Bison three-sport great running to be a Bronco!

McCook High senior Paige Bortner (seated center) signed with the Hastings College track and field program on Wednesday with many Bison teammates, friends and most importantly famly witnessing this event. Karen Bortner (left) shows the happy mom’s big smile while sister Charlotte (right) and dad Luke cheer on Paige along with Hastings College coach Ryan Mahoney (standing). Older brother Layten Bortner (left) shows the serious focus that has driven his sister through a dynamite McCook High School career.

R.B. Headley/McCook Gazette

McCOOK, Neb. — She might not be smashing volleyballs with “doppleganger” Merritt Beason for mighty Big Red, but Paige Bortner’s been hitting a lot of sports throughout her McCook Bison years.

“I like contact,” Paige confirmed Wednesday morning. “Yeah I get that comparison (to 6’4” Husker volleyball star Beason) all the time.”

Softball? Smashed that since about age eight.

Basketball? Can’t wait for one more season with the Bison beginning Friday night.

“I think we’re going to have a real good year,” Bortner listed at 5’9” said.

Javelin?

Oops, sorry, Paige hasn’t done that YET...

It could just be more of her fun while competing for the Hastings College Broncos.

“Absolutely,” Hastings coach Ryan Mahoney said following Paige’s official signing with the Broncos on Wednesday. “Anyone with a softball background, they know how to throw. That’s the most important thing. We don’t pigeon-hole athletes into mid distance or whatever. Let’s see what other events that they can excel at.”

“I was pretty excited when he said that (javelin),” Paige added. “I’m like oooh, really?”

That’s no surprise for anyone who’s watched Paige through three-plus McCook High years.

Yes, she might be an all-time record holder for pictures with a painful grimace — but Paige truly has loved all her Bison three sports.

The coaches at Wednesday’s signing all agreed: Paige could likely play collegiately in all three.

“She’s a superb athlete. She’s a fighter. She’s got it all for what you want in a competitor,” another Bison track great/current coach Tara Peterman remarked.

“I think they (the Broncos) really lucked out on this one.”

Consider what Paige achieved during just the Nebraska Class B state championship meet last May.

She ran her fastest 800 meters ever and took home a Class B state medal.

Paige on all three top McCook High relays — the 400, 1600, 3200 meters — which combined for nine first-place finishes throughout their 2024 spring season.

The 3200 team of Emma Cappel, Brecken Gale, Calvary (Cali) Crawford and Paige captured a Southwest Conference championship followed by their fastest effort yet: 9:57.67 leading to a B-6 district title.

At Class B in Omaha, the quartet ran another solid 10:01.33 to capture state medals once again.

Make no mistake: Paige will be pushing to place with her team even higher next spring.

“Yeah, I’ve been working out to be faster and stronger,” she said.

Mahoney has seen something else that made her such a valued Hastings College signee.

“No matter what sport you coach, you want Paige on your team and in your program,” he said on Wednesday. “When we first started talking to her, we thought ‘this is one we gotta get’.”

On the flip side, Paige immediately felt Hastings was her right fit as she will focus on an exercise science major.

“The coaches take care of their athletes and it just felt like home when I visited,” she said. “And they offer all sorts of internships and options to get anyone where they want to be (for their careers).”

Paige certainly considered college softball where three classmates have already joined programs in recent weeks.

A fourth will be signing soon from that 26-8 Class B district finalist softball team.

Yet Paige knows why track-field has been able to bump past other “contact” sports.

“Coach Soogs. Coach Tom Sughroue made running fun when I was in like sixth grade,” she said about the McCook High track/cross country coach. I have loved it ever since.”