LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – A former University of Nebraska-Lincoln athlete, who has competed on American Ninja Warrior, is participating in track and field events at the Cornhusker State Games for the first time in 18 years.

Maggi Thorne’s reasoning to come back, is her three children who are teaming up with their mom for the 4×1 relay.

All three of her children have strong interest in the sport, participating in track and field events at their schools. With Maggi’s athletic background, she’s been able to coach her kids which is something her youngest daughter, Ellie is grateful for.

“She is teaching me her ways that way I can get better with it,” Ellie said.

Ellie’s older siblings, Charlie and Fiona are echoing that similar message.

“She’s always there for me anyways, so having her as a coach is just like having a mentor that’s always there for you,” Charlie said.

“When we travel like out of state, we can still do workouts and I don’t have to contact a coach asking for a workout,” Fiona said. “If we are just sitting down having coffee or having dinner, we can go over thoughts and plans about form or what the meet is going to look like.”

Despite Maggi having an experienced background with athletics, Maggi said her kids teach her just as much.

“We are at the point where they equally train me, coach me,” Maggi said. For them to say ‘ mom you need to do this and mom you said’ and I go ‘Okay you are right, okay guys, okay coach’.”

Maggi, Charlie and Fiona have all participated in the Cornhusker State Games before, but this year, it will be Ellie’s debut and she’s doing it with the people she knows best.

“I think it is exciting because we are going to race other families too and it’s nice to just be competitive after our track season ended, it’s good to get the energy back up,” Ellie said.

While Fiona and Charlie are siblings, they will have to work closer than ever on the track at Lincoln High School on July 12.

“I’m actually really excited because I get to hand off to him,” Fiona said. “I’ve seen all the hype of him running and I love the adrenaline I get during track, I feel like it is going to be super fun to pass it along to my brother.”

Charlie told 10/11 News he has received Division one offers from schools like UNL and Oklahoma State for track and field and is looking to commit soon. However he’s looking forward to working with his sisters and mom, and cherish the moments, win or lose.

“At the end of the day, it’s about going out there and having fun with my family and just doing what we love,” Charlie said.

The day of the track and field events for the Cornhusker State Games, will be a day that sticks with Maggi forever, because after suffering from a brain injury she thought she would be done with athletics for good.

“I feel like I’m dreaming and even going up to just about a week from now, when I get in those starting blocks and I have the baton in my hand there’s a small chance I am going to weep,” Maggi said. “Because it’s really emotional for me that I get to do this with my children, this is who we are.”

The track and field events will take place at Lincoln High School starting at 7:30 a.m.

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Football
7/4/2025 2:30:00 PM

Chatting with Brandon Bailey about his position group

As the dog days of summer roll on, GSEagles.com is sitting down with each of the 11 position coaches to discuss their room. Up next is defensive coordinator and safeties coach Brandon Bailey.

Q: Coach, what were your general takeaways from spring ball when it came to your safeties group?
BB: I was pleased overall. We had some new additions from the Portal and a few guys who had to step into bigger roles after we lost TJ Smith and Tyrell Davis, and with Mark Stampley II and Deontre Morris transferring. That meant a lot more reps for some guys, and they really embraced the challenge. They played fast and hard, and they showed up with the right mindset.

What I was most proud of, though, was how they attacked that bigger role. Whether it was getting in extra work with a position coach or just spending more time together as a group, they put in the effort. That kind of buy-in is what you need, and I think we’re in a good spot heading into fall camp.

Q: Which veterans really stood out this spring?
BB: I loved the way Justin Meyers practiced — consistent, high effort, locked in every day. Prince Green III, going into his third year here, made big strides. Devin Collier also took some nice steps forward. But the biggest surprise was Chris Crouch. He had a huge spring — flying around, making plays, and really carved out a role for himself on defense that hadn’t been there before. I’m excited to see what’s next for him.

Q: What about the newcomers? Who caught your eye?
BB: Jayden Davis, the transfer from Georgia Tech, is a big-time addition. He’s long, he can run, and he’s shown he can tackle in space. He came into a scheme that’s pretty similar to what he ran at Tech, so that helped his transition. He had a great spring, and we’re really excited about his potential.

Q: Who are your leaders?
BB: I think the needle immediately turns to Justin Meyers, no doubt. He’s earned his stripes — multi-year starter, battled through injuries, and just brings his hard hat and lunch pail every day. He’s not a loud guy, not one to scream or yell. But when he talks, people listen. He leads by example, and that goes a long way in our room.

Q: Any position battles you’re excited to watch unfold during preseason camp?
BB: Honestly, all of them. I think we’ve got five or six guys who can help us win football games, and that’s a great problem to have. The big challenge — and the fun part — will be figuring out how to get the best 11 on the field. We usually play two safeties, a nickel, and two corners, but if you’ve got three or four safeties playing at a high level, you’ve got to find creative ways to get them involved. There’s real depth in that room now, and the competition is going to be fierce. I’m excited to watch it play out.

Q: So from the safeties, what’s the top thing that you’ll be preaching that your group needs to do to help this team win
BB: Down the ball in open space. The number one quality of a great safety, I don’t care where you play or what scheme you play in, if you’re a third level defender then you have to be able to down the ball in open space. They call the position safety for a reason. You’ve got to do a lot of other things, but when everything goes wrong and maybe something spits out of there, if you’re playing a single high safety defense that just got to get the ball on the ground so you live to fight another day. So tackling in open space consistently is always the challenge.

Q: Final thoughts — when you look at the defense overall, with some veteran returners and new faces, how are you feeling heading into camp?
BB: We’re in a much better place than we’ve been before — year three in the system helps a lot. We did have some staff turnover with new coaches on the D-line and at linebacker, but we brought in guys who already knew the system. That made the transition smoother.

On the player side, we’ve got a good group of returners and some strong additions from both the Portal and high school recruiting. I think this might be the most athletic group we’ve had since I’ve been here, across the board — up front, at linebacker, and in the secondary.

What’s been most encouraging is how quickly the new guys have embraced our culture. When your head coach sets the tone the right way, new players come in and want to be part of it. If your culture’s broken, they’ll make it worse. But if it’s strong, and you recruit the right people, they’ll make it better. And that’s what we’re seeing with this group.

The Woodville volleyball program did not have look far to find its new head coach.

Woodville has promoted assistant Meg Paddock to the head volleyball coaching position.

Paddock takes over following the retirement of Woody Beard, who coached the Woodville volleyball and girls basketball teams for the past four seasons.

“Being entrusted to lead the volleyball program means a lot,” Paddock said. “It’s a dream come true. It’s about guiding the team, fostering growth and achieving our goals together.”

Paddock was Woodville’s junior high volleyball coach and served as a varsity/junior varsity assistant last season. 

Paddock is a 2016 Scottsboro High School alum and played both volleyball and basketball for the Wildcats. 

She teaches seventh- and eighth-grade math at Woodville.

Paddock believes the familiarity between her and the players will be beneficial during the coaching transition.

“Knowing the players well makes the coaching transition smoother because we already have trust and good communication,” Paddock said. “It helps us understand each other’s strengths and how to work best together.”

The Woodville volleyball program has posted four consecutive winning seasons and made three consecutive Class 1A North Super Regional appearances, and Paddock said her goal is to continue to the Panthers’ upward trajectory in the sport.

“I just want to see the program continue to build and see these girls grow in a sport they love,” Paddock said. “I want my volleyball teams to be known for their relentless hustle, smart plays and unbreakable bond, always pushing each other to be better.”

The road to 2025 racing is just prior to Nationals!

Track & Field 2025 season is over.

Time to rest up and get in two weeks of gentle running.

Today is  July 4 , 2025

For Slow Summer launch, two weeks of Easy Running: 

Warm-up, 30 minutes on bike, walking or swimming.

Hydrate and stretch.  Always hydrate.

Some thoughts on summer mileage program. 

Have you considered cross country?

Cross Country is offered in over 16,500 high schools and many junior high schools. It normally goes from mid-August to November for most.  To prepare for cross country, we at RunBlogRun encourage you and your 550,000 closest friends who like the 400m to 5,000m, consider cross country!

It is a great way to stay in shape and it builds your fitness so that you are ready for the challenges of cross country.

What motivated Steve Prefontaine in the summer between his sophomore and junior year?

Was it the knowledge that he had not done his very best in track and field? Perhaps, he had not taken his commitment as serious as he thought he should?

When you have not achieved what you expected, how do you respond? Are you being called to put in some more effort? Many of us have had those challenges, and Summer mileage is a great program to get one self focused.

Think about five things you can do better for fall cross country, write them on a post card, and tape it to a place in your room where you will see it at least once a day!

Remember to drink 8 glasses of water, 12 ounces each a day!

This week is the 50th NIKE Pre Classic. You will be able to watch it on Saturday, July 5, around 4 PM Eastern on NBC Sports and Peacock. It is a wonderous meet, celebrating the raw talent, courage and guts of one Steve Prefontaine. When Pre was in high school, after he failed to make his State track meet as a sophomore, he became obsessed with daily training. These were not just easy runs, they were bone-churning, gut-wrenching efforts focused to make him unbeatable. In his junior year of cross country, Pre saw that his summer of running made a huge difference. 

Do you want to be a better cross country runner than you were in the past? Focus and follow our training, but also, watch NIKE Pre Classic on Saturday to get inspired! 

Other book suggestions include Self Made Olympian by Ron Daws, A Clean Pair of Heels by Murray Halberg, and Pre! by Tom Jordan.

“If you look back to when we got those football national championships, it almost feels a little bit like some glory days of Georgia athletics,” said women’s tennis coach Drake Bernstein, whose team won both the ITA National Indoor Championships in February and the NCAA Championships in May. “And this year kind of obviously feels exceptional with what equestrian and track did, also. So just being in the same sentence as other national champions and, I don’t know, playing a role in making this year special for UGA athletics is a big deal for all of us over here.”

For tennis, an experienced roster achieved something it had chipped away at for years, losing in the round of 16 in 2022, advancing to the final four in 2023, losing in the finals in 2024 and now going out on top at NCAAs.

Also beneficial was the Bulldogs prioritizing women’s sports, per Bernstein.

Women’s sports at Georgia are no stranger to championships — think 10 national championships for the gymnastics team, including five in a row from 2005-2009 under coach Suzanne Yoculan — and strong attendance.

The Gym Dawgs sold out Stegeman Coliseum in their win vs. Boise State in January (attendance: 10,224), and this past softball season featured a season attendance record at Jack Turner Stadium (52,704 total fans). In October, Georgia volleyball drew 8,376 at its 3-2 win vs. South Carolina at Stegeman, breaking the record for the largest crowd to watch an NCAA volleyball game in the state.

“Women’s sports are celebrated here and they’re featured here,” Bernstein said. “I think that it’s really just been part of the culture here at Georgia … it’s not necessarily just a women’s sports thing, it’s an Olympic sports thing and (athletic director Josh Brooks) is very clear that he wants to support all of the sports and he wants all of us to push for championships or to be in a position to push for championships.”

For equestrian, this was the final year for fifth-year seniors who had received extra eligibility (during the COVID-19 pandemic) and had been a part of the 2021 championship.

“(The seniors) really bled into the team and showed the commitment, the passion, the belief that led to an absolutely magical championship run,” coach Meghan Boenig said. “And there wasn’t a moment, stepping into that arena Day One, where this team — particularly led by those fifth years in our senior class — said anything other than ‘this is what we’re doing and we’re winning this championship.’”

For those on the women’s track and field team, they’ll always get to own a bit of history as the first to win a outdoor national title.

Both the women’s and men’s track and field team placed second at the NCAA Indoor Championship in March, but the outdoor championship was an even better fit, given the events featured.

“They decided that they were going to win the national championship and that’s what they wanted to do,” track and field director Caryl Smith Gilbert said. “And they stayed true to that. We’re more of an outdoor team because 400 hurdles, javelin and hammer are outdoor events. So we didn’t have that indoors and we were still second. So when we did that, we knew that if we could add those field events and the 400 hurdles and all that to the docket and score some points there, we could be very effective and have a really good chance to win.”

There’s a push for Olympic sports at Georgia, Smith Gilbert said, with resources such as a sports psychologist, nutritionist and massage therapists, and the expectation they’ll be able to consistently compete for championships.

With the passing of the NCAA vs. House settlement in early June, the college sports world has undergone a seismic shift. Many see the backpay and revenue sharing system as a step forward for athletes, but there are also questions of how it’ll affect smaller or nonrevenue sports.

While previously Brooks said Bulldogs’ programs will see more than 100 additional scholarships spread among the school’s 21 scholarship sports, other colleges have already announced cuts, such as Washington State announcing it would consolidate its track and field program.

However, Smith Gilbert said she has seen minimal change.

“They’re doing their very best under such trying times to accommodate us without the student athletes feeling much of the pain,” Smith Gilbert said.