Lincoln (Neb.) - Oct. 31, 2001 -University of Nebraska-Lincoln freshmen Monica Hejkal of Omaha and Curtis Wray of Scotia were honored Oct. 30 as World-Herald Honors Scholars at the university's annual Omaha World-Herald recognition dinner at Embassy Suites Hotel in Lincoln.
UNL also recognized top Nebraska high school seniors as Distinguished Scholars for their academic excellence. The students have demonstrated a high level of ability and a strong commitment to superior performance in academics as indicated by their class ranking, combined with their ACT or SAT scores. All Nebraska National Merit semifinalists and National Achievement scholars were also recognized.
As World-Herald Honors Scholars, Hejkal (high-kul) and Wray received the most-prestigious and financially rewarding scholarships that the university awards. Terry Kroeger, vice president of operation and administration at the World-Herald, presented the awards.
Hejkal graduated from Westside High School and is a National Merit finalist, Regents Scholar and a member of the University Honors Program. In her first year at the university, she is involved with Students for Life, FOCUS and the Legion of Mary. Hejkal is a biology major and is considering a future in research. She is the daughter of Tom and Rita Hejkal of Omaha.
Wray graduated from Ord High School and was also a National Merit finalist. He is a Regent scholar, Eastman scholar, Pepsi service scholar, and Honors Program student. He has a double major in mathematics and chemistry and is involved in Farmhouse fraternity and University Ambassadors. He is the son of Gene and Mayre Wray of Scotia.
The recognition dinner capped off a full day of activities for the distinguished scholars. Distinguished Scholars Day gives students the opportunity to learn more about the academic programs offered at Nebraska through the University Honors Program.
Students and parents joined in a "Creation of Knowledge Tour" to get a glimpse of the research and other academic opportunities for undergraduate students in music, plant genetics and engineering. Students interacted in small seminar classes on subjects including ethics in business, history, language and images, philosophy, photojournalism, biotechnology, political science, management and chemistry.
A list of Distinguished Scholars follows, alphabetically by hometown. The students' high schools are included if different from the hometown.
Alliance: Benjamin Leeper, Sarah Miller.
Ashland: Bradley Rinschen (Ashland-Greenwood).
Atkinson: Melissa Slaymaker (West Holt).
Auburn: Kevin Chevalier.
Aurora: Colin Anderson.
Beatrice: Meghan Luers.
Bellevue: Robert Clark (West), Jesse Cox (West), Robert Crider (East), Darcy Draper (East), Rose Fredrick (East), Shannon Gronseth (East), Claire Iwai (West), Andrew Kousgaard (Papillion-LaVista), Steven Munch (East), Lanae Pierson (West), Heidi Pilloud (West), Anne Sloniker (West), Ernest Timmons (West), Gavin Trogdon (West).
Benedict: Christopher Maronde, Brandon Wright.
Blair: Jessica Fleming, Jennifer McBride.
Bushnell: Brenda Christensen (Kimball).
Carleton: Aaron Jensen (Thayer Central).
Central City: Andrew Ritta (Nebraska Christian).
Chadron: Rachael Cassiday, Forest Honerkamp.
Clarkson: Brady Brabec.
Clearwater: Sarah Michael.
Columbus; Ryan Beiermann, Sarah Denio, Michelle Marquis, Zachary Wolff (Scotus).
Cortland: Barton Sattler (Norris).
Council Bluffs, Iowa: Alyssa Egger (Omaha Duchesne).
Cozad: Natalie Hart.
Creighton: Julie Sorensen.
Decatur: Lucy Connealy (Lyons Decatur).
Dunbar: Holly Morris (Nemaha Valley).
Elkhorn: Robert Benson, Fay Cleaveland (Omaha Skutt), Holly Schiltz.
Ewing: Joshua Thoendel (Chambers).
Fairmont: Christin Lovegrove (Fillmore Central).
Fremont: Andrew Clements, Adam Leech.
Geneva: Mark Coddington (Fillmore Central), Timothy Scarborough (Fillmore Central).
Gothenburg: Elizabeth Hult.
Grand Island: Timothy Carmann, Bret Clark, Elizabeth Decker, Lisa Ewald (Northwest), Stephanie Gilbert, Tyler Huismann (Central Catholic), Matthew Kruse, Chelsea Majerus (Aurora), Gabriel Robbins, Ashley Scheil, Jared Stoeger.
Gresham: Tiffany Heidtbrink (Centennial).
Hastings: Jacob Gerber, Kendra Grams, Karin Hedstrom (Adams Central), Benjamin Keele, Nick Larkins, Derek Peterson (Adams Central).
Hebron: Aaron Dye (Thayer Central), Craig Dye (Thayer Central).
Hickman: Dave Callen (Norris), David Glabe (Lincoln Southeast).
Holdrege: Greg Dick.
Humboldt: Tala Burnison (Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer).
Jansen: Lesa Tegtmeier (Fairbury).
Juniata: Amber Johnson (home school).
Kearney: Jessica Isaac, Stephen Osberg.
LaVista: Daniel Dollar (Papillion-LaVista), Chelsea Horgan (Omaha Mercy).
Lincoln: Michael Ackerman (Pius X), Sridhar Ayala (East), Elizabeth Bateman (Lincoln High), Jessica Bowling (Southeast), Philip Chen (Lincoln High), Laura Conroy (Pius X), Jenna Coughlin (Christian), Justin DeVries (Southeast), James Flaherty (Southeast), Jenny Grose (Pius X), Andrew Hansen (Southeast), Matthew Hayes (Northeast), Stacy Henderson (East), Jeff Hergenrader (Southeast), Matthew Hibbing (Northeast), Matthew Holman (Lincoln High), Sarah Hranac (East), Christian Huebner (East), Amanda Irions (East), Nicole Kansier (Southeast), Laura Kenkel (Pius X), Bethany Koenig (Christian), Andrea Loomis (Southeast), Christopher Loyd (East), Abby Luettel (Southeast), Ashley Miers (Southeast), Eleanor Miller (Southeast), Sophia Nathenson (Southeast), Mark Nelson (Southeast), Angela Nierman (Southeast), Adam Ortman (Southeast), Amber Pettit (Southeast), Marisa Pont (East), Ashley Price (Lincoln High), Ella Reeves (Northeast), Katherine Sands (Lincoln High), Joshua Sims (Southeast), Bradley Smith (East), Anne Starace (Southeast), Michael Steinke (Southeast), James Stevenson (Parkview Christian), Francie Streich (Southeast), Catriona Swift (East), Scott Thompson (Southeast), Christopher Tiwald (East), Eric Van Horn (Southeast), Amanda Van Rhyn (East), David Varvel (Southeast), Kristin Walstad (Southeast), Catherine Will (East), Ryan Wittmann (Northeast), Keith Wysocki (Southeast), Anatoly Zlotnik (Southeast).
Malcolm: Kimberly Bohling, Anthony Heidtbrink.
McCook: Clayton Miller.
Minden: Susanna McCormick.
Nebraska City: Deanna Davis.
Newcastle: Krystle Lamprecht.
Newman Grove: Matthew Johnson.
Norfolk: Kay Bruening, Jana Kortje, Jason Smith (Battle Creek), MacKenzie Waltke.
North Platte: Jill Bomberger, Kathryn Gutschenritter (St. Patrick), Levi Laubner (Hershey), Kevin Smith (St. Patrick).
Oakland: Nicholas Posada (Oakland-Craig).
Ogallala: Melynda Adams.
Omaha: Vineet Agrawal (North), Emily Andres (Marian), Nicole Asmussen (Millard South), Melissa Bardon (Central Christian), James Betts (North), Randall Bosetti (Millard North), Robert Botkin (Millard North), Elizabeth Brenner (Millard South), Daniel Bukenholts (Millard West), Cory Buland (Burke), Elizabeth Carlberg (Marian), Nathan Charlow (Creighton Prep), Simon Charlow (Creighton Prep), Anne Cheese (Marian), Traci Christensen (Skutt), James Clough (Millard West), Kevin Coffey (Creighton Prep), Claire Conlon (Burke), Bret Dennis (Millard North), Zachary Fergus (Northwest), Joseph Fitzpatrick (Roncalli), Lynn Fullenkamp (Mercy), Elaine Gabriel (Central), Donald Gay (Creighton Prep), Jeffrey Gerard (Skutt), Igor Ginzburg (Westside), Matthew Gonderinger (Creighton Prep), Margaret Gorski (Marian), Martin Gran (Millard South), Nick Gustafson (Creighton Prep), Emily Hamilton (Skutt), Kathryn Harman (Millard North), Andrew Harner (Burke), Daniel Harper (Westside), Michael Herzog (Westside), Christian Heyden (Burke), Andrew Hoffman (Creighton Prep), Connor Humphreys (Brownell-Talbot), Carrie Jenkins (Westside), Katherine Joyce (Westside), Jennifer Kirk (Duchesne), Nicole Lee (Mercy), Jessica Lemke (Bellevue West), David Levy (Elkhorn Mt. Michael), Ronald Lewis (Central), Andrew Livingston (Burke), Anna Loers (Brownell-Talbot), Ryan Loneman (Skutt), Bryn Luxon (Northwest), Paula Madgett (North), Dana Maher (Central), James Mailliard (Burke), Whitney Mallenby (Central), Sergey Manouilov (Northwest), Emily Matz (Millard West), John McCart (Northwest), Leann Mills (Millard North), Kady Milow (Millard West), Emily Monen (Central), Sarah Morris (Millard South), Elizabeth Morton (Gretna), Ryan Muldoon (Millard West), Lori Neal (Millard North), John Nichol-Caddy (North), Temitope Omojola (Burke), Krystal Overmyer (Millard North), Jennifer Paskach (Millard North), Amy Peet (Skutt), Emily Pennington (Millard South), Evan Peterson (Millard West), Jennifer Peterson (Millard North), Gillian Quinn (Duchesne), Christopher Rasmussen (Millard South), Rindha Reddy (Brownell-Talbot), Brandon Rich (Burke), Michelle Richards (Elkhorn), Diane Rossbach (Marian), Miles Schaefer (South), Jessica Schaffer (Millard North), Royce Sheibal (Ralston), Gwenn Skar (Millard West), John Steege (Northwest), Kalene Stremlau (Skutt), Eileen Sullivan (Mercy), Juliet Summers (Westside), Laurel Thomsen (Skutt), Alicia Thorson (Millard North), Diane Topolski (Westside), Benjamin VanKat (North), Benjamin Villines (Elkhorn), Michael Wasikowski (Ralston), Matt Weller (Creighton Prep), Kyle Whitehead (Benson), James Willcockson (Burke), Aaron Wolfson (Westside), Hallie Wunsch (Central), Nate Wurtz (Creighton Prep), Christinna Young (Millard South).
O'Neill: Julie Long.
Ord: Megan Nelson.
Overton: Brian Roy.
Papillion: Kiley Abdouch (Papillion-LaVista), Joshua Brandt (Papillion-LaVista), Elisabeth Chretien (Papillion-LaVista), Andrew Conroy (Papillion-LaVista), Lauren Erickson (Papillion-LaVista), Nicole Hanson (Papillion-LaVista), Matt Hodges, Jennifer Kane (Papillion-LaVista), Joseph Kirscher (Papillion-LaVista), Amanda Kreis (Papillion-LaVista), Samantha Milne (Papillion-LaVista), Julie Murray (home school), Amanda Partusch (Papillion-LaVista), David Roth (Papillion-LaVista), Brett Smith (Papillion-LaVista).
Pender: Tessa Schmitz.
Pierce: Adam Polt.
Platte Center: Valerie Goering (Columbus Lakeview).
Plattsmouth: Lindsay Given (home school), Elliott Lepert (Conestoga).
Roca: Frederick Scott (Lincoln High).
Rushville: Jamie Carpenter.
Schuyler: Brenda Kluck.
Seward: Brittney Baack, Megan Herrold.
South Sioux City: Brian Knapp, Joe Otterby.
Spencer: Kari Carlson (Spencer-Naper).
Springfield: Roseann Masek (Platteview).
Sterling: Susan Eisenhauer.
Stratton: Michael Carter (Lakeside Central).
Stromsburg: Bradley Moore.
Superior: Ross Fenimore.
Syracuse: Betsy Steinkuhler.
Ulysses: Brooks Borchers (Centennial).
Wahoo: Todd Kavan (Neumann).
Waterbury: Andrea Swetnam (Allen).
Wayne: Bradley Hansen, Ann Temme.
Weeping Water: Nathan Beins, Anthony Leckron.
Weston: Caleb Pokorny (Wahoo).
For questions regarding these releases, contact:
tsimons1@unl.edu
(402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825