WNCC Athletic Cougar Illustrated Newsletter -- Jan. 17, 2024

COUGAR

Illustrated

It is a new year.

Cougar Palace is beginning its 55th year in existence January 17, 2024 l Issue 4

Supporting the WNCC Cougars!

Located at 1402 E. 20th Street, Scottsbluff Phone: 308-633-2712

What’s Inside Baseball, softball season around the corner

It might not seem like baseball and softball season, but in one month those two sports will hit the fields for competition. It might not be in town, but they will begin their season. The first baseball home game is later in February while softball is the first of March.

2023 was a big year in Cougar athletics

2023 had plenty of success stories for Cougar athletics and here is a look back of what happened from January to December 2023. It is sort of a memory look at the top athletes that played for WNCC in 2023 and all the honors that were received.

Making progress with body-building

Olivia Wiberg played basketball for the Cougars from 2016-2018 and after leaving WNCC, she went on to become a traveling nurse. Now, while she is continuing her nursing career she has embarked on another adventure and finding success, and that is body building.

This year marks the 55th year of Cougar Palace

Looking back in the history of Cougar athletics, did you know that January 2024 marks the 55th year of Cougar Palace. That is right, the first game that was played in Cougar Palace was January 1969. A lot of memories have been made in the past 54 years and let’s see what year 55 brings.

Any story ideas, pictures, or updates on former Cougar athletes, send the information to Mark at mrein2963@gmail.com or mrein@wncc.edu.

Cougar athlete alumni, also send updates what you are doing. Will be putting something in the next Cougar Illustrated of what the former players are doing now.

­—— Cougar Sports Calendar —— Friday, January 19 WBB – HOME – vs. Trinidad State, 5:30 p.m.

MBB – HOME – vs. Trinidad State, 7;30 p.m.

Saturday, January 20 WBB – HOME – vs. Otero, 2 p.m.

MBB – HOME – vs. Otero, 4 p.m.

Tuesday, January 23 WBB – AWAY – at North Platte CC, North Platte, Neb, 4 p.m.

MBB – AWAY – at North Platte C.C., North Platte, Neb., 6 p.m.

Friday, January 26 WBB – HOME – vs. McCook C.C., 5:30 p.m.

MBB – HOME – vs. McCook C.C., 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 27 HS -- Western Conference Tourney, Cougar Palace Friday, February 2 WBB – AWAY – at Otero College, LaJunta, Colo., 5 p.m.

MBB – AWAY – at Otero College, LaJunta, Colo., 7 p.m.

HS -- Western Trails Conference Tourney Saturday, February 3 HS -- Western Trails Conference Tourney Wednesday, February 6 WBB – AWAY – at Northeastern JC, Sterling, Colo., 5;30 p.m.

MBB – AWAY – at Northeastern JC, Sterling, Colo., 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 10 BASE – AWAY – WNCC at New Mexico Military @ Roswell, N.M. Sunday, Feb. 11 BASE – AWAY – WNCC at New Mexico Military @ Roswell, N.M. Monday, February 12 WBB – HOME – vs. Northeastern JC, 5:30 p.m.

MBB – HOME – vs. Northeastern JC, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 16 WBB – AWAY – at McCook C.C., McCook, Neb., 4:30 p.m.

MBB – AWAY – at McCook C.C., McCook, Neb., 6:30 p.m.

SOFT – vs. Ranger College, at Cisco Tourney, Brownwood, Texas

WNCC’s Kayden Nation goes up for a shot over the out-stretched hands of a Laramie County Community College defender in a game in December.

Saturday, Feb. 17 BASE – AWAY – WNCC at Barton C.C. @ Great Bend, Kansas SOFT – vs. Ranger College, at Cisco Tourney, Brownwood, Texas Sunday, Feb. 18 BASE – AWAY – WNCC at Barton C.C. @ Great Bend, Kansas Tuesday, Feb. 20 WBB — HOME – vs. North Platte CC, 5:30 p.m.

MBB – HOME – vs. North Platte CC, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, February 23 MBB – AWAY – at Trinidad State, Trinidad, Colo.

Cougar Shorttakes

Former Cougar player goes against former assistant in Division I basketball action

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t was a former Cougar player going agianst a former Cougar assistant coach when Sam Houston faced UT-Rio Grande Valley on December 30.

WNCC’s Shanti Henry, in her senior year for Sam Houston, was a starter for the Bearkats as the Henry went up against former assistant Ipek Turkyllimaz, who is an assistant at Rio Grande Valey.

Sam Houston led 28-27 at halftime

Katie Smith PT, DPT, CLT

before UTRGV outscored Henry and the Bearkats 39-30 to get the 66-58 win.

It was the first win of the season for UTRGV. Henry had a decent game as she hd four points two assists, a steal, and a blocked shot.

For the year, Henry has statted six games, including the last three and is averaging 3.5 points and 1.5 rebouinds a game.

Henry is shooting 87.5 percent from the charity stripe and has dished off 17 assists so far this season.

Her best game this season was an 11-point outing against SMU on December 18 where she buried three 3-pointers.

Turkylimaz is in her fifth year as the assistant at Rio Grande Valley, where she works with the guards. Turkylimaz was a grad assistant at Arizona State and served as the assistant at WNCC from 2010-13 and 2014-2017, and was the assistant at Metro State in Denver from 2013-14.

Shelly Koehler PT, DPT, SCS

Blake Wills DC, MS

Wishing all area athletes a safe and healthy season!

Elite Physical Therapy & Wellness Two Locations to Serve You

214 W. 27th Street Scottsbluff, Nebraska 308-633-2900

1270 10th Street, Suite 101 Gering, Nebraska 308-633-4440

www.elitept-scottsbluff.com

Four former Cougars earn their bachelors, masters degrees

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ongrats go out to four former WNCC athletes who earned their bachelors and masters degrees in ceremonies at their four-year universities in December.

Paul Panduro, who played baseball for the Cougars and is a junior on the Pittsburg State baseball team, graduated with his bachelor’s degree in December. Paul has two years remaining at Pittsburg State and said that he will be working on his master’s degree this semester, over the summer, and into his senior season next year.

Another one was former WNCC volleyball player Macey Boggs, who got her bachelor’s degree in December.

Boggs’ journey to get her degrees has been a quick on as she graduated Gering High School in December 2020 and signed and played volleyball for the Cougars in spring 2021. She then played in the fall and graduated from WNCC in just two semesters in December 2021.

After signing with Wyoming, Boggs went to Laramie, Wyoming, and has been on the volleyball team the past two years, graduating in December and said that same time in 2024, she will have her master’s degree from Wyoming.

Cougar softball players Kelsey Bernhardt and Hannah Baesler each earned their degrees from Doane University in December. Bernhardt got her master’s while Baesler got her bachelor’s Bernhardt played for the Cougars from 2013-15 and then Doane University. She came back and was an assistant for WNCC from 2018-19 efore going on to be an assistant at Doane Univesity and Davis & Elkins College. She is now the assistant coach at Trinity Valley Community College.

Baesler earned her bachelor’s degree after playing for the Cougars from 2018-20.

She only played half a year for WNCC in 2020 as that was the year the season was canceled because of COVID. She went on to play at Doane, playing in 2022-23 in appearing in 36 games and ripping two home runs and batting .380.

Snow on the ground?

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In one month the Cougar baseball, softball seasons will kick off with games in New Mexico, Texas

ust think, with all the snow and the cold temperatures western Nebraska is experience in January, in one month i the WNCC Cougar baseball and softball season will kick off.

While the team’s can’t get on the field with the six inches of snow on the ground, the two teams are spending time indoors at the Field of Dreams as well as the weight room and doing other team-building exercises.

The Cougar baseball team will open February 10 and 11 when they have a 4-game series at New Mexico Military and then a series February 17 and 18 at Barton Community College.

WNCC will then have a home 4-game series with Miles Community College February 24-25 on the new turf infield at Cleveland Field.

The softball team is slated to open the season February 16-17 in Brownwood, Texas and their first home games won’t be until March 3 when they host Dakota College at Bottineau.

The softball team has 15 players with four sophomores. Two are returners from a year ago in Baylie Krueger and Devyn

The first day of practice on Monday, January 15 and the Cougar softball team had a fun tournament of Spike Ball during the day since the weather wasn’t cooperating and there was no school because of the cold weather.

Priselac, while Madilynn VanRiper and Katelynn Czerpak played their freshman year at Lamar Community College.

The 11 freshmen included Mykah Klumpp from Valley Center, Kansas; Anas-

The Cougar baseball team with the monument in the background on the new artificial turf that was installed in the fall.

tasia Molina from Aurora, Colorado; Randi Mitchell from Greeley, Colorado; Kayli Cooper from North Battleford, Saskatchewan; Sierra Hilgner from Divide, Colorado; Chayse Cronquist from Blackfoot, Idaho; Izabelle Pacheco from Laramie, Wyoming; Kelcey Zubiate from Forsan, Texas; and Reagan Werth from Farmington, New Mexico.

The two returners in Prizelac of Ft. Collins, Colorado, and Baylie Krueger of Swink, Colorado, will be key players for the Cougars along with the two from Lamar Community College --Czerpak and VanRiper. At Lamar a year ago, VanRiper batted .404 with seven home runs, which included a home run against WNCC at the regional tournament.

Czerpak played 39 games for Lamar and had a .294 batting average with 13 stolen bases. She stole 13 bases and struck out

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n Baseball, softball ready to start season ...... only 11 times in 85 at bats with three doubles and two triples.

As for Priselac a year ago, she appeared in 40 games and batted .248 with 21 RBIs. As for Krueger, it will be her third year at WNCC after red-shirting in 2021-22. Last year she appeared in 37 games and had three doubles with 22 RBIs while batting .227.

The Cougar baseball team had a lot of players in the fall and some of those players will be red-shirting in the spring. The one thing for sure, though, is the baseball team returns nine position players and five pitchers from a year ago that saw action.

The returning position players will be led by Region IX Freshman of the Year Shintaro Inoue, who batted .376 a year ago with 15 home runs, 52 RBIs, and 51 runs scored.

Other returners include Dylan Harris of Broomfield, Colorado; Bryce Peterson of Brighton, Colorado; Ashton Ross of Westminster, Colorado; Tyler Easter of Sandy, Utah; Hunter McCollum of Scottsbluff; Garrett Dodd of Laramie, Wyoming; Calvin Johnson of Nebraska; and Alex Ainsworth of Conifer, Colorado.

Returning pitchers include Clayden Brandon of West Herriman, Utah; Valentin Blanc of Grenoble, France; Myttchel Pollock of Wheatland, Wyoming; Adrian Short of Berthoud, Colorado; and Nick Tremblay of Mount St. Hilaire, Quebec. here are a lot of newcomers that will see action and with the season not having started yet, it is hard to tell. WNCC coach Mike Jones listed three freshmen that could make an impact right away, including Asahi Nakano a utility player from Japan. Another player to watch is Julian Garza along with Mathieu Levesque. ­— Written by Mark Rein

Baseball action in the fall as a player makes contact with the ball in a scrimmage game with McCook.

WNCC freshman Bailey Legere throws to first base during a scrimmage last fall against Chadron State College.

Need a 2024 Calendar?

There are a few 2024 Cougar calendars finished that are available including softball, volleyball, women’s basketball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, and a WNCC activities/athletic calendar.

Still to be produced are men’s basketball, baseball, and all-athletic calendar. Stop and see Mark in the WIlliams Building if you would want one.

First Come, First Served. Can make more if needed.

Inoue signs with Division I Kansas State

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NCC sophomore Shintaro Inoue will be taking his baseball talents to the Division I level after inking a letter of intent to play at Division I Kansas State University.

Inoue said he is excited to be playing Division I baseball and it was a hard selection to make with all the offers he had to ponder.

“It’s really an honor,” Inoue said. “I think it’s a step to get closer to my dream.”

Inoue said he had picked Kansas State over about 10 schools that also included the University of Cincinnati, University of Illinios, and University of Nebraska-Omaha.

“It’s not a dream in itself,” he said, “but I thought it was necessary for my dream.”

That dream is to play professionally and Inoue had a strong freshman season for the Cougars where he was named the Region IX Freshman of the Year.

Last season, Inoue played in 50 games and batted .376 with 15 home runs, 52 RBIs, 51 runs scored, 13 doubles, 17 stolen bases, and was walked 36 times. He also only struck out 29 times in 170 at bats with an on-base percentage of .493.

Inoue said he is sure that this season will be better than a year ago.

And, if what he did in the fall pre-season games is any indication, Inoue will put up staggering numbers. In the alumni game back in September that was played at Oregon Trail Park Stadium, Inoue smacked a home that could be the longest home run hit at the stadium where the Western Nebraska Pioneers play. His shot went over the rightfield fence and landed in the gravel handicapped parking lot and bounced and came to a stop near Kimball Avenue. The measurement of the home run was about 485 feet after it came to a stop.

One other former Cougar also had a monster home run at Oregon Trail Park in their inaugural season in 2018 and that was Jack Pauley that launched a home run that cleared the trees in center field and would have landed in what was the old sand volleyball pits.

In fact, Inoue’s goal this year is to win the Region IX championship as a team and he wants to hit .400 or better with at least 15 home runs and 30 stolen bases.

The record for most home runs in a career is 24 and Inoue needs just 10 home runs to beat Pete Rogers’ record of 24 that

Shintaro Inoue makes contact with a pitch in a the alumni game last fall. Inoue signed in November to continue his baseball career at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, next year.

was set in 2003 and 2004.

The record for home runs in a season is 17 and that was set by Francisco Leandro back in 2003. Inoue is currently tied for second in season home runs with Rogers with his 15 home runs from a year ago.

Inoue said he started playing baseball when he was four years old in Japan. He ended up at WNCC because his recruiting service found WNCC and he was given a

good scholarship.

His improvement in baseball last year was due to Coaches Mike Jones and Ryan Burgner and his teammates.

“I was blessed with a great coach and great teammate,” he said. “I think it was a very good first year. I learned a lot here. I think I was able to level up in defense, batting, and running bases.” ­— Written by Mark Rein

Future Cougars signed to play at WNCC for 2024-25, Cougar Sophomores that have signed to continue at a 4-year school Newcomers signed for 2022-23

Where Cougar Sophomores Are Headed

Volleyball Alex Gonzalez-Orozco..............Gering, Neb.

Volleyball Charlie Blackman................ U. of Mary (DII) Maya Angelova....... Queens College (NAIA)

Men’s Soccer Women’s Soccer Softball Baseball Carter Reisig.......................Scottsbluff, Neb. Dalton Yaste...................... Evans, Colorado Cooper Wilson.......................Riverton, Utah Dakota Alber........Commerce City, Colorado Men’s Basketball Women’s Basketball

Men’s Soccer Women’s Soccer Women’s Basketball Baseball Shintaro Inoue.............Kansas State U. (DI) Softball

Current Sophomores, please contact Mark Rein via text at 308-6310459 or email when you decide to attend a specific college.

High School seniors, if you are coming to play sports at WNCC, please send Mark Rein information on high school, hometown, height, and which sport you are planning playing.

Out with 2023, In with 2024 WNCC athletics was successful in many ways in 2023, 2024 should be exciting

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ut with 2023 and in with 2024 but one cannot forget about all the exciting action that WNCC athletes accomplished last year. Each month from January through December, there was exciting play on the courts and field as well as time spent in the community as well as the classroom.

Here is a look back to the highlights and achievements that happened in 2023 month by month.

January The women’s basketball team opened 2023 with three straight close losses by a total of seven points to start the second semester when they were upended by Lake Region at Cougar Palace 74-72 followed by falling to Western Wyoming 75-72 and then Casper College 61-59 all at home.

The men’s basketball team opened South sub-region play with a huge win over McCook Community College in winning 75-71 behind 3o points from Biko Johnson, including five 3-pointers. CJ Johnson hit two free throws with 3.9 seconds to play to secure the road win.

February The baseball season started their season on February 11 and went 1-3. It was that

Photo from January 2023

one win that was huge as the Cougar men upended pre-season ranked New Mexico Military 11-8 after only scoring two runs in the previous three games.

In the win, WNCC pounded out 12 hits and got a four RBIs from Jacob Jackson and a 4-of-5 game with three RBIs from Roangeraud Fraai.

The softball didn’t have a good February record-wise, but had some very competitive

Photo from February 2023

games against top teams in the junior college, including almost beating some ranked teams. The Cougar softball team lost a heart-breaker to Western Oklahoma State College 3-1. WNCC also came oh-so-close to knocking off the No. 3 team in the nation Odessa College before falling 3-0 in a game where WNCC pitchers Caley Leslie and Avery Fox tossed a one-hitter. WNCC also out-hit Odessa 2-1.

March March started with several members of the softball team going to Bear Cub preschool and the pre-school at Roosevelt Elementary and read to the students for what was supposed to be about an hour, but ended up being a 3-hour ordeal since there was a lockdown because of a situation at Gering. During the lockdown, the softball girls kept the pre-school kids entertained by coloring, building things, and reading to them.

The WNCC women captured the top seed from the South and got to host the Region IX Tournament. That, however, didn’t go the Cougars way as the Cougars fell in the quarterfinals to Western Wyoming 68-

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54. Western Wyoming went on to finish second, falling to Casper College in the finals.

After the tournament, the all-region and all-tournament teams were announced.

WNCC had several all-region selections as Jayla Owen, Shiho Isono, and Ola Duda made the south all-region team, while Yara Garcia was named to the south defensive team.

Jayla Owen was the South Player of the Year while Isaac Lu was the South Coach of the Year.

Mackenzie Joseph was named to the Region IX All-Tournament team.

The men’s basketball team opened the Region IX tournament with a thrilling firstround win at Cougar Palace when they defeated North Platte Community College 87-86 to advance to the quarterfinals.

That contest saw Biko Johnson led the way in the win with 30 points including two free throws with 1.1 second left for the win.

The moved the Cougars into the next round where they faced Laramie County Community College and the Golden Eagles led 5120 at halftime and earned the 88-63 win.

WNCC had a couple players earn post-season honors with Biko Johnson making the all-tournament team while Biko and Carl Thorpe making the south all-region team.

The baseball team started March by dropping their next 14 straight before starting Empire Conference play on March 19 and the Cougars won six of eight games in the last part of March.

April April was a big day for signings and the men’s soccer team sent nine players onto

Photo from April 2023

Photo from March 2023

the four-year level.

The nine players signed is the largest class of men’s soccer players heading to the 4-year level in one year to continue playing college soccer.

The nine players that inked last week include Paul Cerros and Rennan Sousa to Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas; Paulo Henrique to Florida National University, an NAIA school in Hialeah, Florida; Rodrigo Cercal to William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Alex Alarcon to Kansas Wesleyan University, a NAIA program in Salina, Kansas; Tom Pelzer to Missouri Valley College an NAIA school in Marshall, Missouri; Dante Rafaela

to Bellevue University, in NAIA school just outside of Omaha; Matheus Nascimento to Midland University, a NAIA school in Fremont; and Gabriel Santos to Southwestern Christian University in Bethany, Oklahoma, the NAIA school where they finished third at the NCCAA national tournament.

The volleyball team also had a big signing celebration as nine players all signed to continue their playing days at the next level for volleyball.

The nine included one that signed with Division 1 and that was Erica Fava, who went to the University of Nebraska Omaha.

The other eight included Jenna Curtis and Ale Meoni inking with South Dakota School of Mines; Jayla Brehmer inking with Friends University; Juliana Oliveira to Missouri Valleynah College; Angel Nahinu to East Central University in Oklahoma; AK Chavez to Emporia State in Kansas; and Alex Hernandez and Lexi Keoho to Saint Mary of the Woods College in Indiana.

The other thing that happened in April as the NJCAA All-American teams were announced and Jayla Owen was named an NJCAA honorable mention All-American WNCC also played host to a former volleyball coach that wrote a book, “The Miracle Season” that was turned into a movie.

Kathy Bresnahan came to WNCC to give an inspirational message about not giving

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n Out with 2023, in with 2024 ...... up, which her high school team didn’t do when they fought back from the death of their senior star to win a state title, which what the movie was about.

May May started with some signings. For the women’s basketball team, three players

Photo from May 2023

signed to play at the four-year level. That included Jayla Owen who signed with Division I University of North Dakota..The other two were Bre Fowler, who inked with Division II Rogers State in Oklahoma while Rashaan Smith signed with NAIA Oklahoma Wesleyan.

The Cougar softball team ended their season at the Region IX tournament in which they finished the season at 11-36 and graduated 11 of the 13 players. The only two that returned to the college in the spring were Baylie Krueger and Devyn Priselac.

WNCC opened the tourney with a

tough 4-1 loss to McCook Community College, but came back to down Lamar Community College 19-6. In the Lamar win, WNCC scored 13 runs in the third inning and never looked back as Sianna Lewis had a double and home run in the game.

WNCC then fell to Luna Community College in a disheartening way, falling 10-9 as the Cougars had a 9-8 lead with Luna entering the final at bat and then scored two runs.

The softball team had some post-season honors with All-region players. Victoria Wharton earned All-Region First Team honors while Morgan Dustin was named an honorable mention selection.

The baseball team made the final four teams of the Region IX tournament after taking care of Trinidad State in the firstround playoffs by scored of 24-12 and 13-9. At regionals, the Cougars lost in the semifinals 11-10 to McCook in a high scoring game and then fell to Southeast 11-6 to end the season.

Shintaro Inoue picked up post-tournament recognition as he was selected as the

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n Out with 2023, in with 2024 ......

Freshman of the Year in Region IX. He was a First Team All-Region infielder.

June The month of June started off with the annual Cougar Golf Classic and 16 teams took part to raise funds for Cougar athletics scholarships.

The winning team of of the Cougar Golf Classic was the FFJJ team of Greg Ferguson, Austin Ferguson, Doug Jones, and Matt Johnson, who hear the Wyoming Huskers team that was comprised of Mike Helsel, John E. Helsel, John T. Helsel, and Matt Reimers. FFJJ had a handicapped score of 54.6 while Wyoming Huskers had a 55.4.

The COED division winners consisted of Luke Stobel, Libby Stobel, Kent Walton, and Ashley Walton.

June also featured the announcement of the spring President’s and Dean’s list.

WNCC had several athletes that made the President’s List with 4.0 GPA for the Spring semester and those incluided softball players Baylie Krueger, Maddie Johnston, and Avery Fox; volleyball player Megan Bewley;

Photo from July 2023

Photo from June 2023

men’s soccer players Paul Cerros and Bagriel Santos; and women’s soccer player Natayla (Yasmin) Baird-Watson.

There were 35 students that made the Dean’s list for the spring semester with a 3.4-3.99 GPA. July July saw the Omaha World-Herald All-Nebraska JUCO teams releassed.

On the baseball All-Nebraska JUCO team, WNCC had two players make the list as Shintaro Inoue earned First Team shortstop honors while Bryce Peterson made honorable mention honors.

As for the softball All-Nebraska JUCO team, the Cougars had two First Team selections as Morgan Dustin earned recognition at first base while Victoria Wharton earned recognition as a utility player. Two others received honorable mention honors with Sianna Lewis and Arianah Plorin.

Other academic honors were bestowed on several athletes for making the NJCAA All-Academic teams.

The Cougars had two players make First Team All-Academic with 4.0 GPAs with men’s soccer player Paul Cerros and volleyball player Megan Bewley.

Second Team All-Academic honors with a GPA of 3.8-3.99 GPA. They included women’s soccer player Natalya Baird-Watson; volleyball player Charli Blackman; men’s soccer players Hernan Burdiles and Paulo Marques; baseball players Tyler Easter and Bruce Peterson; women’s basketball player Mackenzie Joseph; men’s basketball player Maurice Walker’ and softball players Madi Johnston, Bree Henson, Baylie Krueger, and Avery Fox. Third Team All-Academic honors for those that had a 3.6-3.79 GPA included baseball players Alex Ainsworth, Dylan

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Harris; volleyball players Ale Meoni, Emmalei Mapu, and Alex Hernandez; men’s soccer players Oziel Camargo, Gabriel Santos, and Rennan Sousa; women’s basketball players Shiho Isono and Jayla Owen; softball players DesaRae Woolsey and Victoria Wharton; and women’s soccer player Hailey Kwiakowski.

August Members of the WNCC volleyball and women’s soccer team took part in National Night Out on the first Tuesday of August in playing with youngsters in the streets of Broadway.

After that the volleyball and soccer teams opened their seasons in August. The Cougar women opened theirs at the Reiver Classic as they went 3-1 with wins over Butler County, Iowa Western, and Dodge City before falling to Indian Hills. WNCC went 5-1 in August as they also defeated Casper and EWC. The women’s soccer team opened their season August 19 when they tied Iowa Lakes Community College 3-3 as Tania Razo score three goals in the contest.

The men had two matches in August as they opened with a 2-1 loss to Iowa Lakes before coming back to tie the Southeast Bobcats 2-2 as Maxine Niybaho and Pablo Dominguez each scored a goal in each half.

September The volleyball team followed a strong

Photo from August 2023

August with a so-so September where they lost 10 times, but still managed six wins, including wins over Central Wyoming College, Snow College, and Missouri StateWest Plains.

The Cougar baseball team had a big alumni game on September 23 and it was very competitive with the current team leading big at the beginning and then the Alumni came back, which forced the Cougars of this year to win the game in the final innings of the nine-inning contest. The score was something like 17-15 or 15-13 in

Photo from September 2023

a very high scoring contest.

That game included a home run by Shintaro Inoue that is probably the longest home run hit at Oregon Trail Park Stadium.

The shot went over the rightfield fence and landed in the handicapped parking lot on the fly and finally came to rest near Kimball avenue. It is said it went 485 feet.

On September 30, many of the Cougar athletic teams helped out with the Monument Marathon that is put on by the WNCC Foundation department. The two basketball teams were at the start of both the full and half marathons. The softball team was helping out with the pre-registration at the Civic Center on Friday, the day before the big race, while the baseball team helped with the clean-up after the races and the unloading of the vans back at the college. The volleyball team helped out in the late morning, early afternoon hours at the finish line.

October The men’s basketball team was out in the community at the beginning of the month as the International Walk To School Day when they walked with elementary students at Westmoor Elementary and then played games with them from basketball, football, and volleyball with some of the kids at recess before the start of the day.

The men’s soccer team had their season come to an end in the semifinals of the Region IX tournament after falling to Otero College 3-0 on a gold Saturday. WNCC fin-

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n Out with 2023, in with 2024 ...... ished the year at 8-5-3.

To get to the semis, the Cougar men won a first-round playoff contest against Laramie County Community College 2-1 in a very exciting and competitive contest.

WNCC took the lead at halftime when Simon Echeverry was fouled in the box and Eduardo Oliveira took the penalty kick and put the ball in the net.

WNCC went up 2-0 in the second half when Lucas Ovalle scored with 9:31 to play.

LCCC scored with five minutes to play, but WNCC goalkeeper Hernan Burdiles made two good saves to preserve the win.

The WNCC women’s soccer team also had a strong season and ended their season in the first-round of regionals in falling to LCCC 3-0. WNCC ended the season at 4-73.

Before that, the Cougars played LCCC in the last match of the season and competed as tough as they could against the Golden Eagles before falling 2-1. The two teams were tied at one at halftime.

LCCC struck first before Tania Razo tied the game with 10 minutes in the contest for the tie. LCCC scored the go-ahead goal with 20 minutes left and held on.

November Shintaro Inoue inked to continue his four-year playing at the Division I level at Kansas State University after entertaining offers at 10 other schools, including Nebraska-Omaha.

Also signing in November were volleyball players Maya Angelova and Charli Blackman. Angelova is headed to the NAIA level after signing with Queens College in New York.

Blackman is headed north to the University of Mary in North Dakota, which is a Division II school.

The men’s soccer team had a couple earn all-region honors after their season. Eduardo Oliveira and Samuel Acosta earned First Team honors while Pablo Dominguez earned Second Team Honors. Earning honorable mention honors were Isrrael Rodriguez and Hernan Burdiles.

The Cougar women’s soccer team also earned some post-season honors with Lesley Vasquez earning First Team honors and Lisbeth Barrera earning honorable mention honors.

The WNCC volleyball team had some

Photo from October 2023

players honored with post-season awards as well.

All-Region South honorees included Shanelle Martinez and Kyana Gabriel on the First Team while Lilly Zwart and Finja Schul made Second Team.

During the season, the volleyball team finished the season falling at the Region IX tournament. The volleyball team opened regionals with a disappointing first-round loss to Laramie County Community College where the Cougars lost in a reverse sweep, taking the first two sets 25-19, 25-18 before falling in the final three sets 25-23, 25-13, 15-11. Lilly Zwart had 21 kills in the match.

WNCC finished the season falling in

their next game to Central Wyoming College in four sets.

The WNCC men’s basketball team opened the season with two hard-fought losses, including an 85-79 overtime loss to Laramie County Community College on the road.

The way the Cougars fight until the end would come up big in a game the following weekend in Goodland, Kansas, against Northwest Kansas Technical College that saw the Cougars scored nine points in the final 25 seconds to force overtime before earning the 99-95 double overtime win.

WNCC trailed 75-66 with 25 seconds to play. That was when someone was look-

Photo from November 2023

Continued on next page

n Out with 2023, in with 2024 ...... w555ing ‘6down on them as the Cougars had a perfect last 25 seconds of the game of the century to force overtime.

It all started as Travis Easterly, Jr., nailed a shot with 17 seconds to play. WNCC then got a quick turnover and Stephen Ovia scored to make it 75-70. WNCC played tough defense and got another quick turnover where JJ Harris missed a 3-point shot, but Daniel Bula got the rebound and buried a trey to make it 75-73 with 12 seconds to play.

WNCC then fouled Northwest’s Taiden Conner with three seconds to play and instead of icing the game, the Maverick made just one of two free throws for the 76-73 lead with three seconds to play. WNCC inbounded the ball and Easterly, Jr., attempted a 3-point shot with no time on the clock but was fouled in the process. Easterly calmly hit all three free throws to force overtime tied at 76.

Both teams went into the overtime period and were still tied at 91 to force another overtime. This time WNCC outscpred Northwest Kansas 8-4 to get the 99-95 win.

December WNCC men’s basketball finished off the first semester as they earned a 101-91 win over Miles Community College in Gillette, Wyoming. WNCC went 2-1 at that tournament in Gillette.

The women’s basketball team had a strong December to wrap up 2023 as they jumped into the NJCAA national polls on December 11 after some big wins that included a win over over Casper College and then over then No. 11 College of Southern Idaho.

The Cougar women then beat previously unbeaten Williston State at a tournament in Gillette, Wyoming, and capped off 2023 with a 66-64 win over Laramie County Community College on December 14 when Faith Walker had a block to seal the win.

WNCC finished 2023 with a 13-1 record.

At the end of December, the Omaha World-Herald released their All-Nebraska JUCO teams and three WNCC volleyball players made the team.

Kyana Gabriel was named to the All-Nebraska JUCO First Team while three others Cougars made honorable mention. Honorable mention candidates were Shanelle Martinez, Finja Schul, and Lilly Zwart. ­— Written by Mark Rein

Photo from December 2023

2023 information of each monthy photo January -- Isaac Lu talks to the team during a timeout during their game with Lake Region in January. WNCC opened the season with three straight losses by seven points.

February -- This baseball photo shows what the Cougar baseball team had to go through in January and February to practice. Here a few of the players throw in the parking lot of the college with the mounds of snow in the background.

March -- Arianah Plorin reads to kids at Roosevelt pre-school on March 2.

April -- The 2022-23 volleyball team pose with author and former Iowa volleyball coach Kathy Bresnahan after her talk to the public in April.

May -- Jenna Curtis and Ale Meoni, volleyball players, help each other to position their caps and gowns as they get ready for WNCC graduation.

June -- The Cougar Golf Classic was won by the team of FFJJ with team members July -- WNCC baseball player Hunter McCollum hits in a game with the West Nebraska Pioneers, the summer collegiate team that Hunter played for. The games were played at Gering’s Oregon Trail Park Stadium.

August -- Four members of the Cougar women’s soccer team pose for a picture at the National Night Out celebration where they entertained the youngsters with games.

September -- Dani Cruz passes the ball during the West Plains contest while Taylor Tyser looks on.

October -- The Cougar men’s soccer team get together for a group picture after they concluded the regular season with a win over LCCC. November -- Anthony Simo goes up for a bucket in the Casper game in November.

December -- Helena Kuck dishes off a pass during the College of Southern Idaho contest, where the Cougars upset the number 11 team in the country.

Write your own success story at Bellevue University.

Find out how you can take your associate degree to the next level when you transfer your Western Nebraska Community College credits to Bellevue University.

For questions scan the QR code or contact: Jennifer Schwab

Relationship Manager @ WNCC – Office G154

402-830-0548 jeschwab@bellevue.edu

Oumar Sissoko transferred from WNCC in 2020 and recently earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with an Emphasis in Finance. Today, Sissoko coaches soccer full time while he considers pursuing his MBA. Bellevue University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommision.org). Bellevue University is committed to providing an environment that is free from harassment and discrimination based upon race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, military obligations, or status in any other group protected by local, state, or federal lawn.

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2309_03

Working out!

Former Cougar Olivia Wiberg having success at body building competitiion

O

livia (Wiberg) Prince had a successful two years playing basketball at WNCC from 2016-18 and now she is thriving in another sport and that is body building competition.

Olivia, who is now married and lives in Idaho with her husband, said it was by chance that she started body building because she was used to working out in the weight room at the college.

“My whole life I have always been very involved in athletics, working out, and being active. As you know I played basketball in college for WNCC and once my time there was over, I didn’t have anything to keep working towards or a goal set in sight,” Olivia said. “I had just come from college where we trained and worked out 24/7, and all we did was eat, sleep, and breathe basketball. Then all of a sudden there was nothing.

“I continued to ‘workout’ and stay active to the best of my ability, but there was no goal and no motivation. I was ‘too comfortable.’ So I pursued body building and looked into hiring a coach.”

Olivia started working with her coach in November 2022 and she was hooked on body building right way. So far, she has competed in a couple bikini body building events around Utah and Idaho.

“Its been a long process but that’s the beauty of it,” she said. “There are always new goals to reach, and teaches you and requires a lot of discipline and has taught me so much about nutrition. My health has dramatically improved and my body feels the best I have ever felt. It is very time consuming and you must be dedicated to doing it, sticking to your diet, and training but it is very worth it to me.”

So what is exactly body building? Olivia said it is hard to define, but essentially it is a sport that focuses on the complete overall look, nutrition, and build of the body.

“It is about perfecting, to the best of our ability, our physique and nutrition down to the very gram,” she said. “Take that and put

it into a competitive aspect and that’s where competing comes in and why it is so addicting and motivating.”

Olivia only has been competing for about a year but started “conditioning” in November 2022.

“I started in November 2022 and have only been doing this for a little over a year, but I feel like it has been much longer,” she said. “We began in my ‘building’ or what’s called a ‘bulking’ phase, and in May 2023 is

Continued on next page

n Body building success ...... when we started my ‘cut/prep’ for my bikini competition.

The one thing that has surprised Olivia is she never thought she would be doing this kind of competition, but her goal now is to try to get her pro card.

“I never imagined that I would get into something like this,” she said. “I really love to push myself, mentally and physically and this sport has done just that. It has provided me with new goals, dreams, and discipline that I never could have imagined. It has helped me to continue to grow in many different ways.”

So far, Olivia has competed in two bikini body building NPC shoes.

“I did the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City and placed second in my bikini true novice class, and fourth in the bikini open class.,” she said. “Two weeks later, I then competed in the Idaho Cup in Boise, Idaho, and placed first in my bikini novice class and first in the bikini open class. For my first season I couldn’t be more happy with what my coach and I accomplished. “ Because of her first-place finish, she has qualified for a national show in 2024.

“This was my first year competing in NPC bikini competition bodybuilding shows. I only did two competitions for my first year and plan on doing more this next coming season,” Olivia said. “To keep moving up in the competitions you have to continue to place well in local shows, then national shows and so on. Because I took first place in the Idaho Cup, I qualify now for a national show next season. We plan on hitting some national shows to possibly try and win my Pro Card. If I can place first or second in a national competition then I could win my IFBB pro card, which is my goal.”

That is the goal to get her professional tour card and if it doesn’t happen this year, she will continue trying.

“Bodybuilding is a longevity sport and if I do not win my pro card this next season, then we will just keep working hard and shoot for the next season,” Olivia said.

“That is the beauty of this sport, you can continue to keep bettering yourself and working harder and harder.”

So, what is all involved to get ready for a competition.

Olivia said the week leading up to a show, it is what is called “peak week.”

“It is a very very precise and tedious week down to every single detail,” she said.

“Everyone can vary on what their peak week looks like for them but, for me, I was doing weigh-ins to my coach three times a day, and constant communication throughout the entire day/week. He was constantly

checking to know how my digestion was, energy levels, stress, fatigue, food, weight, rest, and training.

“During peak week there is little to no training anymore. All the work has already been done and this week is mostly about taking all the stress off the body, bringing water down, and resting. On Sunday through Wednesday my diet consisted of five small meals, zero carbs, and only eggs, chicken, zucchini, and shrimp. Just protein and veggies.

“On that Thursday is when we Carb Up on my diet. The idea of this is to help fill out my muscles which at this point are very ‘flat and depleted’ due to not having any carbs leading up to this. It helps fuel my

Continued on next page

n Body building success ...... muscles to look more full and make them pop/bubble a little more. At the same time we are pulling back all the water and taking a diuretic supplement to help pull all the water weight off my body and get my skin to ‘shrink’ to my body and muscles. It helps to see as much definition as possible.”

Diet is just as much a key as working out to build the muscles, and she said, this type of training is centered around her diet that is catered to her and her body.

“The biggest factor during a prep/cut for a show or competition is reducing carbs to make the body burn off as much fat as possible and cut down,” she said. “My daily diet consistent of the same five meals throughout the whole cut unless we were doing a high carb day to help refuel and replenish my glycogen stores in my muscles.

Eggs, chicken, zucchini, shrimp, and some rice was my diet, and then lots of water!

About 1.5-2 gallons a day of water/fluid. “ The diet, she said, is the hardest part but she also has to be mentally tough. Olivia thanks her husband, family, and friends for

helping her along the way.

“I would say the hardest part is adhering to my meal plans and mentally being tough, but also the time and dedication it takes away from family life, friends, and fun,” she said. “I have had to sacrifice a lot of time away from my husband, fami-

ly, and doing fun things because of cardio, training, or meal planning and prepping. It is a huge commitment and for that there is a price.”

But, she wouldn’t change anything she is doing now because she loves what she is doing.

I honestly love every single bit of my training. I have grown to love my cardio sessions and how hard they push me, it is very rewarding,” Olivia said. “I also love my training sessions because of the small changes you can see every single day. They are slow, but when you start to see those changes happening it is very rewarding. I love to get my heart rate up, push my body to new limits, and feel that hard work and pump in my muscles. There is no other feeling like it. I love listening to my music and getting in the zone and really making that mind-body connection. Truly amazing to see what my body can do.”

Her ultimate goal is to win her IFBB pro card.

Continued on next page

GOOD LUCK

for

ROARING SEASONS

Olivia (Wiberg) Prince is in the middle along with the other medalists of a recent body building meet she attended in 2023.

from your friends at

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n Body building success ......

“My ultimate goal is to win my IFBB pro card and to compete at the pro level,” Olivia said. “However long that may take, that is the goal. It is always me vs. me in bodybuilding and I am always just trying to be better than the day before.”

The dedication that she puts into body building is the same dedication she put into playing basketball in high school at Mountain Crest High in Hyrum, Utah, and then from 2016-18 at WNCC, where she helped the Cougars to two national tournament berts, including a Region IX championship in 2017.

Olivia describes playing basketball and body building somewhat the same in the mindset that you have to have to be successful in both.

“I feel like this goes to show that we all have similar mindsets as athletes. It takes a specific type of person, mind, and discipline to compete and push your body at high levels such as body building competitions and also college sports,” she said. “I can’t speak for the other woman doing this, but it is likely very similar for them. I always want to keep pushing myself mentally and physically, and they probably feel very similar.

After she left WNCC, she went to nursing school at Weber State University and became a registered nurse. She also got married to Kaden Prince, who is a full-time cowboy. She is now a traveling nurse and

going back to get a Family Nurse Practitioner degree to become a APRN provider.

Olivia and Kaden live Idaho and lives by the ranch that her husband works for.

She said when she was a traveling nurse in 2022, it was something she enjoyed.

“I started as a travel nursing in 2022 and have really enjoyed that,” she said. “I have worked in many different places and gotten lots of amazing experience doing so. Now I’m just going to school full-time, working full-time, and training for my next bodybuilding show in the fall of 2024.”

In the meantime, she said she does miss playing basketball and does play off and on.

“I miss basketball very, very much. It is always going to be a huge part of me,” she said. “I still play ball as much as i can. Mostly in women’s rec leagues and men’s pickup ball everywhere I can. I will always play whenever I can for as long as I can.”

She also still stays in contact with her Cougar teammates.

“I have kept in contact with most of my teammates!” Olivia said. “Through social media, we catch up every once in a while and it is amazing to see how well they are all doing. I miss them all very much.”

She still remembers her time at WNCC and all the memories that WNCC has brought her.

“I have countless memories at WNCC but the ones that stand out the most are the people who impacted my life the most,” Ol-

The wedding photo of Olivia and Kaden Prince. Both now live in Idaho.

ivia said. “I couldn’t have done it without all the love and support I had around me there especially when I had to get surgery on my compartment syndrome and I was out of basketball for a while. My trainer Doug Jones was one of my biggest supports. My boyfriend at the time, Angel Cortes, was my best friend and helped me through so much.

Plus all my amazing teammates, teachers, coaches, and so many other people.” ­— Written by Mark Rein

Two pictures of Olivia when she was at WNCC. One is her defending a player at nationals and the other is a graduation photo.

WNCC men start 2024 on a win streak, looking to win south sub-region to host regionals

T

he WNCC men’s basketball team ended 2023 with a win over Miles Community College 101-91 and they have started 2024 with three big wins over Eastern Wyoming College and Western Wyoming College and then on Monday against Lamar.

The Western Wyoming was huge as it avenged an earlier defeat to the Mustangs back in November 81-74.

This time, the Cougars took care of business at Cougar Palace, using a 16-0 run in the first half to help them propel past Western Wyoming Community College 9179 Wednesday night at Cougar Palace.

The win moved the Cougars to 10-7 on the year with their third-straight victory.

WNCC coach Billy Engel said they had some key plays where they didn’t let Western Wyoming get n more than a 5-point run.

“It is great when we can string together points and get some stops,” Engel said.

“We can score on multiple possessions in a row, but if you are trading baskets you won’t extend the lead so we do things in practice where we can score in three straight possessions and get a stop in three straight possessions. So, to put a run on somebody, you have to do that multiple of Stephen Ovia goes up for two points against Western Wyoming on January 10 at Cougar times. It is good to see the guys to go on a Palace. WNCC won the game. run like that.”

As for the games this semester, WNCC’s WNCC led 91-74 on a Ovia bucket and Now, the Cougars need to turn their attention to the South Sub-region games and game with Western Wyoming was a crazy never looked back.

WNCC shot 49 percent from the field that will begin Monday, January 15 when one. Western Wyoming defeated the Cougar men in November 81-74.

On January and made nine 3-pointers, while Western they travel to Lamar Community College.

Wyoming shot 43 percent and made seven After that, they will have home contests 10, WNCC built a 47-30 halftime lead.

The second half was where The Cou- triples. with Trinidad State College and Otero Colgars battled and saw the Mustangs outscore WNCC had four players in double figlege on January 19 and 20. the Cougars 49-44, but WNCC only let the ures.

Wilson and Nation each had 22 points.

Just how important are the South Sub-region contests? Put it this way, the winner of Mustangs get a 5-0 run and that was it. The Nation had five 3-pointers. Ovia chipped in the South gets to host regionals this year Cougars stayed tough in the second half 18 points with six rebounds, while JJ Harris had 13 points, all in the first half. and the regional tournament is slated for and led 70-54 on a Wilson bucket.

WNCC went up 78-60 on two free Western Wyoming had three in double March 14-16 with the national tournament set for march 24-30 in Hutchinson, Kansas. throws by Ovia and a Maurice Walker digits, led by Eddie McPhee with 23 points The first weekend and only four schools 3-pointer. The Mustangs went on a 6-0 run and four 3-pointers.

WNCC will be back in action Monday playing sub-region contests, Trinidad State to come within 12 at 78-66 with 4:54 to play.

It was only a brief comeback as WNCC anwhen they travel to Lamar Community Colis 2-0 while Otero and McCook are 1-1 and North Platte is 2-0. WNCC, Lamar, and swered with a 7-2 run that saw Ovia hit a lege for a South Sub-region contest. The NJC will open up sub-region play this week bucket and capped it with a Travis Easterly, Cougars will then have home sub-region Jr., triple for an 85-68 lead. contests on Friday and Saturday against (January 15).

Western Wyoming scored four straight Trinidad State and Otero College.

WNCC will face Lamar on January 15 only to watch WNCC score four straight.

Continued on next page on the road.

n Men’s basketball on a win streak ......

The Eastern Wyoming road win was a battle. WNCC topped EWC in November at Cougar Palace with east 81-67.

The big key in the January road contest came with about nine minutes to play. EWC just sliced a WNCC 8-point lead down to one, 58-57. WNCC called a time out and responded on an 11-0 run and outscored the Lancers 23-10 in the final six minutes for the win.

Engel said that timeout and how his team played coming out of the timeout was huge.

“I can’t remember what we talked about in that timeout whether we drew up a play or talked about defense, but it definitely a shift in mentality coming out of that timeout,” he said. “We defended and kept the ball in front. We protected the rim and we rebounded better and that led to good things offensively.”

The Cougars, just like the women’s contest, only trailed once and that was early in the game when EWC led 4-2. After that, WNCC jumped to an 11-7 lead on five points from Nazir Griffin and led 19-11 after a Griffin trey and a Travis Easterly, Jr., bucket.

WNCC pushed the lead to nine points at 33-24 on a Junior Galicia bucket. EWC battled back to slice the deficit to 39-35 on a

The team in a timeout huddle against Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington, Wyoming, which they won.

Ryan Aye 3-pointer, but WNCC came back to lead 42-35 at halftime.

The second half saw WNCC lead 5850 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Anthony Simo and Willie Wilson. That was when EWC scored seven straight points, including a 3-pointer by Henos Fitwi with 9:16 to play. WNCC called a timeout and the Cougars responded, going on the 11-0 run that was led by two treys by Kayden Nation to lead 69-57.

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WNCC went up 79-63 on back-to-back treys once again before winning going away 81-67.

WNCC shot 47 percent from the field and was 50 percent from behind the arc (12-of-24). Griffin, Nation, and Wilson all had three 3-pointers each.

The Cougars had three in double figures, led by Wilson with 15 points followed by Griffin with 13, and Stephen Ovia with 11. ­— Written by Mark Rein

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Cougar Frenzy

Cougar athletes have less than five minutes to respond to some interesting topics

Question Athlete

Faith Walker Women’s Basketball

New Year’s Resolution

Best Part of January

To be the best person that I can be.

Being with my team.

Wake up earlier.

Detroit Lions

Stanley or Yeti

Stanley

First couple of weeks after break

Baltimore Ravens

Neither

To improve myself everyday little by little

Going home to family

Baltimore Ravens

Yeti

To be better than last year.

Starting a new year.

San Fran 49ers

Stanley

To be a better version of myself

A Mexican holiday called “Dia de Los Reyes”

San Fran 49ers

Get to 205 lbs

Absolutely nothing

Green Bay Packers

Maurice Walker Men’s Basketball

Luis Escobar Men’s Soccer

Who Will Win The Super Bowl

Leslay Vasquez Women’s Soccer

Daniela Cruz Volleyball

Hunter McCollum Baseball

Stanley

Yeti

Too Cold Out Is When ____

In the negatives.

When I have to wear a hoodie under a coat.

When your car won’t start

When you cans see your breath Your nose hair freezes

The car don’t start

Gering’s Gonzalez-Orozco and former Cougar ball girl signs with Cougar volleyball team

G

ering’s Alex Gonzalez-Orozco was one of the top liberos in the Wyo-Braska area the last couple of years and now she will be heading to the collegiate level after signing with Western Nebraska Community College, where she was actually a ball girl for the volleyball team when she was younger.

Gonzalez-Orozco, who finished with 1,731 career digs, is excited to be continuing her volleyball career at WNCC. “It means a lot to me to continue my collegiate career at WNCC because I’ve grown up watching the Cougars play since I was little,” Gonzalez-Orozco said. “They have been a huge influence on me from going to watch them play, being their ball girl, and now actually being in the team.”

From the connection she has had with WNCC, it wasn’t a difficult decision to play volleyball at WNCC. Gonzalez-Orozco is the first to play collegiate sports in her immediate family.

“It was an easy choice choosing WNCC because of what I mentioned before and being able to learn from previous players and coach Binney Canales,” she said. “I chose WNCC for that reason, to stay close to home and because I loved the environment of the school overall and I wanted to grab the chance to join team I have wanted to be a part of since I was little.”

Gonzalez-Orozco also follows in a long line of former Gering players that have gone through the WNCC volleyball pro-

Gering’s Alex Gonzalez signs on to play volleyball for WNCC for the next two years and hopes to be successful like the previous Gering High playres at came to WNCC.

gram and been successful either academically, athletically, or both, and many of which have gone on to play volleyball at 4-year institutions.

Some of the former Bulldogs that went to WNCC to play included Macey Boggs, who is now at the University of Wyoming, Eli Winkler, Lauren Schaul Santanna and Arianna Mitchell, Kaylee Spreier, and Olivia Schaub to name a few.

“It is a great honor to be able to follow in these talented players footsteps,” Gonzalez-Orozco said. “I hope to do the program justice just as they did.”

Gonzalez-Orozco brings plenty of volleyball talent to the Cougar program. The last few years she was a libero, but actually

Gering’s Alex Gonzalez-Orozco goes for a pancake save in a match with Bridgeport this season.

started out as an outside hitter her freshman and sophomore year where she finished with 106 kills those two years. She had 126 kills those two years and finished with 126 career kills.

She also had 277 service points, including 210 this past year along with 38 aces this season. She had 117 ace serves in her 4-year career.

But it was defense where Gonzalez-Orozco excelled, finishing with 500 or more digs her junior and senior season. She had 1,097 in those two years and finished with 1,731 for her career. On top of that, she also had 122 career set assists and 15 solo blocks.

Gonzalez-Orozco quickly realized how important being a libero was.

“Starting out as an outside hitter my freshman year, I was really excited because that was my position all of middle school and that’s what I thought I wanted to do,” she said. “But once I got switched to a DS/ libero I realized that defense is what I really loved about the game and where I belonged on the court.”

Gering coach Amanda Cochran said Gonzalez-Orozco had a stellar volleyball career at Gering.

“Alex is one of the top passers in the region,” Cochran said. “She is very smart and sees the court well. It was fun to watch her become a vocal leader this last season.

We are going to miss her a lot! I look for-

Continued on next page

n Gonzalez-Orozco signs with WNCC ...... ward to watching her collegiate journey and cheering her on.”

At Gering, Gonzalez-Orozco helped the Bulldogs to the district finals this season and she will have plenty of memories of her Gering playing days.

“The memories I have from playing at Gering the last four years have been a mixed bag for me,” she said. “I have had some really fun and exciting times, I’ve had some sad emotional memories, and also some frustrating ones, but overall, I wouldn’t change a thing playing with the girls I got the opportunity to play with.”

It is those connections with her team that will stand out. Plus, now, she will gain even more friendships at collegiate level with her teammates. She will cherish her teammates and coaches at Gering.

“My memories are the connections with some of my teammates and coaches, as well as building memories with them are some of the things I will miss from my time at

Gering’s Alex Gonzalez-Orozco holds the Nebraska Harper Murray photo that her teammate Makenzie Todd gave her.

Gering,” she said.

Gonzalez-Orozco only played volleyball at Gering but was part of the Lios Club and National Honor Society.

“I did not play any other sports in high school but I am a part of the LEOs club

and National Honor Society,” she said. “I like the environment of these club and having the opportunity to volunteer in my community.”

When she comes to WNCC, she doesn’t have a set major, but is leaning toward radiology. What she hopes to accomplish, though, is to continue on at a 4-year school and help the team.

“My goals for WNCC next year are to be successful on the court and in the classroom and hopefully prove that I deserve to be on the team,” she said. “And, yes, I would love to play volleyball at the next level at a four-year college, but I know it will take a lot of hard work, dedication, and perseverance, which I am willing to put in.”

She added she can’t wait to become a Cougar next year.

“I am really excited and I can’t wait to get started building connections with my team,” she said. ­— Written by Mark Rein

Cougar Athletes of the Week

Female Athletes of the Week

July 20.........................................Megan Bewley, Vball August 23........................................... Lilly Zwart, Vball September 7.............Yasmin Urbina, Women’s Soccer September 13..............Aileen Perez, Women’s Soccer October 6................ Lesley Vasquez, Women’s Soccer October 20............................. Shanelle Martinez, Vball November 8........... Helena Kuck, Women’s Basketball November 16....... Ebere Egbirke, Women’s Basketball December 8 .........Mackenzie Joseph, Women’s Bballl December 29...................Faith Walker, Women’s Bball January 14....................... Gal-La Font, Women’s Bball

Male Athletes of the Week

July 20................................Paul Cerros, Men’s Soccer August 23....................Hernan Burdiles, Men’s Soccer September 7.............. Isrrael Rodriguez, Men’s Soccer September 13.............Eduardo Oliveira, Men’s Soccer October 6...................... Roberto Rivero, Men’s Soccer October 20..................Eduardo Oliveira, Men’s Soccer November 8............................... JJ Harris, Men’s BBall November 16................... Maurice Walker, Men’s Bball December 8......................... Willie Wilson, Men’s Bball December 29......................... Daniel Bula, Men’s Bball January 14........................ Kayden Nation, Men’s Bball

Harris’ buzzer-beater downs Lamar 60-58 Cougar men win fourth straight game

J

J Harris’ 14-foot buzzer beater was the only shot that mattered as the Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team opened South Sub-region with a thrilling 60-58 in over Lamar Community College Monday in Lamar, Colorado.

The win pushed the Cougar’s win streak to four games and to 11-7 overall.

WNCC is now 1-0 in conference play right behind Trinidad State College, who is 2-0.

WNCC and Trinidad State face each other Friday at Cougar Palace.

Harris, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, said they didn’t have their best offensive game, only hitting 1-of-23 3-point shots and going 24-of-61 from the field.

Still, it was the defensive effort in the first half that was key, holding Lamar to just 22 first half points.

“I feel like we didn’t play our best basketball on the offensive end, didn’t really hit shots or really didn’t take care of the basketball like we are capable of doing,” the sophomore from Tallahassee, Florida, said. “With that being said, we still found a way to come away with a win because we stayed together through it all.”

The first half was what won the game for the Cougars. Lamar jumped to an 8-2 lead and led 10-6 before WNCC went on a 12-0 run to lead 18-10 behind a Willie Wilson dunk. From there, the Cougars kept Lamar in check in scoring and led 32-22 at the break.

“First half, we were really locked in defensively helping each other communicating,” Harris said. “I feel like in the second half, we started off strong but we didn’t put them away. We got a little too lazy and gave them confidence to think they can stick around with us.”

The second half saw Lamar cut the WNCC lead to single digits at 40-31. The Cougars went on a 12-3 run to lead 5234 and seemed in control. That was when the Cougars had trouble scoring and La-

mar went on a 16-2 run to make it a 54-50 33 as Harris and Anthony Simo each had game. seven boards followed by Stephen Ovia The final two minutes had plenty of with six. nail-biting action. WNCC went up 56-50 WNCC’s only 3-pointer came early in on a Wilson bucket before Lamar kept it the second half when Travis Easterly, Jr., at 56-52. Harris buried a shot with 2:25 nailed a triple. to play to put it back to 58-52. That was Wilson led the Cougars with 16 points when Lamar went on a 6-0 run and tied followed by Harris’ 12. Simo finished with the game at 58 with about seven seconds eight points while Easterly, Jr., and Ovia to play. each had six.

Harris got the ball and drove the court Harris said this team has what it takes and as time was running out, put up a to win a regional title as long as they keep running 14-footer just before the buzzer believing in themselves. which went through the bucket for the “Like I said, continue to put God first game-winner. and good things will happen,” he said.

Harris said the win was all God for “Without each other none of this would looking down on the team and the win be possible. It’s us against the world. I just was crucial as they keep building to win- want to thank the man above, my family, ning the sub-region and the regional tour- and the most important piece of the puznament. zle Coach Billy Engel for making this all “By most importantly keeping God the possible.” center piece of it all because without him, ­— Written by Mark Rein none of this would be possible,” Harris said. “Also by locking in day-byday and approaching every day like it’s the championship game to advance to Hutch.

If we continue to Kendell Henderson Agency, Inc. stay together and Scottsbluff, NE 69361 be disciplined solamfam.com diers for our coach, (308) 632-8701 everything else will fall into line and I kendellhenderson.com love our chances going into these next few conference games.”

WNCC didn’t have the best shooting night, but what they did was play strong defense when they needed to. The 22 points that Lamar scored is one of the lowest first-half points allowed in a number of years.

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Urtane pulls down 19 rebounds in win

Cougar women capture first sub-region win

T

he WNCC women’s basketball team put four in double figures and held Lamar Community College to just four third-quarter points in picking up the 76-45 South Sub-region win Monday night in Lamar, Colorado.

The win moves the Cougars to 16-3 on the season and stopped a 2-game losing skid.

The win was more important since it was the opening of the conference games and the Cougars are now 1-0 in the South Sub-Region with two home sub-region games this weekend when they host Trinidad State on Friday and Otero College Saturday afternoon.

Adelina Urtane, who had a double-double with 13 points and 19 rebounds, said the win was the little things that they did.

“The keys for the game were the little things which are important, togetherness, and controlling the tempo,” Urtane said.

Urtane said they didn’t play as well as they did in the second half, especially the third quarter where they out-scored Lamar 16-4.

“In my opinion, the first half wasn’t our best and we could have played better,” she said. “We played way better in the second half, more as a team, shared the ball, and cheered for each other. That is how we got the lead and won the game.”

WNCC started slow falling behind 8-4 to Lamar in the first quarter. WNCC took an 11-8 lead but only led 16-13 after the first 10 minutes.

The Cougars started the second quarter with seven straight points to lead 23-13 af-

ter a 3-pointer by Gal-La Font and a bucket from Urtane. Lamar added five points to cut the Cougar lead to 23-18, but WNCC responded on a 12-4 run to lead 36-22 and led 39-25 at halftime.

It was the second half that saw the Cougars explode and the third quarter was the key. WNCC scored the first eight points behind a triple from Helena Kuck and buckets by Amiyah Donaldson and Mackenzie Joseph for a 47-25 lead. WNCC led 52-27 before Lamar hit their first and only field goal of the third quarter with 3:20 to play.

Font closed out the third with a 3-pointer.

WNCC was just as tough in the final 10 minutes as they went up 67-32 on back-toback Laura Montiel buckets and a Kuck triple. Moments later, Montiel had two more buckets along with a Jamie Caron field goal for a 74-41 and never looked back.

WNCC made seven 3-pointers, including three from Kuck and two from Font.

Lamar only made two 3-pointers.

The Cougars were also 21-of-29 from the free throw line while Lamar was 11-of16.

WNCC won the rebounding game 4719. Urtane had 19 boards followed by six each from Keyla Cervantes and Font.

WNCC had 11 players hit the scoring column. Urtane led the way with 13 points followed by Montiel with 12 and Ebere Egbirika with 11. Kuck had nine while Cervantes and Font each had six.

Urtane said the team will rest up on Tuesday and get back to work to get ready for key weekend home games.

“We will rest tomorrow (Tuesday) and get recovery so we can be fresh for our next two games over the weekend,” she said.

“Overall, as a team, we have to listen to coach and be mentally and physically ready for the next game. Every win is important for us, but this was a good game to start the conference game marathon.” ­— Written by Mark Rein

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Former Cougars from 1993 championship team visit Cougar Palace in December

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ive former WNCC women’s basketball players made a trip back to Cougar Palace on December 1 in sort of a reunion.

The five all were members of the 1993 women’s first Region IX championship team.

Members of that team coming back on December 1 included Pam (Palmer) Griess, Sabrina (Wheeler) McKenna, Tonya (Kluck) Schissler, Laura (Kaiser) , and Renee Rayton.

The reason for the five to come back is because Tonya’s daughter, Andi Schissler plays for Casper College and on that December 1, Casper was playing WNCC and it was a perfect night for a reunion.

“Coming to WNCC after several years brought back so many memories,” Griess said. “Driving with Renee and talking about all the great times we had. Laughing that we never realized how pretty the Bluffs were and how much the town has changed.

“Then, watching Tonya’s daughter play for Casper, our biggest rival and how different it seemed. The bookstore surprised Laura and I since we never had one I don’t think” Sabrina (Wheeler) McKenna said the reunion brought back the old days from when they competed in Cougar Palace.

“It was so great to come back and see some of my former teammates! I can’t believe it has been 30 years,” Sabrina said.

“We were able to talk about SO many memories! Funny things that happened on the court, practices, road trips, etc. The memories kept flowing! It was also spectacular to

The five former players along with WNCC alumni director Mary Sheffield (in front) along with a couple men’s basketball players from that year Anthony Harris and Todd Kraus.

see Tonya’s daughter out there playing!”

On that night, Tonya’s daughter Andi scored 17 points for Casper, but the Cougars still won the game 75-69.

What amazed the five is how Cougar Palace changed from when they played on the court. Back in 1993, the gym was round and there were no yellow seats on

Here is the 1992-93 Cougar basketball team and the five that came back included #22 Tonya Kluck, No. 40 Renee Rayton, No. 42 Laura Kaiser, No. 44 Pam Palmer, and No. 50 Sabrina Wheeler.

top. Where those yellow seats are know was just open where you could see the back wall where the classrooms were.

“The wall around the seating area definitely changed since we were there,” Sabrina said. “The whole building, actually! We didn’t have the cool bookstore off of the gym or the beautiful atrium space off of the gym (computers, offices, heck it could have even been the library, I was just in awe of the space! The campus has also changed so much! We only had one dorm - which I don’t know if it is even still a dorm!”

The night was special because all the people that they saw and got to spend time with. The five, after the game, went out with the Dietrich’s for supper, but they also saw their old dorm parents, and other people that they remembered.

“Everyone was so nice and seemed happy we were there,” Pam said. “It was great to see Mr. (Dave) Nash, Loretta’s husband Tom Ulrich and to have Colleen and Dave Dietrich, and Todd Kraus join us for the night!”

Continued on next page

n Former Cougars come back to The Palace ......

What Sabrina when they were sitting in the stands talking, each one of them brought up something different to remember about their time at the college.

“It was funny because each of us had different core memories that once we mentioned, we all chimed in with parts and pieces of the stories!” she said. “It was also funny because there were some memories that most remembered but one person had NO clue.”

These five that came back to Scottsbluff all were part of a Cougar team in the 199293 season where all the players were from Colorado except one and that was Sondra Landrigan of Bridgeport, Nebraska.

That year the Cougars went 29-5 and won their first Region IX title in women’s basketball history and competed at the national tournament in Tyler, Texas. The previous two years, the Cougars made the Region IX championship game.

During the 1990s, the Cougars made the 11 straight years from 1991 through 2001 and during that time, they won four Region IX titles.

Three of the five players that came back went on to play at a four-year level with Renee going to Clemson University while Tonya went to Northern Colorado and Sa-

Renee Rayton, Todd Kraus, Pam Palmer, and Laura Kaiser all stand by the entrance with Cougar Palace in the background.

brina went to Montana State.

Pam said the game of basketball has changed so much when they played.

“The game of basketball has also changed,” she said. “I think our time when we were there was so special because it was small and the friendships and lifelong memories will always remain.”

Sabrina agreed that the game has changed a lot since when they played.

“It has changed a lot,” Sabrina said.

“Players are so much more versatile today than they were when we played. Players can play all over the floor and not just position related. It is a much faster and a more fluid

Continued on next page

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n Former Cougars come back to The Palace ...... game now as well.”

Sabrina said she was surprised to catch up with so many people from when she was there and that was the best part.

“I didn’t expect to see you (Mark) and what a treat,” she said. “And the highlight of my trip was seeing the Dietrich family and catching up with them! They were a huge part of my WNCC life!”

Tonya, who had to cheer for her daughter with Casper, went over and talked to her dorm parents Dave Nash, and Nash said it was nice to see Tonya and her family again. ­— Written by Mark Rein

(Above) Pam and Laura go and talke to Tom Ulrich, the assistant coach when they played husband.

(Right) Tonya (Kluck) Schissler and Dave Nash rehash memories. The Nash’s were Tonya’s dorm family when she played here 30 years ago.

ALUMNI ATHLETIC NEWS

Scottsbluff Junior College l Nebraska Western College l Western Nebraska Community College

55 years of Cougar Palace history

T

his issue I found a January 23, 2009, issue of the Cougar Beat and I took my time going through it and saw plenty of interesting stories and features, which is similar to what this year’s newsletters are doing.

This one had a special story on 40 years of history as the Cougars celebrate a special anniversary. What the story was back in January 2009, it was the college’s 40th anniversary of playing in Cougar Palace.

Think about it and think how many years Cougar Palace has been standing and hosting events. How many games have played under the rafters from basketball to volleyball?

When the Cougars play Trinidad State and Otero College this weekend (January 19 and 20 at Cougar Palace, it will be the start of the 55th year of playing sports in Cougar Palace.

Cougar Palace has a long line of outstanding games from college to high school sports as well as boxing matches, graduations, Spring Flings (trade shows), concerts, and a host of other events.

The January 23, 2009, Cougar Beat had a story on the 40 year history of Cougar Palace and that story will be run below.

As you read it, please think about the history of Cougar Palace as it begins its 55th year in existence. While you are at it, send your memories of what you know about playing or watching an event in Cougar Palace. Remember, the first game was played in The Palace was January 1969.

Email those memories to mrein@wncc.edu or mrein2963@gmail.com.

Here is the story that appeared in that newsletter in 2009, word-for-word.

40 years of history Cougars celebrate a special anniversary When the Cougars played Laramie County Community College on Jan. 13, it marked a special anniversary for WNCC and Cougar athletes.

It was 40 years ago this month that the first Cougar basketball game was played in

Here is an aerial view of the college that was taken in 1969. The first game played in Cougar Palace that year was on January 10 and the first classes were held on the new 27th street campus was February 3. Look at the 1969 photo and see what isn’t in the photo compared today.

The Cougar Palace in its construction stages in 1968, where the bleachers are already installed and the flooring was being put in. Also notice the openiness of the gym and tiny scoreboard. (photos from the college yearbook El Bahr.)

Cougar Palace.

In January 1969, what is now Western Nebraska Community College, opened for classes on this very spot on 27th street.

Before that, the college was known as

Scottsbluff Junior College and athletic events were played at the Scottsbluff Middle School or Gering High.

Continued on next page

n 55th year of Cougar Palace ..........

What a difference in having an arena that the Cougars can call home has made.

WNCC has notched 31 Region IX championships in those 40 years in the three sports — men’s and women’s basketball, and volleyball — that play indoors.

“It gives us an advantage [to have our own place],” WNCC athletic director Jennifer Pedersen said. “It also helps the kids feel more comfortable when they play. We have one of the nicest facilities in the region; the kids know that and take pride in the place they play.”

Pat Lee, who was an instructor, coach, athletic director and vice president at the college, remembers the anticipation of the new college opening. Lee was an instructor at both the old campus and then the new campus.

“It was very exciting playing in that gym because we never had our own gym ever,” Lee said. “We had this little tiny gym in the basement [of the old college] but it was extremely exciting to be able to get into that gymnasium an. It was very nice and everybody was excited.”

The college started moving over into the new building on 27th street over Christmas break of 1968 and played their first game on their own court on Jan. 10, 1969. Unfortunately for the Cougars, it wasn’t a positive debut as Sheridan College topped the Cougars 117-79.

The Cougars lost three more games in that first year to Northwest Wyoming, Northeastern Colorado and North Platte before picking up their first victory in Cougar Palace, a 91-85 win against Trinidad State Junior College. .In the college’s 10th anniversary located on 27th street, the men’s basketball team did something truly special — capturing the

This is a photo of the what the college gym looked like back in the the 1980s. Notice the view for the classrooms as well as the foul pole and the scorers’ table. And don’t forget the wooden bleachers.

This is a photo of the what the college gym looked like when they gym was remodeled in the early 2000s. Notice the yellow seats and the more colorful floor plus the big Cougar head in the middle, which is much what it looks like today.

school’s first Region IX basketball championship.

That year, current women’s basketball coach Dave Harnish, was a sophomore

guard and the team was coached by Ron Brillhart. Brillhart helped guide the team to Region IX titles in three of the next four

Continued on next page

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n 55th year of Cougar Palace .......... years before leaving for the University of Northern Colorado.

Brillhart would return to WNCC in 2003 as coach, before retiring. In 2006, after which the gym floor was officially tabbed Brillhart Court.

Lee said that first regional championship is when the success of Cougar athletics started to skyrocket.

“That first regional title is what really set things off and we started to get really good crowds with sell outs every night,” Lee said.

“But when you are winning, people tend to come to the game.”

After Brillhart left of UNC, the Cougars struggled for four years before Dave “Soupy” Campbell took over the coaching duties. That was when the Cougars were put back on the map nationally, winning seven Region IX titles in his 13 years at WNCC. Pedersen said that Cougar athletics became a hot ticket in the community.

“I remember when we used to have to lock the doors before a men’s game even started because the crowds were so big,” she said.

A lot has changed in the appearance of

This is what the gym set-up looked like in the late 1980s and you notice that radio was announcing beside the benches and the team just sat on plain metal seats.

the gym since January 1969. For 31 years, Cougar Palace had a roundness feel to it with seats that encircled the floor. Their were also no upper seating, where on many occasions people would be standing by railings watching the game because of a lack of seating.

In 2000, the college redid the gymna-

sium to it’s present “squarish” style, including seatback chairs on the upper level.

There is debate by many of which gym was better.

Pedersen, who played volleyball and basketball for the Cougars in the mid 1990s, said someday, if she would win the lottery,

Continued on next page

n 55th year of Cougar Palace .......... she would like to go back to the old Cougar Palace.

“I would like to go back to the old style, and maybe have seatbacks on the lower level,” she said.

Lee said the renovation of the gym from the original to what it looks like today is soso.

“They took the handball courts and made the coaches offices there,” Lee said.

“We also didn’t have a weight room of any kind when we first moved in and now they do.”

Lee said that the college has had some good coaches since that first Region IX championship, and the number of banners hanging in the gym today — 38 to be exact — is a testament of the college’s athletic success. “ W e What are your have had a lot memories of of good coaches,” Lee said.

Cougar Palace?

“Also, one of This January begins the the best players that came here, 55th year of Cougar Palace and what are in my opinion, your memories of was Darryl Cougar Palace either by Williams (who playing on the court, played for the or watching a game Cougars from or some other event.

1978-80).

Send your thoughts B u t along with our name while men’s to mrein@wncc.edu or basketball is mrein2963@gmail.com still thriving, but the two women’s indoor sports — volleyball and basketball — have also been gaining steam since coming aboard in the mid 1970.

The women’s basketball team won their first Region IX title under the coaching of Harnish in 1993 at Cougar Palace. Since that Region IX championship, the women’s

This is what the gym floor looks like today with a faded blue look and metal around the court since it was raised up a little bit .

team has hung nine Region IX championship banners in the rafters of the college. Even Pedersen has been part of Region IX championship teams, both as a player and now as a coach.

Pedersen was a member of the 1995 women’s basketball title squad.

Since returning as a coach, she has been a part of Region IX championships in volleyball and basketball as an assistant coach.

“When I first played here I was amazed on how the community supported the sports programs, and how exciting it was to be in Cougar Palace,” she said.

While women’s basketball has won nine titles, volleyball has had more success on the court.

The team has captured 11 Region IX titles — the first one Cougar men’s basketball action from the late 1970s or

Continued on next page

early 1980s, not sure the exact date.

n 55th year of Cougar Palace .......... back in 1988. The volleyball team has won 10 straight Region IX titles.

The volleyball team was also the first team to bring home a national title to the college, capturing the title in 2007 with a four-game win against Miami Dade. After they won the title, the college celebrated the team’s success by raising a national championship banner.

All in all, three are 38 championship banners now flying in Cougar Palace from basketball, volleyball, softball, baseball, soccer and golf.

What makes Cougar Palace so special is that it is one of the biggest arenas in the Panhandle. Cougar Palace seats roughly 2,300 people.

Cougar Palace is one of the nicest facilities in the area. Before WNCC moved from its 5th avenue and 20th street location (where Centennial Park is now), the college had to go elsewhere to have activities. When they moved to 27th street, the college opened its doors to the community.

The first games were played on Jan. 10, but the first classes didn’t begin until Feb. 3 of 1969.

Cougar Palace is not only home to Cougar athletics, but high school sporting events such as basketball, volleyball and even wrestling have used The Palace.

Cougar Palace has also been used for concerts, high school and college graduations, community boxing matches, health fairs, Spring Flings otherwise know as home shows, Nebraska State birthday parties, and

many other events.

Pedersen said the 27th street location is perfect. At times, the college is nicknamed “Harvard on the Hill.”

“I think this is the perfect location for our institution,” she said. “We have a good base, and we have room to expand to offer more services to the community.”

But just how did WNCC happen? It all started in March of 1965 when the Student Action Committee started plans, which led to this new campus. Parades and booster trips helped to promote the plans for a county college and, by April 1966, plans for a new campus was completed. After voters approved a $1,700,000 bond issue, ground was broken for the new college. Construction ran ahead of schedule and during the second semester of the 1968-69 school year, college students moved into their new location on 27th street.

The 1969 college yearbook, El Bahr, said, “A dream of many years reached fulfillment with the completion of the new Nebraska Western College building. Under the expert leadership of the college President Dr. William J. Ptacek, the first classes in the new building were held on Monday, Feb. 3, 1969.

During the past three years with the college, Dr. Ptacek has seen the completion of a beautiful new campus and a rise in student enrollment, all due to many hours of hard work by a man who is dedicated to his work and to the faculty and students of Nebraska Western College.”

Ok. Just how much of a difference was there between where the Cougars played before 1968 and 1969? The picture at the top shows the cheerleaders performing a routine at Gering High School during a game. Then, in the middle, the Cheerleaders perform on the court with a lot of space, and bottom picture, the cheerleaders had a lot more space to perform.

LEFT: Photo of Cougar Palace in the 1980s. Look what press row looks like.

Looking back at Men’s Bball in 1981

Looking back at Women’s Bball in 1981

Looking back at volleyball in 1981

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Cougar Trivia

1) When was the first game in Cougar Palace held?

2) What two locations did the Cougar volleyball team play at during the early 1980s?

3) Name four things that are not in the aerial photo of the college back in 1969 that are standing today?

4) What year did the women’s basketball team win their first Region IX championship?

5) What Nebraska volleyball player picture is WNCC signee Alex Gonzalez-Orozco holding?

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8) What book is being read in the March photo?

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10) Where was the college located before moving to its present location?

The answers are somewhere in this issue of the Cougar Illustrated newsletter. You just need to read the stories or look at the pictures to find the correct answers.

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