RUNZA SENIOR LEGION BASEBALL DELAYS SEASON OPENER:
After having their first doubleheader canceled due to a lack of participation from Norfolk Legion Baseball, the Runza Seniors will have to wait a day longer to start their season.
North Platte and Kearney Legion Baseball have elected to postpone their contests due to wet field conditions at Memorial Field today. Make-up dates are yet to be determined.
Kearney will wait to face Grand Island Home Federal on the road tomorrow. Pregame coverage begins at 7:20 PM with first pitch at 7:30. Austin Jacobsen and Alex Hammeke will be on the call.
HUSKER FOOTBALL RECEIVES NEW TRANSFER INTO RECEIVER ROOM:
The Nebraska football team added their 15th player from the transfer portal for the 2022 season.
Texas wide receiver Marcus Washington is the latest transfer portal player to join the NU roster for this season and the 33rd overall scholarship addition. 33 new scholarship players are the most-ever Nebraska has added in the modern 85-scholarship era.
With Washington’s addition, Nebraska has now added Power Five transfers from Alabama (2), Texas (2), Arizona State, Florida State, LSU, Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas Tech.
While at UT, Washington played with current Husker quarterback Casey Thompson. In 2021, Washington played 434 snaps for the Longhorns. Omar Manning played the most snaps for returning wide receivers on the Husker roster at 415.
Washington finished the 2021 season with 17 catches on 30 targeted throws for 269 yards and two touchdowns.
NEBRASKA BASEBALL EARNS ALL-BIG TEN HONORS:
Nebraska’s Emmett Olson and Garrett Anglim received All-Big Ten honors.Olson was named All-Big Ten Second Team, while Anglim was chosen to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team.
Olson posted a 3-3 record in 19 appearances on the mound this season, including eight starts. He finished the regular season ranked third in the Big Ten with a 2.86 ERA and totaled 65 strikeouts in 66 innings.
Anglim appeared in 49 games, including 45 starts and hit a team-best .303 at the plate for the Huskers this season. The redshirt freshman tallied 11 doubles, four triples and four home runs, 28 RBI and 28 runs scored in his debut season.
MAYENS SIGNS PROFESSIONAL CONTRACT IN AUSTRALIA:
Nebraska forward Lat Mayen has signed a professional basketball contract in his native Australia and will forego his final season of college eligibility.
Mayen, a native of Adelaide, Australia, had one year of eligibility remaining because of the COVID-19 eligibility freeze during the 2020-21 season. The 6-foot-9, 217-pound forward started 57 games for the Huskers over the last two seasons
Last season, Mayen started 30 games for the Huskers, averaging 5.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He had a season-high 13 points in the Huskers’ win at Penn State and had 11 points in a loss to No. 11 Wisconsin. Mayen grabbed seven-or-more rebounds four times, including eight against both Rutgers and at No. 7 Purdue.
UNK ATHLETES SQUIERS, MALCOM FINALISTS FOR MIAA STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD:
The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletes Association announced its five female and five male finalists for the 2021-22 Ken B. Jones Award.
The Ken B. Jones Award recognizes the Association’s top female and male student-athletes from the academic year. The criteria includes athletics, academics and community service.
UNK Volleyball’s Maddie Squiers (Kearney Catholic) and Loper Wrestling’s Matt Malcolm (Glenwood, IA) are finalists as female and male, respectively. Both graduated with cumulative GPA’s well over 3.50 – receiving Masters degrees in the process – and both did a variety of community service projects throughout the 2021-22 academic year.
On the court, Squiers was an All-American setter who helped guide the Lopers to 26 wins and a 22nd consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Finally, she reached the rare 6,000-career assist mark. On the mat, Malcom won a national title at 165 pounds by going 30-2 (24-0 vs. D2 competition). He was deemed D2’s Most Dominant Wrester of the Year for 20 bonus point wins while also being named the Super Region VI Wrestler of the Year. Finally, he helped UNK win its fourth National Team Championship.
Winners will be announced in Kansas City, MO on Monday, June 6.
HELIUM SHORTAGE BREAKS RED BALLOON TRADITION FOR HUSKER FOOTBALL:
A longtime tradition at Nebraska football games appears to be no more.
Red balloons will no longer be supplied around Memorial Stadium prior to games, Nebraska athletics director Trev Alberts said during his hour-long appearance on the Huskers Radio Network.
The change comes from a helium shortage across the University of Nebraska system, where Alberts stated the need for helium in medical use at UNMC takes precedent.
In Nebraska Athletic’s fan survey, the balloon release was scored a 5.4 out of 7 in the satisfactory chart, same as The Cornhuskers Song (Come A Runnin’ Boys).
Last November, the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska (ASUN) unanimously supported a resolution to encourage stopping balloon releases on campus and at Husker football games due to environmental reasons.
NEBRASKA FOOTBALL SEASON TICKETS NEARLY COMPLETELY RENEWED:
Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts provided an update on Sports Nightly Monday regarding the season ticket situation for the upcoming Nebraska Football season.
Alberts stated that the renewal rate is currently around 92 percent. Alberts continued by saying the Husker Athletics office has roughly 3,700 to 5,100 tickets yet to be sold for various games in the fall.
CHANGES COMING TO BIG TEN DIVISIONS? NOT YET, SAYS ALBERTS:
The NCAA Division I Council announced last Wednesday it will relax restrictions on conference championship games, allowing conferences to determine the two teams that play for the championship however they want.
The Pac-12 didn’t take much time to make a change, announcing it will be getting rid of its North and South divisions for the 2022 season and instead using winning percentage to determine who will play in the title game. The Mountain West will go that route, too, but starting in 2023.
The Big Ten hasn’t yet officially made an announcement on what it’ll do. Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts has an idea of what the conference may be thinking, stating that many conference athletic directors would like to scrap divisions but that the change would not happen for 2022.
In addition, all Big Ten schools have removed the conference schedules for their 2023 and 2024 football seasons from their individual program websites.
HUSKER T&F HEADS TO ARKANSAS FOR NCAA REGIONAL:
The Nebraska track and field team earned a total of 34 bids to the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Fayetteville, Ark., and will compete this week from Wednesday-Saturday on John McDonnell Field on the University of Arkansas campus.
Athletes who rank among the top 48 in their respective events earned berths into the NCAA West Preliminary Round, as well as the 24 best relay times. Both the Husker men’s and women’s teams accounted for 17 qualifiers each.
The four-day regional meet will have the men compete on Wednesday and Friday, while the women will compete on Thursday and Saturday.
A full list of participating Huskers can be found here.
HUSKER FOOTBALL MINI TICKET PLANS AVAILABLE:
Nebraska fans will soon have an opportunity to purchase a “3-Game Mini-Plan” of 2022 football tickets at Memorial Stadium. The customizable ticket option will go on sale this Wednesday, May 25, at 10 a.m. by visiting Huskers.com/tickets or by calling or visiting the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office.
The 3-Game Mini-Plan includes one home game each from September, October and November and is available for $180, providing buyers a $30 savings off single-game ticket prices. The Mini Plan includes a choice of September matchups between North Dakota (Sept. 3) and Georgia Southern (Sept. 10), an October choice of Indiana (Oct. 1) or Illinois (Oct. 29), and in November fans can choose either the Minnesota (Nov. 5) or Wisconsin (Nov. 19) matchups.
The only 2022 home game not available in a package is the Sept. 17 matchup with Oklahoma. Seating locations for tickets available through the 3-Game Mini-Plan are in the North and South end zones.
NBA CONFERENCE FINALS SCORES:
MONDAY EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL RESULT:
Boston Celtics 102 – 82 Miami Heat (Tied 2-2)
TUESDAY WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL SCHEDULE:
Golden State Warriors @ Dallas Mavericks – 8 PM (GSW 3-0)
Local Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:
TUESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- BOYS GOLF: State Championships @ Norfolk Country Club
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- BOYS GOLF: State Championships @ Columbus
WEDNESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- BOYS GOLF: State Championships @ Norfolk Country Club
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- BOYS GOLF: State Championships @ Columbus
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- M/W T&F: @ NAIA Championships @ Gulf Shores, AL
THURSDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- M/W T&F: @ NCAA Championships @ Allendale, MI
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- M/W T&F: @ NAIA Championships @ Gulf Shores, AL
FRIDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- M/W T&F: @ NCAA Championships @ Allendale, MI
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- M/W T&F: @ NAIA Championships @ Gulf Shores, AL
SATURDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- M/W T&F: @ NCAA Championships @ Allendale, MI
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
