Cedar Catholic’s all-time winningest coach steps aside
March 22, 2023
BELDEN — A piece of history has disappeared from the landscape here.
The Belden school building, which stood in the southeast corner of the town for nearly a century, was torn down earlier this month.
Ed and Heather Reimers own the property. They had a crew come in to demolish the structure. Since it was in such poor condition, they were afraid someone would get hurt.
“You can have ‘No Trespassing’ signs up, and people are still going to trespass,” Heather Reimers said. “It was getting dangerous just because some of the floor the third floor - was falling in. We just didn’t want anybody to get hurt.”
Reimers and her husband have owned the school building property for nearly 10 years and they are not sure what they will do with the land now.
While only a little debris from the 99-year-old building remains, area residents’ memories of the school will never fade away.
Ken Hintz, who lives in Belden just north of the school property, noted he has “mixed feelings” about the demolition of the structure, which he described as “right in my backyard.”
“It wasn’t doing anybody any good, but there’s just sentimental value to it,” the 75-year-old said. “As long as (the owners) develop the ground out, I’m OK with it.”
March 22, 2023
HARTINGTON — Hartington- Newcastle students braved the cold to hold their annual Junior-Senior Prom.
Students and sta went all out dec orating the HNS gym for the event.
Mason Buschkamp and Kennadi Peitz were crowned as Prom Prince and Princess at the festivities.
March 29, 2023
NORFOLK Cedar Catholic High School students recently put their smarts to the test and came out on top in a regional competition.
The Trojans won the Class C division in the 2023 Scholastic Contest held on March 22 at Northeast Community College in Norfolk.
The college hosts the competition to give students the chance to compete academically against one another.
This year, there were a total of 43 schools 18 in Class C and 25 in Class D from the region competing in 30 academic areas.
Sophie Reifenrath performed well for the Trojans, placing first in Trigo nometry and second in Literature.
Other Cedar Catholic students placing in the top four of their respective academic areas were: Mason Baller (Algebra I), Tyan Baller (Personal Finance), Jaxson Bernecker (Accounting), James Fischer (Drafting), Christian Fiscus (Geography), Anneliese Kleinschmit (Food and Nutrition), Cambelle Nieman (World His- tory), Grace Reifenrath (Vocabu- lary and American Government), Elizabeth Rokusek (Chemistry), Jay Steen (Introduction to Wellness) and Grace Wortmann (Child Development).
For winning the Scholastic Contest’s Class C division, the Trojans received both an award plaque and a scholarship.
March 29, 2023
HARTINGTON — After 23 years on the sidelines and 17 years in the first chair, Cedar Catholic head boys basketball coach Matt Steen has decided to walk away from being in charge of the team.
Steen exits with more wins than any coach before him for the Trojans’ boys basketball program with 282.
His teams have found quite a bit of success over the years. He has taken his squads to Lincoln nine times since 2009.
Cedar Catholic placed third in 2023 and Steen decided to hang up the whistle on the varsity level at the end of the season.
"Brenda (Steen's wife) and I had been talking about it for some time and I finally decided to step down," Steen said. "This year has been more dicult to go to the games and prac tices — that’s not on the kids, that’s on me — and the kids deserve better.”
March 29, 2023
HARTINGTON — Cedar Catholic senior Makenna Noecker put the final touches on a great basketball career with more statewide accolades.
After being designated at the top of the Mid-State Conference last week, the state-wide awards for exceptional play on the hardwood started showing up last weekend.
NEBPreps does not do the traditional All-State team; it designates a Team of the Year, a Coach of the Year, a Player of the Year, an Oensive Player of the Year, a Defensive Player of the Year, a Freshman of the Year and a Most Improved Player.
The four-year starter, finishing her career with an excess of 1,000 points in Lincoln, was named the Player of the Year in Class D1 girls basketball to put a bow on the present.
Noecker also made the D1 First Team on the Omaha World-Herald’s honor list.
“You don’t play basketball for awards, but they are nice that someone recognizes the hard work that is put in to find success," Noecker said.
“I did put in a lot of hard work, but I did it with great teammates that became great friends — that’s why you play sports.”
While on the court, she helped guide the Lady Trojans to four straight appearances in the Class D1 State tournament, where they finished third this year after back-to-back fourthplace showings in 2020 and 2021.
“Our goal was to get a State title,” Noecker said. “We didn’t quite get there, but I had a lot of fun and got to play with lifelong friends.”
Although she is a four-year starter, she missed a lot of her sophomore season with a torn ACL, a hurdle she says made her stronger both mentally and physically.
“I had to rehab to get back on the court,” Noecker said. “But the mental part of it was so hard; the physical work was hard, but I really missed being on the court.”
She added recovering from the injury may have been a huge reason for all of her success as a junior and senior.
“I was doing all of the work to get better physically and then some,” Noecker said. “But it just made me appreciate being on the court again and being with my teammates and friends — that just made me happy and thankful.”
It also instilled a work ethic in her teammates as well.
“Makenna has talent, but she also knew how to work for what she wanted and make herself better,” said Craig Wortmann, Lady Trojans coach. “The other girls recognized that and it made them better — by her play and by her leadership.”
One of her other coaches, former Trojan James Kaiser, a First Team All-Stater himself, said it’s obvious Noecker was willing to put in the hard work to win.
“She worked very hard to rehab, then she took it the next step — she was a great defender the last couple of years; that takes work,” Kaiser said.
Wortmann said Noecker’s honors show that hard work pays o.
“I’m happy for her; she earned every bit of what she’s getting right now,” Wortmann said. “She has put up 1,000 shots a week; this is awesome.”
Noecker averaged more than 20 points in her senior season and hit the 1,000-point plateau in her career some time ago.
March 29, 2023
HARTINGTON — Jaxson Bernecker landed a spot on the Class C2 All-State team named by the Omaha World-Herald recently.
Bernecker adds his All-State accolades in basketball to the honor he received for his play on the gridiron last fall for Cedar Catholic.
“Jaxson could battle inside with anyone," Trojans coach Matt Steen said. “The unique thing about him is he could step outside and hit a three as well; he was probably our best shooter.”
Bernecker joins a couple of Freeman players, Carter Ruse and Taylan Vetrovsky, Carter Siems from Tri County and Tayje Hadwiger of Amherst on the First Team.
The senior Trojan nearly averaged a double-double during his final high school campaign, pouring in just under 14 points per contest and grabbing just under eight boards each game.
“He’s an easy kid to root for,” Steen said. "He's a great basketball player, a great leader and a better person — he’ll be missed next year.”
Cedar Catholic also had four players named Honorable Mention by the publication.
Seniors Andrew Jones, Tyan Baller and Carson Arens were named, along with sophomore Nolan Becker.
April 5, 2023
WYNOT Kiersten Hans has been painted in a good light as an award-winning artist.
The 12-year-old, who is in sixth grade at Wynot Public Schools, fin - ished in first place in the Fifth- and Sixth-Grade Division of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s annual poster contest, which is in its 20th year.
“It gives me a great, happy feeling of success,” Kiersten said.
The NDA received a record num- ber of contest entries more than 2,100 from students in grades 1-6 from around the state all highlighting agriculture, Nebraska’s No. 1 industry.
“I made a picture of a bean field with a pivot supplying water," Kiersten said. “It was made by using acrylic paint. I didn’t give it a title.”
Kiersten is the daughter of Jason and Becky Hans.
“I absolutely love her passion for art and her dedication to submit to any art contest she researches and finds," Becky said.
The NDA announced the 2023 competition winners on March 21 during National Ag Week, which was observed March 19-25 this year.
The winners of the contest are announced during this week to highlight the diversity of agriculture and to celebrate the food, feed and fuel that farmers, ranchers and ag industry workers provide every day.
The posters, depicting this year’s theme of “Celebrating Nebraska Agriculture,” were judged in three separate categories: first and second grades; third and fourth grades; and fifth and sixth grades.
Claire Sievers, a fourth-grade student at Randolph Public Schools, placed second in the contest’s Thirdand Fourth-Grade Division.
“The students who participated really understand how important agriculture is to Nebraska and had fun ways of showing how to celebrate our number one industry,” NDA Director Sherry Vinton said. ave in Nebraska,” she said. “All the posters we received are winners in our eyes, and I’d like to thank everyone for participating.”
Kiersten is no stranger when it comes to seeing success in art competitions.
“I’ve earned many awards throughout the years,” she said.
Kiersten really started to enjoy art in second grade when she won her first art contest.
April 5, 2023
HARTINGTON — A Cedar County District Court judge dismissed a Laurel man’s motion to quash sections of the death penalty in his case as his prosecution moves forward.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Jason Jones, 42, for the murders of Gene Twiford, Janet Twiford, Dana Twiford and Michele Shankles-Ebeling on Aug. 4, 2022.
Jones’ lawyer, Todd Lancaster of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, filed a motion to quash sec tions of Nebraska’s death penalty as unconstitutional, and that matter was the subject of a February hearing.
In the five-page ruling issued Thursday, Cedar County District Judge Bryan Meismer covers each of the defense claims, denying the motion to quash in its entirety and dismissing the motion.