LOPER BACKERS SET TO AID UNK FOOTBALL TONIGHT:
The 13th Annual Loper Football Backers dinner and scholarship fundraiser will be held tonight at the Younes Conference Center North.
Since the event was first hosted in 2010, it has raised just under $2.2 million for scholarships and program needs. The Loper Football Backers is a community-led volunteer organization whose mission is to raise scholarship dollars for the UNK Football program.
Another record-crowd of over 700 is expected to attend the roughly four-hour event. The night begins at 5:30 p.m. with a social hour with the event including dinner, live and silent auction items and comments from UNK coaches and players.
UNK wraps up their spring practices with their Spring Game at Ron and Carol Cope Stadium on Saturday at 1 PM.
TEN STORM PLAYERS NAMED TO SCOUTING LIST:
Ten players with ties to the Tri-City Storm organization were recently named to the NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s Final Rankings ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft. This year’s edition of the NHL Draft will be held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday, June 28th, and Thursday, June 29th.
Players with ties to the Storm organization who made the list are current players Tanner Adams, Phillippe Blais-Savoie, Seth Constance, Cameron Korpi, and Patriks Bērziņš. Also named to the recently announced list are Storm prospects Ryan Koering, Sean Keohane, and Daniel Héroux. Tri-City alumni included in the rankings are Gavin Brindley, and Andrew Strathmann.
NORRIS NATIVE, FORMER HUSKER CARNIE ENTERS PORTAL:
Former Husker tight end James Carnie appeared in the transfer portal on Thursday morning.
Matt Rhule had already confirmed in March that Carnie was a player who had moved on from the Nebraska program. It was also noted on that day another tight end Chris Hickman was no longer in the program
Carnie was a three-star recruit in the 2021 class who saw snaps in two games as a true freshman against Fordham and Buffalo that first fall, but maintained his redshirt. He did not play a game in 2022.
NEBRASKA WRESTLING ADDS SOUTHERN CONFERENCE CHAMP:
Two-time NCAA Qualifier and 2023 Southern Conference Champion Caleb Smith will join the Nebraska wrestling program as a transfer with two remaining years of eligibility, Nebraska Head Coach Mark Manning announced Tuesday.
A native of High Point, N.C., Smith has a career record of 60-16 in three seasons competing for Appalachian State, qualifying for the NCAA Championships the past two years.
Smith finished atop the podium at the 2023 Southern Conference Championships and went 26-7 on the season, including a 14-0 dual record. He tallied five pins, one technical fall and four major decisions. He placed third at the 2022 conference tournament, finishing the season with a 24-8 record and a 9-2 dual record.
FORMER HUSKER STAFFER WILHITE ACCEPTS HIGH SCHOOL HEAD JOB:
Kenny Wilhite, a former standout defensive back at Nebraska and nine-year member of the Huskers staff, has been hired as the head football coach at Dakota Valley.
Wilhite, who oversaw the Huskers’ walk-on recruiting and served as a liaison to the in-state high school coaches as director of high school relations, was not retained as part of first-year head coach Matt Rhule’s staff.
Under head coach Tom Osborne, Wilhite earned All-Big Eight honors in 1991 after leading the team with six interceptions. After finishing his Husker career with nine interceptions, he played professionally for four seasons in the Canadian Football League.
LOPER TENNIS HAS FIVE NAMED TO ALL-MIAA TEAM:
UNK’s Women’s Tennis team has placed five players on the 2023 All-MIAA team.
The league’s eight head coaches vote on the makeup of the squad and cannot vote for their own players.
Madagascar sophomore Narindra Ranaivo earns first-team honors at No. 3 singles, Mexican junior Jazmin Zamorano is second team at No. 2 singles and at No. 1 doubles with Colombian junior Melisa Becerra while Colorado sophomore Alexis Bernthal (No. 4) and Belarus sophomore Masha Hatouka (No. 5) earn honorable mention singles honors. Finally, Becerra picked up the “Sportsmanship Award”, the fifth straight year a UNK woman has won at least a share of that honor.
The now 47th-ranked Lopers are the sixth seed in this year’s MIAA Tourney and face 38th-ranked Missouri Western Friday in Edmond, Okla., in a first-round match (4 p.m.).
FORMER ADAMS CENTRAL STAR AND UNK STUDENT NAMED HEAD BOYS BASKETBALL COACH FOR LEXINGTON:
Former Adams Central star Tyler Slechta has been hired as the new head boys basketball coach at Lexington high school.
Slechta will be one of the youngest coaches in the state as he just graduated from Adams Central high school in 2021. He was a multi-sport athlete, having a successful high school career in football, basketball and track where he helped lead both the Patriot football and basketball teams to Class C1 runner up finishes as a team captain.
He replaces Lexington native Zach Jones who resigned from his position as coach and teacher from the Lexington school system.
Slechta is a current student at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
OAKLAND A’s PURCHASE LAS VEGAS LAND FOR NEW STADIUM:
The Oakland Athletics have signed a binding agreement to purchase land for a new retractable roof ballpark in Las Vegas after being unable to build a new venue in the Bay Area.
Team president Dave Kaval said Wednesday night the team finalized a deal last week to buy the 49-acre site where the A’s plan to build the stadium close to the Las Vegas Strip with a seating capacity of 30,000 to 35,000.
The A’s will work with Nevada and Clark County on a public-private partnership to fund the stadium. Kaval said the A’s hope to break ground by next year and would hope to be moved to their new home by 2027.
The A’s would be only the second MLB team to change cities in more than a half-century. Since the Washington Senators became the Texas Rangers in 1972, the only team to relocate was the Montreal Expos, who became the Washington Nationals in 2005.
NBA PLAYOFFS SCORES/SCHEDULES:
WEDNESDAY RESULTS:
WESTERN CONFERENCE:
Memphis Grizzlies 103-93 Los Angeles Lakers (Tied 1-1)
Denver Nuggets 122-113 Minnesota Timberwolves (DEN 2-0)
EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Milwaukee Bucks 138-122 Miami Heat (Tied 1-1)
THURSDAY SCHEDULE:
WESTERN CONFERENCE;
Sacramento Kings @ Golden State Warriors (SAC 2-0) – 9 PM
Phoenix Suns @ Los Angeles Clippers (Tied 1-1) – 9:30 PM
EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Philadelphia 76ers @ Brooklyn Nets (PHI 2-0) – 6:30 PM
Local Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:
WEDNESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Girls Soccer: HAC TOURNAMENT – Silver Bracket
- KHS v. Lincoln Southeast @ Kearney High School
- LSE 1-0 KHS
- KHS v. Lincoln Southeast @ Kearney High School
- Girls Soccer: HAC TOURNAMENT – Silver Bracket
THURSDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Boys Golf: @ Columbus Invite – 10 AM
- Girls Tennis: v. Hastings Dual @ Harmon Park – 4 PM
- Boys Soccer: HAC TOURNAMENT – Silver Bracket
- KHS v. Grand Island @ Kearney High School – 7:30 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Boys Golf: @ Gibbon Invite – 1 PM
- Girls Tennis: @ Hershey – 3 PM
- Girls Soccer: v. Lakeview – 5 PM
- Boys Soccer: v. Lakeview – 5 PM
- UNK:
- Football: Loper Backers Banquet @ Younes Conference Center North – 5:30 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)
FRIDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Track & Field: @ Lexington Invite – 12 PM
- Girls Soccer: v. Columbus @ Kearney High School – 5:45 PM
- KGFW Pregame at 5:30 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Track & Field: @ Lexington Invite – 12 PM
- UNK:
- M/W T&F: @ Jim Dutcher Memorial @ Crete, NE – 2 PM
- Softball: @ Central Oklahoma @ Edmond, OK – 2 PM
- Women’s Tennis: v. Missouri Western @ Edmond, OK – 4 PM
- Softball: @ Central Oklahoma @ Edmond, OK – 4 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- M/W T&F: @ Jim Dutcher Memorial @ Crete, NE – 2 PM
- Softball: v. Dakota Wesleyan – 4 PM
- Softball: v. Dakota Wesleyan – 6 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Kearney Girls Soccer v. Columbus (5:30 PM – 7:30 PM)
- Nebraska Baseball @ Iowa (7:30 PM – 10:15 PM)
SATURDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Baseball: v. Norfolk/Omaha South Triangular @ Memorial Field
- GAME 1: v. Omaha South – 12 PM
- GAME 2: v. Norfolk – 4 PM
- Boys Soccer: v. Columbus @ Columbus High School – 12:30 PM
- Baseball: v. Norfolk/Omaha South Triangular @ Memorial Field
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Girls Soccer: @ Scottsbluff – 11 AM
- Boys Soccer: @ Scottsbluff – 11 AM
- UNK:
- M/W T&F: @ Jim Dutcher Memorial @ Crete, NE – 2 PM
- Volleyball: v. McCook C.C. @ Health & Sports Center – 12 PM
- Football: Spring Game @ Ron & Carol Cope Stadium – 1 PM
- Softball: @ Newman @ Wichita, KS – 1 PM
- Volleyball: v. Labette C.C. (KS) @ Health & Sports Center – 1:30 PM
- Softball: @ Newman @ Wichita, KS – 2 PM
- Volleyball: v. UNK Legends Blue @ Health & Sports Center – 3 PM
- Volleyball: v. Northeastern J.C. @ Health & Sports Center – 3:45 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- M/W T&F: @ Jim Dutcher Memorial @ Crete, NE – 2 PM
- Softball: v. Jamestown – 12 PM
- Women’s Tennis: @ Morningside – 12 PM
- Men’s Tennis: @ Morningside – 12:30 PM
- Baseball: @ Dakota Wesleyan @ Mitchell, SD – 1 PM
- Softball: v. Jamestown – 2 PM
- Baseball: @ Dakota Wesleyan @ Mitchell, SD – 4 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Nebraska Football Spring Game (11 AM – 4 PM)
SUNDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- Baseball: @ Dakota Wesleyan @ Mitchell, SD – 12 PM
- Baseball: @ Dakota Wesleyan @ Mitchell, SD – 3 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Nebraska Baseball @ Iowa (12:30 PM – 5 PM)
