Monday, July 27, 2009

Beck hired as WNCC men's basketball coach

On Monday, Western Nebraska Community College Athletic Department announced the hiring of a new men’s basketball coach.

Russ Beck knows what it takes to reach the national tournament having had successful stops as an assistant coach at Salt Lake Community College and the College of Southern Idaho. Beck will now get a chance to bring that national tournament knowledge to WNCC. Beck takes over for Brian Joyce, who resigned in June to take an assistant coaching position at Liberty University.

“It is a huge honor to be the head coach at WNCC. The Cougars have a storied history and tradition and I am very excited to be a part of that,” Beck said. “I have worked at some of the best junior colleges in the country, and I am continuing that trend in taking this job at WNCC.”

Beck has had plenty of success on the coaching circuit. Beck was an assistant last season at CSI, helping the Golden Eagles to a 22-9 record and a third-place finish in the Scenic West Athletic Conference.

“It means everything to me that Dr. Ely, Ms. Pedersen, and all the people in the community are giving me the opportunity to continue to head this program in the right direction, back to national prominence.”

Before coming to CSI, Beck was an assistant at SLCC, helping the Bruins to a second-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. He also recruited NJCAA Tournament MVP, DJ Wright to Salt Lake last season.

Beck also spent a year as an assistant coach at Southern Utah University under head coach Bill Evans, and also coached under former Region 18 coaches Jeff Kidder and Jon Judkins at Dixie State College. While at DSC, he helped the Rebels to a No. 1 national ranking.

Beck hopes to follow in the footsteps of the Cougars’ two legendary coaches – Ron Brillhart and Soupy Campbell – and bring a championship feel back to Cougar Palace. It was that rich basketball tradition that brought Beck to the thought of coaching at WNCC.

“I know we have had two hall of fame coaches, Soupy Campbell and Ron Brillhart. I know we have a great following, great fans, a great booster club, and a great facility,” Beck commented. “The town is very similar to Twin Falls in Idaho. The program is a great source of pride for the community. I know we have had great teams travel to the national tournament many times, and we hope to increase that number many times more.”

Beck is not worried about achieving individual success as much as bringing success to the college and the community.

“Ideally it would be great [to be a Hall of Fame coach], but I think that honor is not just earned by the coach; that is earned by a community and a program,” he said. “I am not too worried about individual awards; I think those come when you have a great program. I think we can continue to build a successful program with what we have, including all the fans, the boosters, all the administrators and faculty. If honors come to the players, to the school, or to me that will all a by-product to winning and doing things the right way.”

Beck has little time to get things ready for the upcoming season since classes start Aug. 19. Returning players as well as the incoming freshman are eager to meet the new head coach.

“I have a few scholarships left and I am going out to find the guys that can complement the returners,” Beck added. “Obviously, the first thing I did was get in contact with all of the players that are returning or that Coach Joyce signed and see if they are still on board. Everything has been very positive. I know Scott Bamforth is really excited and Scott informed me that Paco [Francisco Cruz] will be ready to go and ready to win a regional title.”

Bamforth and Cruz were the leading scorers a year ago for the Cougars, combining for over 1,100 points and 120 3-pointers made. WNCC finished last season with a 25-7 record, which was the best mark in Region IX.

The other thing that Beck has to do is complete a basketball schedule. He is hoping to fill with some top-notch teams. Beck already has been in contact with CSI, Midland College and Indian Hills Community College about scheduling games.

“I know the fans are eager to see great basketball and I would like to fill the gym,” he said. “I am not a believer in having too many all-star teams coming in to play us. I think a little bit of adversity early on makes us stronger in the end. I think when you play the best teams, you know where you are, and I think we are one of the best teams in the country. If WNCC is going to justify that, we need to go out and play some of the best teams in the country.”

“We also intend to put an emphasis on academics and will seek to help all our guys graduate and move on to play at the next level,” Beck added.

Beck will try to make a visit to Scottsbluff to start the building the foundation of a championship program later in the week.

“What a place to start my head coaching career at but Western Nebraska, which is one of the top five jobs in the country with great history and great tradition,” Beck commented. “They had great players come through the program. I am excited about the support the program has and getting out in the community and meeting people.

“We have a young family. My wife, Charity, and I have been married eight years and we have three children, two girls ages 6 and 3 [Leilani and Briana], and a brand new son, Ryker. We are looking to lay down some roots. We would like to be in Scottsbluff as long as we can and hang as many championship banners as we can here.”

Friday, July 03, 2009

WNCC's Balza tabbed Nebraska Female College Player of the Year

WNCC volleyball player Fatima Balza continues bringing the accolades after leading the Cougar volleyball team the past two years to two national tournament appearances.

The latest honor that Balza has be awarded is the Omaha World Herald's Female College Player of the Year. Balza earned the honor over countless other nominees from four- and two-year colleges in Nebraska.

It is also the first time a junior college player from Nebraska as received the Player of the Year honor. It is also the second straight year that someone with ties to western Nebraska received the honor. Last year, Doane Colleges Meagan Bauer, a Gering High graduate, was selected as the top college female.

The complete story, along with a picture of Balza at Penn State, where she will be playing volleyball next year, can be found on the Omaha World Herald website. Follow the following link to read all about Balza and her latest honor.

Click here for the complete story.

Past OWH Player of the Year Winners
2008: Meagan Bauer, Doane College
2007: Katie Kosmos, Doane College
2006: Erin Gudmundson, UNK
2005: Lindsey Bredar, Bellevue
2004: Steph Kirby, UNO
2003: Rochelle Schmidt, Doane College
2002: Kristie Korth, College of St. Mary
2001: Mary Livengood, Doane
2000: April Kockrow, Doane
1999: Darcie Berry, UNK
1998: Stacey Miller, Concordia
1997: Amy Steffel, UNO
1996: Denise Peterson, UNO
1995: Heidi Grappendorf, Dana
1994: Deb Baetsle, UNO
1993: Sandy Skradski, UNO
1992: Cindy Hays, Midland Lutheran
1991: Trudi Veerhusen, Doane
1990: Meri Nienkamp, Doane
1989: Linda Schnitzler, Wayne State
1988: Lori Briscoe, Midland Lutheran
1987: Beth Stuart, Kearney State
1983: Kari Kramme, Midland Lutheran

Thursday, July 02, 2009

WNCC’s Groves selected NJCAA Academic All-American

Western Nebraska Community College softball player Katie Groves capped off her freshman season with another honor. This time, though, is not from the field, but in the classroom.

Groves earned Academic all-American honors from the National Junior College Athletic Association, earning a 3.67 grade point average last year.

To be considered an academic all-American, a student/athlete must have at least a 3.6 GPA. Students who have a 4.0 GPA earn Distinguished Academic all-American honors.

Groves also was selected as a third team NJCAA all-American honors as an infielder in June. Groves tied WNCC’s career home run record this season with 17 and broke the season home run record. She also led the team in RBIs (79), runs scored (77) and batting average (.525) this season. The Cougar softball team finished last season 42-18 and as Region IX conference co-champions.