Menu
Bison still best in state history; 1980 team re-unites
McCOOK, Neb. —More than 42 years after the inaugural McCook girls’ cross country team won the Class B State Championship in dominant fashion, members of the group are still enjoying time together, reminiscing about their unprecedented successes of the past.
As a sophomore in the fall of 1980, the idea of joining the cross country team didn’t cross the mind of Janice Moreau.
“I had never even heard of it,” she said. “I didn’t know what it was about.”
However, Jim Steinke, who was also the coach of the swim team at the time, took the reins of the brand-new cross country team and got to work recruiting.
He convinced Janice to join the team as well as Carol Nunnally, who had previously run with the boys’ squad.
After adding June Dodge, Pam Ely, and Rhonda Remington, the team was ready to roll.
With very little experience to call upon, McCook’s cross country team traveled to Cozad for its first meet and won the event.
Janice joked that she still remembers beating Carol in the event, which was no small feat at the time.
The girls continued finishing inside the top 10 in every event for the rest of the season.
Districts were not held in 1980 due to lack of numbers around the state, as the goal was to allow as many runners as possible to compete for r a state title.
In the first-ever competition of its kind in the state, McCook put on a dominant performance on its way to a state title.
The team tallied 18 points in a lowest-score-wins format, while the second-place-finishing Lexington put up 76. With four finishers in the top-10,
McCook’s 18 points still represent the lowest-ever score for the Class B girls’ competition, even 42 seasons later.
The team never quite returned to the top, especially with Carol moving away after the track season.
However, their legacy still continues, and Janice even used her experiences to coach the next generation of cross country athletes for over 20 years.
After a funeral this past spring, Janice decided it was time for her teammates to be reunited.
She quickly contacted the team in February, and set up a get-together during March.
Though Pam (Ely) Omann was only able to participate via Zoo om, the other members of the team, along with coach Steinke, were able to convene at Steinke’s home.
Janice estimates the group spent “three or four hours” talking, laughing, and enjoying time together that, with the busy schedules of all those involved, doesn’t come around too often.
Retrospectively, Janice and her teammates realize that they couldn’t have had the success they did without their beloved head coach.
“We didn’t know back then how much coach Steinke went to bat for us.”
“He was always trying to go get something for us. Sometimes, he would even pay out of his own pocket so that we had what we needed,” said Janice.
This past week, coach Steinke sent out t-shirts to the participants, which highlighted their championship and included their names.
The team has yet to make it to the Nebraska High School Athletics Hall of Fame, but as the best-scoring girls’ cross country team in their class ever, a decision to induct them could loom in the future.
Nevertheless, the team has its memories, plus its name in the record books.