Rex Jones – Chadron
Contributor. Rex Jones retired in 2002 after a 50-year career in Nebraska athletics that saw him rise from the playing fields to the board room. Jones played quarterback on an undefeated Chadron High School football team of 1954, played for an undefeated Chadron State football team in 1958 and coached an undefeated Rushville football team […]
Jodi Janssen Harper – Papillion-LaVista
Class of 1994 Jodi (Janssen) Harper established the standard in Nebraska high school diving, becoming the first to sweep the gold medals all four years at the state swimming and diving meet. She set the state record in 1994, breaking the previous mark by 20 points. That record still stood at the time of her […]
Tom Jaworski – Creighton Prep
Coach Tom Jaworski kept the Creighton Prep football team in the upper echelon for nearly 40 years. He retired in 2010 as the all-time leader in football coaching victories in Nebraska. His 39-year career resulted in 343 victories against only 92 defeats. His Junior Jays won nine state championships, including five straight from 1985 to […]
Clester Johnson – Bellevue West
Athlete. Bellevue West (1991) Being a wide receiver for the undefeated national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers in 1995 followed a dominating high school career for Clester Johnson, who stood out in three sports at Bellevue West. A two-time all-state quarterback whose team had a 20-7 record during his high school years, he established Class A standards […]
Ed Johnson – Lincoln Northeast
Coach–In his very first year as a head high school basketball coach in Nebraska, this legendary gentleman led the Lincoln Northeast boys rocketing to a Class A state championship by winning his first state tournament. For nearly forty years he would often repeat this performance, winning seven state titles in boys basketball and nearly 500 […]
Peaches James Keaton – Papillion-LaVista
ATHLETE No one dominated Nebraska high school softball like Peaches James. The pitching ace on four straight state championship teams, the four-time all-state hurler set numerous state records, including 11 no-hitters, five perfect games and an 0.04 ERA in 1999. Her exploits included 31 consecutive wins, 19 consecutive shutouts and a streak of 257 2/3 […]
Mary Lou Jasnoch Kucera – Oshkosh
Athlete–A 1974 graduate of Garden County High School located in Oshkosh, this pioneering athlete was one of the first well-known girls high school track & field champions during the resurgent years for girls sports in Nebraska during the 1970s. In 1973 she led her high school to a grand championship in girls track. Winning […]
Bob Jensen – Central City
Bob Jensen Contributor Newspaper man Bob Jensen filled a void in Nebraska high school sports publications when he launched Huskerland Prep Report in 1990. What started as a weekly provider of statistics reports evolved into a multi-media publication providing exposure to hundreds of athletes from border to border and from the smallest schools to the […]
Chuck Jura – Schuyler
Athlete. This 1968 graduate of Schuyler High School received well-deserved plaudits from Nebraska newspapers as one of the best high school basketball players ever in this part of the country. In 1968, the year of the Class B state championship title for the tall green and white lads, Chuck Jura averaged 30 points per game […]
Calvin Jones – Omaha Central
Calvin Jones Omaha Central Athlete Calvin Jones speed put him at the front of Nebraskas football and track scene. A prep All-American, Jones averaged 8.4 yards per carry as a senior and established Class A single-game (367 yards), single-season (2,196 yards) and career (3,965 yards) rushing records. On the track, he won five gold medals […]
