Posted: Jan 15, 2026

WNCC Cougar Athletic History -- The 1980s

 

Top Athletes from the 1980s
1980 -- Derryl Williams -- After WNCC, Derryl went on to play at Santa Clara where he averaged 11.2 points a contest. He played at Santa Clara from 1980-82.
 
1980 -- Mike Gwizdala -- Played at WNCC for two seasons and then went on to play at Rocky Mountain College. Mike is the supervisor of buildings, grounds, and student transportation in Bay City, Michigan. He has coached basketball at the college level and high school basketball and football. He has done play-by-play and color commentary on the radio and television as well as been on school boards. He is in the Bay City Hall of Fame. 
 
1979-81 -- Gary Monroe. Gary played two seasons at NWC and then went on to play at Wright State where Wright won the Division II national title. He was selected by the Portland Trailblazers in the 1983 NBA draft. Gary in in the Wright State Hall of Fame.
 
 
 
 

 

 

A lot happened in Cougar athletics in the 1980s. The college was named Nebraska Western College during this time frame and it had three volleyball coaches, two women's basketball coaches, and four men's basketball coaches. Plus the college also had tennis and golf during this time frame. The 1980s saw plenty of Region IX championships in men's basketball, golf, and the first-ever women's Region IX championship with volleyball in 1988. 

Here is a rundown of the coaches and a short summary of what happened each year for the sports.

1979-80
Women's tennis was coached by Wayne Schumacher.
Men's basketball coach was Ron Brillhart and they had a record of 23-10 and lost in the second round of the Region IX Tourney.
Women's basketball coach was Harvey Schmidt. They had a record of 5-21.
Volleyball coach was Marie Welliver. Their record for the year was 16-19.
The golf team was coached by Ron Brillhart.

1980-81
Women's tennis was disbanded because of lack of interest.
Men's basketball was coached by Ron Brillhart. The team went 28-9. It was a magical year for the Cougars as they won their second title in three season by defeating Southeast Nebraska 91-77. Southeast was coached by former Creighton University and now Oregon head coach Dana Altman. The team finished 15th in the nation.
Women's basketball was coach was Harvey Schmidt. The team went 8-16 and starting to make strides under Schmidt's coaching.
The volleyball team had a new coach in Cash Franklin. In his first year, the team went 11-17-1. Frankling was previously the Scottsbluff High coach and in his four years at the helm, started to turn the program around.
Men's tennis coach was Gordon Harrach and the team captured the Region IX title during the spring.
The golf coach was Ron Brillhart.

1981-82
Men's basketball coach was Ron Brillhart. The team finished 29-9. Who said you can't win back-to-back championships and that is what this team did as they defeated Casper 56-55 on an easy layup by Steve Block and watching Casper's final two shots not fall. The team finished 16th at the national tournament.
Women's basketball coach was Harvey Schmidt and the team went 17-9. The team finally broke over the .500 mark with a solid season. Penny Mallet led the team with 566 points scored that season. She also scored 36 points against Dawson.
Volleyball coach was Cash Franklin and the team went 199-18-1. The Cougars finished the season with a winning record.
Men's tennis coach was Gordon Harrach and once again captured the Region IX championship.
Golf coach was Ron Brillhart.

1982-83
A Women's Tennis. Head Coach Wayne Schumacher. Team reorganized and two members qualify for the NJCAA national tournament.
A Men's Basketball. Head Coach Ron Brillhart
Record: 26-10. The team came oh-so-close of winning a third straight title, but fell in the the championship game to Southeast Nebraska. This would be Brillhart's last season at WNCC as he would step down to take a coaching position at Northern Colorado.
A Women's Basketball. Head Coach Harvey Schmidt..
Record: 7-20. The team slipped a little bit, but Mallet would go on to score over 1,000 points in her career (1,026). In fact, that records still stands today.
A Women's Volleyball. Head Coach Cash Franklin.
Record: 23-21. It was back to back winning records and it also was the best win mark in school history. The mark will stand until the 1987 year.
A Men's Golf Head Coach Ron Brillhart.

1983-84
A Men's Basketball. Head Coach Terry Layton.
Record: 17-14. Layton inherits a Cougar program in October and brings many changes to the program. That year the Cougars lost in the first round of the regional tournament.
A Women's Volleyball. Head Coach Cash Franklin.
Record: 9-25.
A Men's Golf Head Coach Gordon Harrach.

1984-85
A Men's Basketball. Head Coach Terry Layton.
Record: 15-16. The Cougars suffered their first non-winning record since the 1968-69 campaign. After the Cougars lost in the first round of the regional tournament, Layton stepped down at the head coach.
A Women's Basketball. Head Coach Harvey Schmidt..
Record: 13-14.
A Women's Volleyball. Head Coach Cathy Schiller.
Record: 4-19. This was Schiller's first season as coach and it there were growing pains, but slowly those growing pains would lead to great things -- just keep reading on.
A Men's Golf Head Coach Gordon Harrach.

1985-86
Men's Basketball. Head Coach Mark Nixon.
Record: 21-8. Nixon came in and turned the program around quickly as this team won its first 14 games. The team lost five of their last seven games including falling in the first round of the regional tournament. That team included current Gering boys basketball coach Jay Ehler and Scottsbluff graduate Grant Hinze.
A Women's Basketball. Head Coach Harvey Schmidt..
Record: 18-8.
A Women's Volleyball. Head Coach Cathy Schiller.
Record: 8-28-1.
A Men's Golf Head Coach Gordon Harrach.

1986-87
A Men's Basketball. Head Coach Mark Nixon.
Record: 19-12. Nixon had a decent season in his sophomore year at WNCC. Still, the Cougars lost for the fourth straight year in the first round of the regional tournament. Nixon would then leave WNCC in April for an assistant coaching position at the University of Texas at Arlington. He later was appointed the head coach at UTA.
A Basketball -- The 3-point line was added to college basketball at the beginning of the year.
A Women's Basketball. Head Coach Harvey Schmidt..
Record: 19-7. The Cougars have now registered back-to-back winning seasons, and on top of that, it would be the last time the team would have a sub-10 win season.
A Women's Volleyball. Head Coach Cathy Schiller.
Record: 22-13. The team rebounded nicely and will continue to grow.

1987-88
Men's Basketball. Head Coach Dave Campbell.
Record: 23-10. The Soupmaster comes in and starts his wonderful 12 years at the head coach of the Cougars. In his first season, the Cougars had a 20-win season but lost in the first round of regionals for the fifth straight year.
A Women's Basketball. Head Coach Harvey Schmidt..
Record: 23-5. This was Schmidt's final year of coaching and the Cougars almost came close to winning the regional tournament losing in the second round. The Cougars mounted a 16-game winning streak and fell to Northeast Nebraska 80-67 in the regional tournament.
A Women's Volleyball. Head Coach Cathy Schiller.
Record: 36-11-2. The team won 30-plus matches for the first time and they also finished second at the regional tournament to Eastern Wyoming College.
A Men's Golf Coach: Gordan Harrach.
The team captured the Region IX championship that season.

1988-89
A Men's Basketball. Head Coach Dave Campbell
Record: 23-10. The first round losing jinx is broken as the Cougars finally won in the first round of regionals to break a five year spell.
A Women's Basketball. Head Coach Dave Harnish.
Record: 23-4. Harnish returns to the college that he helped win a regional title to take over the women's basketball program.
A Women's Volleyball. Head Coach Cathy Schiller.
Record: 46-13. The year that changed Cougar volleyball as the team won its first regional championship and finished fifth at the national tournament. Sophomore Nicole Quinnett, the setter and sparkplug of the team, would go on to be an NJCAA first team all-American. That team also included Monica Green, a Gering graduate and sister of current volleyball coach. This was also Schiller's last season at WNCC as she would depart for Yavapai College in Arizona as the head coach.
A Men's Golf Coach: Gordan Harrach.
The team captured the Region IX championship that season. The team consisted of seven of 10 golfers from the Panhandle region. The seven included Mark Jolliffe, Rick Eckert, Jim Tedesco, Scott Hillius, Bob Scripter, Tom Birner and Don Ford. Other members were Mike Wakkuri, David Johnson and Marty Marburger.