Egr ranks among state rushing leaders

Low numbers make it toughto field three fall girls sports

Freshman still feelslarge part of CC teamas boys include herin competition, fun

Girls improve, yet disappointedVolleyball team earnsbest record since 2015

RACING STRONG - Freshman Janel Bussing runs at the Tecumseh Golf Course during the Johnson County Invitational. Bussing was the only high school girl to compete with the cross country team. Pho-tograph by Rod Henkel

By Laycee Josoff

Holding a top-ranked position in the state for most yards throughout an entire season can be difficult, but junior Caden Egr has achieved this.

Egr was ranked second in class C2 after the first round of playoffs with 1,600 rush-ing yards.

This achievement took a lot of practice. Egr has been playing football since he knew how to catch and throw a ball. He carried these fundamentals into high school to be-come a skillful running back.

“Caden has a natural talent, and he is willing to work hard on the field,” head coach Dan Krajicek said.

To become the player he is today, Egr said he had to put a lot of time and effort into football during the summer.

“We have done a workout that Colton Feist helped bring in, and it is one of the hardest workouts I’ve ever done,” Egr said. “It’s tough, but it works and everyone has been putting on a lot of muscle from it.”

Coach Krajicek, and the rest of the coaching staff, as well as his teammates have helped Egr achieve his goals this season.

“All of the coaches I have had over the years have pushed me to be a better athlete,” Egr said. “Also, my teammates have helped put me in my spot and have made me be-come a better player on the field.”

When running the ball for his team-mates, Egr has a mindset of not being stopped and moving the ball forward.

“I try my best not to get tackled and fall

By KendyL egr

Going from junior high sports to high school can be intimidating, and being the only girl on a team can only add to the feeling.

For freshman Janel Bussing, intimidat-ing was what she thought at the beginning.

Bussing was the only girl on Yutan High School’s 2019 cross country team.

“It’s kind of scary being the only girl,” Bus-sing said. “Ev-eryone realizes I have to get good times and have to help out the team.”

One of Bus-sing’s coaches hopes that Bus-sing continues to strive in cross country over her next few high school years.

Bussing’s best finish was 12th place at Pender and her best time was 25:50 at Fort Calhoun.

“She practices really well; she wants to do really well for herself and the team,” coach Natalie Zabrocki said.

Bussing said one of the positives of be-ing the only girl is that the coaches focused on her and her times more than if there were other girls.

By HaLey BedLan

Between two teams, one has to lose. Some losses are harder than others, but when your last game is against your school rival, tension grows.

The Yutan volleyball team ended the season with a 14-16 record after losing their last game to Mead in West Point during sub-districts. The past two years Yutan hasn’t made it past the first round of sub districts, but unlike past years, Yutan started the night off with a win.

Yutan took on their school rival, first-seed Mead in the second round of subdis-tricts. Yutan lost in three sets, 25-15, 30-28, 25-16. Yutan held with Mead for five game points in set two.

Sophomore Heidi Krajicek led with nine assists, and sophomore Christina Kerkman followed with six. Sophomore Haley Bed-lan led with seven kills, and senior Anna Vandenack had five more.

“The game felt different than the score,” Krajicek said. “The second set was a lot of fun.” Junior Mya Hays defensively led with 11 digs and Kerkman with seven.

Yutan started the night against fifth-seed

By KendyL egr Trying to prepare for the season as a

coach can be difficult, especially when you don’t know if you will have enough girls for a team.

“ I don’t want to say it’s rampant throughout Nebraska, but some schools are dealing with low numbers in fall sports,” athletic director Justin Petersen said.

Girls can choose between three fall sports, so only having around 23 girls is hard on the teams, according to Petersen.

The softball team had nine girls out from Yutan and only four from Mead; the volleyball team had 13 girls out, and only one girl was out for cross country this year.

“Everyone used to go out for sports. That’s just how it was,” senior Lily Moros-chak said. “But now I think girls want to go the easy route and just not participate.”

Bussing liked the competition in prac-tices.

“Most boys are better runners than girls,” Bussing said. “So it helps to compete with people that are faster and that have more experience.”

She also said there are negatives of being the only girl.

One of these negatives was that she didn’t really get included with the boys’

team, and she thinks more girl teammates

would help her through practices and through competition.

Zabrocki said she thinks it’s difficult for Bussing to find com-petition within herself because she isn’t able to race with any of her other teammates.

Bussing said overall being the only girl wasn’t

the worst thing because the boys were all still her teammates and still accepted her.

“Everyone works really hard and we are always complementing each other at practice and in competition,” she said.

Bussing said she made it through meets by starting a conversation with herself so she wouldn’t be focused on how much further she had to go.

“I like cross country because running long distances helps me clear my head and will help me in the long run,” Bussing said.

forward if I do,” Egr said.While running the ball, Egr doesn’t fo-

cus on being one of the top guys in the state; he focuses on running the ball for the team.

“For me, it’s just running the ball for our team and doing everything I can to help us,” Egr said.

Getting so many rushing yards cannot be accomplished without a line that can protect Egr from his opponents. Yutan’s starting offensive line includes tackles Tyler Pinkel-man and Beau Heuertz, guards Josh Jessen and Gavin Kube, center Jay Royal, and tight ends Colby Tichota and Dillon Mahrt.

Besides the line, one of Egr’s team-mates, fullback Ethan Christensen, helps make gaps for Egr.

“Ethan Christensen is a tough guy who helps open up a lot of holes, along with our line who blocks for whoever runs the ball,” Egr said.

Next season, 18 starters will return and Egr says the main goal will be to make it to the state championship. Yutan won the 2017 C-2 state title.

“Everyone on the team is working for state,” Egr said. “The 2017 senior class really helps motivate us to want to be at that level.”

While trying to accomplish going to state next year, Egr will attempt to see if he can stay one of the top running backs. He will give an effort to prepare for next year by getting in the weight room and building up his speed.

“I’m going to see how the year goes,” Egr said. “I am going to get a little stronger and a little faster to help our team out.”

Tekamah Herman. Yutan pulled through winning, 22-25, 25-13, 25-15 and 26-24.

“First set of Tekemah Herman I thought it was a little rough,” Krajicek said.

Tekamah Herman had a lead during the first and fourth sets, but Yutan took the fourth set finishing the game. Krajicek handed out 19 assists, and Kerkman added 17 more.

“Christina is doing pretty good for not setting as much this season,” Krajicek said.

Bedlan finished with 14 kills and se-nior Emma Lloyd followed with nine of the team’s 44 kills. Bedlan led defensively against Tekamah Herman with 21 digs and Hays followed with 13. Bedlan had 27 serve receptions against Tekamah Herman.

“Mid-way through the season, we modi-fied our serve receive so she (Bedlan) would be responsible for the majority of the balls served at us,” coach Jodi Bierman said.

Yutan’s volleyball record of the past four years was 32-87. This year Yutan had its best season since 2015.

“I was disappointed that we lost, but at the same time I’m glad of how far we’ve come.” Vandenack said.

By Brady Timm

Specializing in a sport seems like a good idea, but do one-sport athletes have an ad-vantage over the three-sport athletes? Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

According to USA Today, there is a 10,000-hour rule in sports. When an athlete reaches 10 years or 10,000 hours of a sport, they reach their maximum potential.

Senior basketball player Trey Knudsen has spent all of his life playing basketball, and has accepted an offer to play at Morn-ingside University in Sioux City, IA.

“It’s the sport I’ve loved since I was a kid… I feel like playing all year round gets me better,” Knudsen said.

Although one-sport athletes have the advantage of specializing in one sport, they also have a lot of negatives involving one-sport athletes.

According to nsr.com, one-sport athletes frequently burnout and have recurring in-juries by the overuse of the same muscles.

“Girls get hurt playing basketball all-year round,” said Rod Henkel, who coaches three sports including girls basketball.

Bussing competes as only girlEND OF MATCH WALK - Members of the Yutan volleyball team shake hands with Weeping Water play-ers following their match Sept. 10. Yutan won that match and finished the season with a 14-16 record, the best since 2015. Photograph by Isaiah Daniell

“It’s kind of scary being the only girl. Everyone realizes I have to get good times and have to help out the team.”

Janel Bussing

ONE OF STATE RUSHING LEADERS - Junior Caden Egr attempts to break a tackle during the home-coming game against Malcolm. Yutan defeated the Clippers 36-0 and finished the season 5-5. Egr rushed for 1,600 yards to rank among the Class C-2 leaders. Photograph by Laycee Josoff

Junior running back creditscoaches, lifting programand offensive linemen for hisrushing total of 1,600 yards

Multi-sport athletes have the ability of using different muscles during the different sports they play. Injury is less likely, accord-ing to nsr.com.

According to ESPN, 30 of the 32 first-round picks in the 2017 NFL draft were multi-sport athletes.

“Three-sport athletes are naturally bet-ter leaders, athletes, more competitive and prone to injury,” head football and wrestling coach Dan Krajicek said.

Being a multi-sport athlete helps create a different toughness and mindset, according to USA Today.

“Kids don’t see the long-term effects; people who are successful do things to get out of their comfort zone,” Krajicek said.

At a small town school like Yutan, coaches will encourage kids to participate in multiple sports.

“I love seeing my basketball boys play-ing a different sport in the fall and spring… It is needed for a school our size and creates a good atmosphere,” head basketball coach and athletic director Justin Petersen said.

Both athletes have pros and cons, but it all depends what suits the athlete the best.

Yutan administrators have pondered over the fact that there may not be enough girls for three fall sports.

Petersen said, “I don’t think we would have to drop any fall sport, I just think it’s the matter of getting girls out.”

“When you only have six girls for junior varsity and it’s not the six positions you need, you have to make due,” said long time volleyball coach Becky O’Malley.

Before softball was added in 2001, the volleyball team had 13 winning records in the span of 14 years, including six state-tournament appearances.

Since softball was added, the volleyball team has only had nine winning seasons of the past 19 seasons.

“No one is really getting the numbers they need because there is such a small number of girls who are even willing to play a sport,” Moroschak said.

THROW BACK - Senior catcher Rachel Steinauer throws the softball back to the pitcher during the Tekamah-Herman game. Steinauer earned second-team all-conference honors. The softball team had just nine Yutan girls as the fall sports teams had issues with low numbers. Photograph by Hayley Tarumoto

Is more better?3 Sport Athletes

vs.Specialized Athletes

Emma LloydYutan High School