Lincoln Will Be Represented Six Times In 2020 Class of Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame

LINCOLN–(KFOR Apr. 5)–Two athletes, one coach, two longtime sportswriters, and a dominant dynasty team in football will be the Lincoln representatives in the 2020 class of the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame at an Oct. 4 ceremony at Lincoln East High School.

Todd Eubanks of Lincoln East, 1983’s state boys athlete of the year, and Emily Anderson Hansen, a three-sports star at Lincoln Southeast, are the two athletes from the city to be inducted.

Eubanks had a standout career in football, basketball (both of which he was all-state) and track for the Spartans.     He won two gold medals at the state track meet. A high school All-American in track, he set a city record in the 400.  Eubanks later competed in track and basketball at New Mexico State.

Anderson Hansen was on six state champion cross country and girls basketball teams at Southeast and competed in track, lettering a total of 12 times.  She won the all-class gold medal as a freshman in the 1992 state cross country meet.  Anderson Hansen graduated from Southeast in 1996 and played college basketball at at St. Cloud State.

Lincoln Lutheran’s Sue Ziegler will be one of four coaches to be inducted into the hall of fame this year.  Ziegler has spent 29 seasons as the Warriors’ track coach and 22 years as volleyball coach, winning a combined five team state championships in both sports.  Last fall, Ziegler won her 400th volleyball game and Lutheran won the Class C1 state title.

Ken and Ryly Jane Hambleton, formerly of the Lincoln Journal Star, are also being inducted as contributors.  The Hambletons joined the Journal Star in 1974 and continued writing about sports until their joint retirement in 2017.  For six years, Ken Hambleton was the prep sports editor, while Ryly Jane handled was the girls sports editor during the same time frame.  She took over as prep sports editor in 1989, and held that position for the next 28 years.

Lincoln High’s football program from 1911 to 1955 will be inducted as among the Dominant Dynasties in state history.  The Links won 20 mythical state championships and had a record of 324 wins, 48 losses and 18 ties during that stretch.

Other notable athletes being inducted include former Nebraska volleyball star Jordan Larson (Logan View 2005), ex-Husker football players Tony Veland (Omaha Benson 1992) and John Gibson (Papillion-LaVista 1996), former Husker men’s basketball player Steve Erwin (Laurel 1971), Husker track standout Robert Rands (Bellevue East 2005), Nebraska cross country/track star Nora Shepard Ohrt (York 1994), PGA pro Nate Lashley (Mitchell 2001), and ex-Creighton women’s basketball standout Megan Neuvirth Maslanka (West Point Central Catholic 2005).

Tickets for the hall of fame induction on Oct. 4 are on sale for $25 for adults, $10 for K-12 students and pre-school-aged kids have free admission.  You can purchase them through the Nebraska Sports Council.

Bio information on the other inductees:

— Dawn Crinklaw Gustafson, Ralston (1985): The runner-up for the Dial National High School Athlete of the Year award, she was recruited to play collegiately in four sports, eventually playing basketball and softball at U.S. International in San Diego before playing professional basketball in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. At Ralston, she was a three-year starter in volleyball and basketball and a two-time all-class gold medalist in the discus.

— Glenwood Einspahr, Hildreth (1950): A one-man track team, competing without a coach, Einspahr gave Hildreth a Class D co-championship by winning the 100- and 220-yard dashes and the long jump. A two-time all-state selection in basketball, he led Hildreth to an undefeated state championship in 1949. He played freshman football at Nebraska and after a stint in the Air Force, he played basketball at Kearney State College.

— Steve Erwin, Laurel (1971): An all-class all-state selection in football and basketball, he played quarterback for the Laurel team that won the 1970 mythical state championship. In basketball, he scored 1,427 points and collected 1,321 rebounds in his career. At the University of Nebraska, he started 55 of 71 games over a 3-year span.

— John Gibson, Papillion-La Vista (1996): The 1996 Omaha World-Herald Athlete of the Year, Gibson earned all-state honors on the football field and was a three-time gold medalist at the state track meet in the triple jump.At Nebraska, he was a four-year football letterman at wingback and was among the team’s leading receivers in 2001.

— Jordan Larson, Logan View (2005): A key player on the U.S. Olympic volleyball teams of 2012 and 2016, Larson earned 12 letters in volleyball, basketball and track at Logan View, earning high school All-American honors involleyball. Larson accepted a volleyball scholarship to Nebraska after her sophomore year in high school, starting four years for the Huskers and earning All-American honors three times.

— Nate Lashley, Mitchell (2001): A two-time state golf champion, leading Mitchell to the Class C1 team title both years, he went on to play for the University of Arizona where he was the Pac-10 runner-up in 2005. He turned professional after graduating from Arizona, winning the PGA’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2019. At Mitchell High School, Lashley is Mitchell’s career scoring leader in basketball.

— Megan Neuvirth Maslanka, West Point Central Catholic (2005): The Nebraska Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year in 2005, she helped her high school volleyball and basketball teams win eight state championships and compile a 201-3 record. A 4-year letterwinner at Creighton University, she scored more than 1,000 points in her career and was twice named the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

— Robert Rands, Bellevue East (2005): The state’s consensus Athlete of the Year b 2005, Rands broke Gale Sayers’ 44-year-old long jump record and became the first in the state to jump 25 feet. He won eh national young men’s championship in the long jump in 2005 and competed at Nebraska. He also enjoyed a stellar football career, rushing for a Bellevue East record 2,650 yards in his career.

— Nora Shepherd Ohrt, York (1994): Undefeated in the 1,600-meter run in her high school career, she won three state cross country championships and seven state track meet gold medals. She set York High School records in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200, establishing a Class B record in the 1,600 as a senior. At UNL, she was a 4-year letterwinner in track and cross country, running on the Huskers’ school-record setting 4×1,500-meter relay.

— Tony Veland, Omaha Benson (1991): Owner of national championship and Super Bowl rings, he was a nine time letterman for the Bunnies in football, basketball and track. He earned second-team all-state honors as a quarterback, signed wtih NU and set a Shrine Bowl record for total offense. He was a defensive back on the Cornhuskers’ national championship teams of 1994 and 1995. Drafted in the sixth round of the NFL draft, he was a special teams player on Denver’s 1997 Super Bowl champions and started five games the next year for Carolina.

COACHES

— Jeff Bellar, Norfolk Catholic: Nebraska’s all-time leader with 363 football coaching victories, Bellar’s 38-year coaching career includes nine state championships and five runner-up finishes. Six of his teams went undefeated.

— Norm Mannstedt, High Plains: He started the wrestling program at Clarks High School in 1969 and coached the team through its consolidations for 50 years. His program produced four, three-time individual state champions and 22 other state champions. His 1972 Clarks team won the Class D state championship, and the 1978 team finished second.

— Elroy Pierce, Eustis-Farnam: His 50-year coaching career, 47 years at Eustis, covered multiple sports. His track teams enjoyed the most success. The Eustis-Farnam girls won three Class D state track championships and finished second four times between 1988 and 1994.

— Jerome Skrdla, Gretna: Currently sixth in state history with 560 victories as a girls basketball coach, Skrdla has coached three schools to the state tournament, winning three state championships — at Kearney Catholic in 1984 and 1985 and Gretna in 2006. At Kearney Catholic, he coached the boys track team to a state title in 1986 and the runner-up trophy in 1985 as well as the football semifinals in 1982.

CONTRIBUTORS

— Bobby Mills, Grand Island: Known as “1,000-Yard Guy,” Mills created a listing of Nebraska’s 1,000-yard rushers in 1974 and has published the list every year since. He also writes columns and articles that appear in the McCook Gazette and Grand Island Independent and his on-line blog.

OFFICIAL

— Steve Farlee, Norfolk: One of the busiest officials in the state, Farlee officiated more than 3,000 basketball games over a 43-year period. He refereed football and umpired high school and American Legion baseball for more than 25 years. His officiating resume includes NAIA and NCAA games in all three sports.

OTHER AWARDS

— Great Moments in High School Sports: The 2013 Class A state championship soccer match between Omaha South and Creighton Prep that drew an estimated 8,200 attendance, a larger crowd than what attended the Class A football championship in that academic year.

— Ron Gustafson Inspiration Award: Megan Wallman of Syracuse who weighed two pounds at birth and overcame several medical issues as a child to earn honorable mention all-conference volleyball honors in 2019 as a serving and defensive specialist. She set a school record for serving accuracy with only 12 errors in 399 serves.

–Fischer Family Award: L.G. and Shirley Harrison family of Omaha, whose 11 children figured prominently in the sports scenes at Omaha Creighton Prep, Marian, Central, Benson, Cathedral and Bryan. Eight of the children were involved in athletics in college, and Les played more than 9,000 games for the Harlem Globetrotters and Meadowlark Lemon’s Harlem All-Stars.

–Golden Anniversary Team: Fairbury’s 1971 boys basketball team, which won Class B with a 22-3 record after defeating Waverly, Aurora and Cozad in the state tournament.

–Golden Anniversary Team: Laurel’s 1970 football team, which included 2020 inductee Steve Erwin and went 10-0, outscoring its opponents by an average score of 48-8.

–Silver Anniversary Team: Chappell’s 1995 volleyball team, led by Hall of Fame inductee Kim Behrends, that went 28-0 to win the first of back-to-back Class D1 state titles.

–Silver Anniversary Team: Milford’s 1995 football team, which went 13-0 and won the first of back-to-back Class C1 state championships.