The “Who is the Fastest Nebraska Schoolboy in History Dream Race” field has been set - Heat Two

The lane assignments have finally been completed “Who is the Fastest Nebraska Schoolboy in History Dream Race”. A project that brings together long hours of research and personal recollections, bringing together the greatest sprinters of all time.

Heats One was published earlier and here are the lane assignments

The Dream Race Prelims

Heat One:

1 Eric Meyer-Logan View - (competed 2003-2006)

2. Caleb Brown-Lincoln High - (competed 2017)

3. Ricky Davis-Creighton Prep - (competed 1985-1987)

4. Roger Sayers-Omaha Central - (competed 1958-1959)

5. Willie Vinson-Omaha Burke - (competed 1980-1982)

6. Kenzo Cotton-Papillion LaVista - (competed 2016-2019)

7. Scott Yank-Lincoln Southeast - (competed 1979-1981)

8. Dusty Stamer-Grand Island - (competed 1998-2000)

9. Nate Probasco-Scribner-Snyder - (competed 2000-2003)

And we now present Heat Two of the Dream Race prelims:

The Dream Race Prelims

Heat Two:

1 Kohlman Adema-Schulte-Millard West - (competed 2007-2009)

2. Ronnie Doss-Omaha Benson - (competed 1991-1993)

3. Miko Maessner-Kearney - (competed 2017-2019*)

4. Ahman Green-Omaha Central - (competed 1993-1995)

5. Paul Phillips-Omaha Central - (competed 1930-1932)

6. Bobby Williams-Lincoln High - (competed 1959-1961)

7. Eric Crouch-Millard North - (competed 1995-1997)

8. Tom Millsap-Grand Island - (competed 1961-1963)

9. Alex Nelson-Elkhorn South - (competed 2016-2018)

*Kohlman Adema-Schulte-Millard West - (competed 2007-2009) - The fleet footed Adema-Schulte was a double All-Class Gold Medal winner his 2008/junior season at the state track meet, cruising to victories in the 100 (:10.61) and the 200 (:21.84). Kohlman, whom I followed closely his final two athletic seasons, was also a key player in Millard West’s 2008 State Class A football championship with his 1,436 rushing yards.

Adema-Shulte’s senior state track meet was a disappointing one due to dogging injuries, but the Millard West star still managed a 4th place in the 100 and 6th place finish in the 200, but his easy Gold medal 100 meters win in 2008 easily gets him a spot on this list.

*Ronnie Doss-Omaha Benson - (competed 1991-1993) - Despite not competing his senior season for disciplinary reasons, Ronnie Doss cannot be left off this list. Doss was an incredibly, freakish athlete, winning the Class A 100 his sophomore season of 1992, only to lose the All-Class Gold to Beatrice sensation Kenton Peterson by the slim margin of :10.90 to :10.94. Doss also was 2nd in the 200 (:22.02) and the long jump (24-3¼”).

It was his junior season when Ronnie Doss stole the show at Omaha Burke, winning three All-Class Golds. He slammed the sprints in sizzling times of :10.61 in the 100 and :21.81 in the 200. His third gold came in the Long Jump where he leaped 23-8½”.

Ronnie posted career bests of :10.42 (100), :21.46 (200) with a senior season ahead of him that never developed. He even ran a :10.6 hundred meters as a freshman while competing for Omaha Benson. This young man was an exceptional athlete.

*Miko Maessner-Kearney - (competed 2017-2019*) - We’ll never know what this outstanding Kearney High athlete could have done his senior track season (2020), thanks to the Covid 19 virus wiping out all 2020 spring sports in Nebraska.

The Princeton football recruit slammed the Class A 100 and 200 last year at the state track meet, posting career bests in both events, running a :10.6 hundred and :21.48 two hundred meters.

The Kearney Bearcat speed demon also was a two-time 1000 yard rusher for super coach Brandon Cool, running for a school record 1,264 yards last fall. Maessner also exploded for 1,046 yards his sophomore season after playing a non-starting role part of the season. Maessner is also the career rushing record holder among some real stars at Kearney high.

This young man can simply fly in both the 100 and 200 meters and may have been set to crush some records this spring.

*Ahman Green-Omaha Central - (competed 1993-1995) - If you think Eric Crouch was unreal when he started rolling in the 100, you should have seen this man. More like a jet-propelled steamroller at 6-2, 220 pounds his senior season, Ahman Green slammed the 100 and 200 Golds with his :10.61 and :21.91 in the two hundred.

Green was not great at running the curve in the 200, but psyched himself into pulling off a win in over that distance in 1997, one of his 3 total gold medals in high school. A three time 1000 yard rusher in high school (one @ Omaha North, 2 @ Central), Green went on to run for a pair of 1000 yard season at Nebraska before departing for the NFL a year early.

Ahman later amassed an astonishing 9,205 rushing yards over a 12 year, 148 game career in the NFL. The two time All-Pro and 4 time Pro Bowl selection had SIX 1000 yard rushing seasons for the Green Bay Packers.

When you span history and realize how exceptionally strong Ahman Green was, it should come as no surprise when it comes to his Lane assignment this Dream Race field.

An almost Super human athlete, who along with the mighty Gale Sayers, may share the title of “The Finest Running Back” ever to strap on the pads in this state.”

*Paul Phillips-Omaha Central - (competed 1930-1932) - Known as Omaha Central’s “Midnight Express”, Phillips shook up the national track scene in 1932 when he blazed to a wind aided :09.7 in the hundred yard dash. That time was two tenths of a second under the state record and was announced as equalling the world’s interscholastic mark for that distance. Later that same day, Phillips covered the 220 yards in a remarkable :21.9.

The improvement between his junior and senior seasons was incredible. Just the year before in 1931, Philips captured the hundred yard dash in :10.5. The man was a rock star on the track back in his day.

*Bobby Williams-Lincoln High (competed 1959-1961) -A big, strong athlete with blazing speed, Bobby Williams dominated the Class A sprints and broad jump in 1960 and ’61. The only competition Williams ever seemed to have was the battle for the coveted Gold Medal at the state track meet with Class B standout Kent McCloughan of Broken Bow.

The two finally met head on at Hastings College in the fabled 100 Yard Dash of the Century, with Williams breaking a 13 year old state record with his :09.5 century clocking. McCloughan was right behind with :09.6. Williams also set a state record in the broad jump that day with his leap of 24 feet, one half inch.

Bobby slammed both the 100 and 220 his junior and senior seasons at the State Track Meet, winning the All-Class Gold three of the four races.

Bobby Williams went on to be a four year starting halfback at Central Oklahoma University. He later played in the NFL for the St. Louis Cardinals (two seasons), then then spent four years with the Detroit Lions where he led the NFL in kick returns 1969.

Bobby Williams, who died in Oklahoma City on August 5, 2012 at the age of 70, had high school bests of :09.5 in the hundred yard dash and :21.7 in the 220.

*Eric Crouch-Millard North - (competed 1995-1997) - The Heisman Trophy winner was a pretty salty sprinter the final two years of his high school track career, posting career bests of :10.4 in 100 and :21.7 in the 200. In 1997, Crouch’s senior track campaign, I saw the guy up close several times when my son Rob (Grand Island) ran against him.

Crouch, a two-time 1000 yard rusher for Fred Petito at Millard North, and still currently ranked 4th on Mustang all-time rushing charts with his 1,960 yards, was nipped at the wire in both the 100 and 200 at the 1997 state track meet in Omaha.

Lincoln NE star Erwin Swiney edged Eric by five hundredths of a second in the 100. Later in the day, Pius X superstar P.J Grosserode nipped Crouch at the wire by a tenth of a second (:21.5 to :21.6) to steal the 200.

Now you now why Eric Crouch broke so many sensational, long distance Heisman-type runs at Nebraska. Once Crouch got rolling, very few were going to run him down on the track or the gridiron.

Extraordinarily gifted athlete.

*Tom Millsap-Grand Island - (competed 1961-1963) - Marvelous Mr. Millsap. That’s what the paper said after witnessing the Grand Island senior win three All-Class Gold Medals at the 1963 state track meet in Lincoln. My uncle and former Phillips high school football/track coach Larry Dillon, took me to watch Millsap that state track finals day in Lincoln and Tom became my instant hero.

Both the hundred and 220 were laughers for the Tom Millsap, who attended Phillips high until transferring to Grand Island following his freshman year. Millsap, whose trademark was a lightning quick start out of the blocks, was 10 yards clear of the entire hundred yard dash field thirty yards into the race and that’s no exaggeration. Same story in the 220, as the burly GI flash posted Gold medal times of :09.8 and :21.6.

Millsap’s 220 time was a state record, eclipsing the :21.8 set by the legendary Paul Phillips in 1932, and equalled by the incomparable Bobby Williamas in 1961.

Millsap also anchored the 880 Relay to a Gold time of 1:29.9 to round out his three gold medal day in 1963.

In his first year of track competition at GI as a sophomore, Tom Millsap raced to a 4th place in the 100. The only names ahead of him on that 1961 day in May? Bobby Williams of Lincoln High, Steve Regan of Hastings and Terry Williams of Omaha Central.

As a junior, Millsap ran a leg on the Gold medal winning 880 Relay, blazed to a 3rd in the hundred behind Terry Williams and Omaha Tech swiftee Fred Farthing, and was right behind Terry Willimas in the 220, good second place.

Tom Millsap was also a special talent on the gridiron for the Islanders. Playing multiple positions, the speedy Millsap was all-Big 10 conference twice and an All-State selection his senior season, a year that saw him score an incredible 334 points. Millsap also set a football career (three year) scoring mark of 717 points, video game type numbers.

Tom also went on to enjoy a terrific track career at Nebraska, where he ran legs on record setting 440 and 880 Relay teams, earning All-American honors in 1964.

*Alex Nelson-Elkhorn South - (competed 2016-2018) - Muscular Elkhorn South product seemed to be one of those athletes that literally just exploded on the scene when he slammed the All-Class 100, 200 Golds in 2018. But Nelson’s times were impressive in those wins, :10.63 and :21.52. Impressive enough for Nebraska to offer the swift Elkhorn South senior a Track scholarship that year.

Alex Nelson’s name is still atop the All-Time, electronically timed 200 meters with his :21.30, a hundredth of a second ahead of the fabulous Kenzo Cotton of Papillion LV. Nelson also had a career best :10.50 in the hundred meters.

The Elkhorn South product is now listed as a sophomore on the Husker track roster having run his best times of :10.53 and :21.42 a year ago as a freshman.

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*Up next: Heat Three with bios