fundamentals.”

He is also, perhaps, ridiculously bullish on strategy to ease the drudgery. “Periodically, I have to act a little funny just to show the girls that it’s not all business,” Straub said. “It’s stronger than funny. It’s nutty just to be comical. I want them to wonder ‘What’s up with Coach?’ It takes their mind off the pressure. There can be a lighter side to all this. So, yes, I did decide to be a little goofy myself.”

It not only matched Straub’s personality, but worked like a fingertip-controlled bowling ball hooking its way into five consecutive strikes from five different bowlers in Nebraska’s last two matches of a national championship season. Straub, assistant coach Paul Klempa and every Husker bowler left Canton, Mich., with a 10 on the fun meter planted in their minds, plus an important question we all want to ask: What will the Nebraska women’s bowling team do in 2014 for an encore?

Whatever it is, this much is certain. Dr. Larry Widman will be ready and able to assist. “I feel very blessed to work with a very talented group of coaches and student-athletes,” he said. “It’s a privilege to have been asked to play a role in helping a team reach such a lofty goal, and I look forward to helping them in any way necessary, so they can win it again next year.”

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