Fall 2017
Athletic Hall of Fame Jeff Seume-Class of 1972 Dr. Jeff Seume was a standout two sport athlete at Westside High School. A two year letter winner in basketball and a three- year letter winner in baseball, in 1971 he was selected to the All- Metro second team, State tournament All Star Team, and Metro Holiday All Star Team. In his senior year, he was selected first team to both the All- Metro and the All-State teams. He went on to play basketball at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. After graduating from college and seminary, Jeff served in Christian ministry for 37 years. He is still very proud of his roots and having graduating from Westside High School. “It was a privilege to attend such an outstanding school, truly one of the best in the state, if not the entire Midwest.” D. J. Rezac- Class of 1989 D.J. Rezac was a three sport athlete at Westside High School, and was a two year letter winner in basketball in 1988 and 1989, a three- year letter winner in football from 1987-1989, and a fouryear letter winner in baseball from 1986-1989. He was named an All-State linebacker by the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star in 1988 and 1989, and was also a member of the Omaha World-Herald Super 6 in 1989. He was also named the Mid-City Metro Football Player of the Year runner up in that same year. In baseball, he was named to the all-state team in 1988 and 1989. In 1989, he was named an American Legion Post Scholar Athlete and still holds the Westside High School American Legion batting average record at .492. After high school D.J. walked on at Indiana University. He played football there for one year and then transferred to UNL to pursue a business degree. D.J.is married to Lisa Murante, a 1989 Westside grad and they have 5 children all of whom attend District 66 schools. D.J.’s father Dick Rezac was a teacher and coach at Westside High School from 1969 to 1985. Roger Hoffman (1967-1999) – Coach Longtime Westside High School math teacher and coach Roger Hoffman created a winning culture during his 33-year tenure as boys’ head golf coach. During those 33 years the WHS golf team won the state Class A championship three times. His golf teams were also state runner-ups six times, third place three times, and fourth place six times. His teams were metro champions nine times and metro runner-ups seven times, and district champions 10 times and runners-up 14 times. Westside’s dual record during those 33 years was 245 wins, 50 losses, and 2 ties. He coached one individual state champion (Joe Sloan) and 11 metro champions. Roger has been married to Linda for 55 years. Their sons, Brett and Scott, both had successful golf careers at Westside. Scott had a career average of 75 and won multiple individual metro, district, and invitational championships. Roger feels so honored to be named as a Hall of Fame Coach alongside the other great coaches in Westside history. Harley Schrager- Contributor Harley Schrager has made invaluable contributions to the Westside School District. Sixteen years ago, Harley and Beth Schrager started the Schrager Outstanding Coaching Award. The Schrager Award honors a head coach and a non-head coach and are presented this surprise award at our end of the year athletic banquet. Three years ago, Harley Schrager also established a Lifetime Achievement Award for coaches. Not only has Harley been a strong supporter of the coaches at WHS, he supported updates to the baseball field in 2006 and to the Champions’ Plaza in 2015. In 2004, former
DJ Rezac (‘89), Coach Lou Miloni (representing the wrestling team) Harley Schrager, Jeff Seume (‘72), Linda Schabloske Roh (‘91)
superintendent Ken Bird approached Harley to combine both the Westside Athletic Hall of Fame and Coaches Night of Distinction into one event. Held for the last 13 years its goal is to celebrate the outstanding tradition of Westside Athletics. His son Tony, WHS (‘95), an outstanding athlete at Westside, was a captain of both the varsity basketball team as well as the varsity baseball team; and was himself inducted into the WHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015. Harley’s daughter Lois, WHS (‘99), was also an outstanding student, cheerleader, and yearbook editor. Harley Schrager served on the Westside Foundation Board of Directors for many years in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. 1976 and 1977 Wrestling Teams The 1976 and 1977 Westside High School wrestling teams were led by WHS Hall of Fame Coach Lou Miloni. The toughness he brought to the mat carried over to his wrestlers as they dominated Nebraska high school wrestling in both of those seasons. The 1976 WHS wrestling team won the state title for the first time in program history by 1.5 points over Columbus. That year, Westside would go undefeated in all tournament competition. Dave Walton and Kirby Clark were state champions, Roger Schwenke was a runner-up, and Dan Knight was the fourth- place finisher. The 1977 team won Westside’s second state title by 44 points and had the team title wrapped up before the semi-finals. Westside placed 8 wrestlers in the semi-finals out of 12 weight classes. The team won every tournament that year except for the Millard High Invite, and they won their fourth consecutive Metro conference tournament. At Districts, the Warriors had seven wrestlers in the finals out of twelve weight classes. That success carried over to the State Tournament as Westside finished with three state champions, Jeff Finley, Tom Boyer, and Bob Danenhauer, while Roger Schwenke was a runner up. There were three third place finishers, Keith Sortino, John Butler, and Mark Estey, and one fourth place finisher, Gary Niver.