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LINCOLN Twelve athletes, five coaches, two
contributors and an official will be inducted into the Nebraska High
School Sports Hall of Fame at the foundation's induction ceremony Sept. 26
at the Lied Center in Lincoln.
The 2010 induction ceremony, the 17th in
the history of the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame Foundation,
will be at the Lied Center for the Performing Arts in Lincoln. Doors open
at noon.
Tickets to the ceremony are $25 for adults and $10 for
elementary and high school students. Tickets are available by contacting
Tami McLaughlin, at Nebraska Sports Council, P.O. Box 29366, Lincoln, NE
68529, or by calling 402-471-2544or by e-mail to
tami@nebraskasportscouncil.com
In addition, the Hall's selections for the Ron
Gustafson Inspiration Award, the Fischer Family Award, the Dominant
Dynasty Award, the Great Moments in Nebraska Sports Award and the golden
and silver anniversary teams will be honored at the induction ceremony.
Inductees
Dennis Albers (athlete), Hastings High School
Class of 1960: Won 13 of a possible 16 gold medals in leading Hastings to
state gymnastics titles in 1959 and 1960. He lettered two years at
Nebraska.
Dan Brand (athlete), Bellevue High School Class of 1953: An
Olympic bronze medalist in wrestling in 1964 and a fifth-place finisher in
1960, he never competed in the sport until college at Nebraska. He played
football and basketball and ran track at Bellevue.
Don Moose Cooper (athlete), York High School Class of 1944: A
two-time state high school champion in the pole vault, he was the first
collegian to clear 15 feet at the Kansas Relays in 1951.
Ahman Green (athlete), Omaha Central High School Class of 1995:
After a prep career in which he was all-state in football in 1993 and 1994
and won the 100 and 200 meters at the 1995 state track meet, he rushed for
nearly 4,000 yards at Nebraska and more than 9,000 yards in the NFL,
becoming Green Bay's all-time rushing leader.
Herb Grote (athlete), Omaha Benson Class of 1938: A four-time
conference javelin champion at Nebraska and a two-time high school state
champion in the event, he was also a standout in football and basketball.
Barb (Harris) Bruce, (athlete), Lincoln High School Class of
1977: An NCAA champion swimmer at North Carolina (butterfly), she never
lost a race in high school, winning six individual state meet gold medals.
Ted Harvey (athlete), Lexington High School Class of 1974:
All-state in football in 1973 and all-state tournament in basketball for
the Minutemen in 1974, he started at cornerback for three years for the
Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Angee Henry (athlete), Bellevue West High School Class of 1993: A
two-time NCAA champion in the long jump, a three-time conference champion
and a 10-time All-American at Nebraska, she holds the state record in the
400.
Jodi (Janssen) Harper (athlete), Papillion-LaVista High School
Class of 1994: The only four-time state high school girls diving champion
in Nebraska, she competed four years at Texas A&M with a best conference
finish of third place.
Clarence Mitchell (athlete), Franklin High School Class of 1908:
Called the last left-handed spit-baller in captivity, he pitched for six
major league teams from 1911 to 1932, pitching in the World Series for the
Brooklyn Dodgers in 1920 and St. Louis Cardinals in 1928.
Gary Power (athlete), Gothenburg High School Class of 1960: A
late bloomer, he turned into a world-class hurdler after graduating from
Omaha University, Competing internationally in the late 1960s and early
1970s, he became a well-known rival of Olympic champion Willie Davenport.
Ed Thompson (athlete), Cambridge High School Class of 1995: The
first NCAA Division II football player to rush and pass for 1,000 yards in
a season at UNO, he led Cambridge to the Class C-2 state football
championship in 1994 and was a basketball and track standout.
Gary DeBoer (coach), Lawrence-Nelson: His 319 victories in
football rank second all-time. His teams qualified for the playoffs 21
times, winning three state championship and three runner-up trophies.
Ted Larson (coach), Southeast and Southwest: His boys and girls cross
country teams won 23 state champio0nships, four runner-up trophies and 28
conference championships in 21 seasons. He also coached Southeast to the
1992 Class A boys state track title..
--Chuck Mizerski, (coach) Lincoln Southeast: In nearly 40 years as
a football coach in Illinois and Nebraska, he posted 274 coaching wins in
his career, including 230 at Lincoln Southeast. His Knights won six state
championships and three runner-up trophies.
--Larry Pritchett (coach), Grant: The caretaker of the Plainsmen
basketball program from 1964-73 and again from 1987-2007, his teams won
three state championships, two state runner-up trophies, 22 conference
titles and played in the state tournament 14 times. He compiled a coaching
record of 476-147.
Howard Zook (coach), Fairfield: In 28 years at 10 schools, the
1930 Peru State graduate from Tecumseh coached three mythical state
championship teams in football, the 1950 Class D basketball champions at
Glenvil and the 1960 Class D track champions at Fairfield. He had 356 wins
in basketball, including other Nebraska stops at Ewing, Davenport and
Ohiowa.
Tom Hallstrom (contributor), Omaha: A physical education teacher
and administrator in Omaha Public Schools for 40 years, Hallstrom directed
the state track meet form 1973 to 1979 and was a national chairman for the
AAU's Junior Olympics in Track and Field.
Rex Jones (contributor), Chadron: Completed a 50-year career in
Nebraska high school athletics in 2002 after 27 years as associate
director of the Nebraska School Activities Association. He served on
national rules committees in football, wrestling and track and field..
Willie Weisbrook (official), Lincoln: A football and basketball
official for the past 45 years, he has worked 14 state basketball
championship games and 14 state football playoff seasons, including two
Class A finals. He also umpired baseball for nearly 20 years.
***
Honorees:
Great Moment in High School Sports: Jacob
Ramsay, Lincoln Pius X, A Magic Night of Kicking: In a 26-7 win over
Ralston, Ramsay was 4-for-4 on field goals of 32, 50, 50 and 22 yards. He
also was 2-for-2 on extra points.
Dominant Dynasty: Omaha Marian, 33 state
championships from 1998 to present, including eight straight in swimming
(2000-07), six straight in soccer (1998-2003), five straight in golf
(2005-2009) and cross country (2003-2007).
Ron Gustafson Inspiration Award: Jason Branigan,
Papillion-LaVista High School: A two-time state wrestling champion and an
all-state linebacker diagnosed with testicular cancer, brain cancer and
cancer of the lymph nodes while a high school senior, his competitive
career was over but he remains in sports and education as the wrestling
coach and a social studies teacher at Papillion-LaVista South High School.
Fischer Family Award: Roger and Donna Higgins
family of Omaha: Roger, a decorated athlete at Schuyler and coach at
Omaha Cathedral, had four sons and four daughters and several
grandchildren whose taken them to numerous college teams as well as
professional basketball, the NFL, athletic administration, coaching and
officiating.
Golden Anniversary Teams: Fairfield football,
basketball and track, 1960-61; McCook football, 1960
Silver Anniversary Teams: Grand Island Northwest
football, 1985; Creighton Prep football, 1985.
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