Sportscasters Club Honors Student-Athletes, Coaches and Officials For The 50th Year

LINCOLN–(KFOR Apr. 23)–The KFOR/KLMS Sportscasters Club on Friday announced the 2021-22 student-athlete scholarship recipients, along with honors for retiring coaches, the Ralph Beechner Coaches of The Year and the Vince Aldrich Sportsperson of The Year.

In 1972, the KFOR Sportscasters Club began awarding scholarships to student-athletes, honoring coaches and those who contribute to high school sports in Lincoln.

The following nine senior student athletes received $700 in scholarships, with $350 from KFOR/KLMS and $350 from Sandhills Global.

Paige Christophersen-Lincoln High
Nolan Gillett-Lincoln Northeast
Alivya Bollen-Lincoln Southeast
Aly Woita-Lincoln Pius X
Morgan Adams-Lincoln East
Molly Looper -Lincoln Christian
Shanae Bergt-Lincoln Lutheran
Ben Hunzeker-Lincoln Southwest
Cooper Wesslund-Lincoln North Star

The following coaches that are retiring also received special recognition from the Sportscasters Club for their years of service in coaching high school athletics.

Jim Danson-Lincoln Southwest golf
Mark Watt-Lincoln Southwest softball
Mark Clanton-Lincoln Lutheran girls golf
Tony Quaatrocchi-Lincoln North Star boys basketball
Dennis Prichard-Lincoln East girls basketball

The Ralph Beechner Coach of The Year Award goes to Lincoln Southwest girls basketball coach Tim Barada and Parkview Christian boys basketball coach Nathan Godwin.  The Southwest girls finished runner-up at the Class A tournament, while the Patriots won their first Class D2 boys basketball title, which turned out to be their first ever state championship in any sport.

The Vince Aldrich Sportsperson of The Year honors retiring Lincoln Public Schools director of athletics and activities Kathi Wieskamp.  She served in that role the past nine years and previously served as athletic director at Lincoln Southeast and Lincoln North Star.  Prior to that, Wieskamp also was a teacher and volleyball coach at Lincoln Southeast.  She’s also been a member of the board of directors for the Nebraska School Activities Association.

While scholarships and awards have been presented the past 50 years, KFOR has been providing play-by-play coverage football and boys and girls basketball games through the Sportscasters Club for nearly 70 years.  KLMS has been involved in local sports play-by-play for 25 years, the last six with the Sportscasters Club.