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Cougar family that have left us:
Volleyball | Men's Soccer | Women's Soccer | Men's Basketball | Women's Basketball | Baseball | Softball
Football | Track | Cross Country | Golf/Tennis | Cheerleading/Dance Team | Coaches | Athletic Staff | Loyal Cougar Supporters
This page is to honor all those Cougar players, coaches, athletic staff, loyal Cougar supporters that have passed on and left this great earth.
The list is not complete because it is hard to find former Cougars that have passed on with obituaries. If anyone knows of Cougar players, coaches, etc.
that have moved on from this great earth, please send the information on to mrein@wncc.edu and if you can, include a link to an obituary or copy of one.
Volleyball
Cassie Vrooman
-- April 19, 1988 - July 21, 2019 --
Cassie played at WNCC in the 2006 and 2007 seasons, helping the Cougars to a national title in 2007
Andrea Null
-- March 2, 1970 - October 3, 2016 --
Played at WNCC in 1988 and was a Scottsbluff High graduate.
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Women's Soccer
Brittany Scadlock
-- March 21, 1995 - March 11, 2015 --
Brittany played for WNCC in 2013 and took a year off for a mission in South America,
where she passed away.
Men's Basketball
Rod Ehler
-- October 8, 1947 - July 18, 2025 --
Rod played basketball for the Cougars
in the mind 1960s and later his son and
daughter also played for the Cougars.
Roger Schwaub
-- May 3, 1934 - June 1, 2025 --
Roger played basketball for the Cougars
in the early to mid 1950s. After college,
he went into the Army.
Lenier Bradshaw
-- August 8, 1980 - October 3, 2024 --
Lanier played for the Cougars in the 2000-01 season under Trace Bevell. Lanier battled kidney failure and passed away from his courageous fight with the disease.
Michael McFeeley
?? - July 15, 2023
Michael played basketball for the college
in the early 1970s
Jerry Leonard
June 23, 1938 - August 8, 2023
Jerry was born in Gering and a graduate
of GHS and continued his basketball career
at Scottsbluff Junior College in the late 1950s.
Doug Chappell
June 23, 1935 - March 11, 2020
Doug played basketball at SJC in the 50s
and was an assistant basketball coach.
Lance Vaccarelli
June 26, 1969 - July 12, 2019
Lance came to WNCC in the late 80s from Detroit, Michigan, and played for Soupy Campbell. Lance went on to play
at Montana State University.
Billy Stewart
March 11, 1944 - August 19, 2013
Lanier played for the Cougars in the 2000-01 season under Trace Bevell. Lanier battled kidney failure and passed away from his courageous fight with the disease.
Fernando Bonfim-Wilson
August 9, 1983 - June 30, 2012
Fernando played for the Cougars from
2002-2005 and was known as a giant teddy bear.
Curtis Cotton
August 13, 1986 - May 7, 2010
Curtis played for WNCC in 2005-06 and was
attending the Community College of Denver at the time of his car accident.
Ricky Gandy
June 7, 1978 - August 3, 2003
Ricky graduated from Hephzibah High in Georgia and played for the Cougars from 1996-98 before attending Western Carolina University.
Lamar Laroux
April 9, 1974 - March 15, 1997
Lamar played for WNCC from 1993-94 and was currently playing at East Texas Baptist at the time of his death. He was just 22.
Women's Basketball
Rylee (Hanks) Downs
-- September 5, 1994 - January 14, 2022 --
Rylee graduated from Crawford in 2013 and
was a member of the women's basketball team. She was a 3-sport athlete for Crawford.
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Baseball
Greg Crowe
-- September 29, 1987 - June 4, 2023 --
Greg played for the Cougars as a pitcher during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, helping WNCC to a Region IX title. Greg died in Florida from a motorcycle accident.
Cesar David Castro
-- September 12, 1989 - March 22, 2015 --
Cesar played for the Cougars in 2010 and was
taken from us in a motorcycle accident in Miami.
Giovanni Gonzalez
-- October 21, 1985 - June 16, 2009 --
Giovanni played for the Cougars in the 2004-05 season.
Football
Jerry Henderson
-- October 22, 1929 - August 24, 2023 --
Jerry was born in Scott and was a 1948 Scottsbluff graduate. He was all-conference at Scottsbluff JC and played football at Nebraska.
Tom Crokie
-- ?? - December 9, 2021 --
Tom played football for Scottsbluff JC in the 1960s and would teach in Gering and owned TC's Mini Market and Car Wash.
Jim Attaway
-- Born in 1943 0 January 12, 2011 --
Jim Attaway was a top quarterback for the Cougars in the early 1960s, playing alongside
Ed Mooney. Jim went on to become a college
and high school coach. After SJC, he went to
Adams State College. He came to SJC from
Mobile, Alabama.
Dick "Night Train" Lane
-- April 16, 1927 - January 29, 2002 --
Night Train played for SJC in 1947 and would have a legendary NFL career with several teams, including the Detroit Lions. Night Trains was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.
Golf/Tennis
Jim Zitterkopf
Tennis Player at NWC in 75 & 76
-- February 1, 1956 - April 2, 2026 --
Jim graduated from Scottsbluff and attended
NWC and played tennis in the mid 70s. He later
married his mixed double partner Janice Swanbom.
Cheerleading/Dance Team
Nicol Ashleigh (Harnish) Rakovec
-- March 1, 1992 - June 24, 2023 --
Nicol was the daughter of women's basketball coach Dave Harnish and was a member of the first Cougar dance team in the early 2010s.
Coaches
Mert Davis
Track and Cross Country Coach
-- August 28, 1931 - October 27, 2025 --
Mert was the track and cross country coach for WNCC back in the 1970s. Mert attended as many Cougar sporting events as he could and was a strong supporter of Cougar Athletes. Three days before his passing, Mert was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by the college.
Pat Lee
Track Coach and AD
-- March 17, 1933 - May 7, 2018 --
Pat Lee was not only a teacher and administrator at the college, but as served as a track coach and an athletic director.
Wayne Schumacher
Women's Basketball Coach
-- March 18, 1940 - April 26, 2015 --
Wayne taught English at WNCC but was also the first women's basketball coach and also served as an assistant men's basketball coach. He was also a tennis coach for a while, too.
Ron Brillhart
Men's Basketball Coach
-- September 30, 1936 - June 30, 2006 --
Ron coached WNCC from 1973-1983 and then came back and coached from 2003-2006. He also served as athletic director during both stints.
Gordon Harrach
Tennis/Golf Coach
-- March 15, 1941 - January 15, 2003 --
Gordon served as the tennis and golf coach for the college in 1980s and 1990s. He was also a chemistry teacher at the college.
Bill Braunbeck
Men's Basketball Coach
Scottsbluff Junior College
-- May 25, 1941 - August 14, 1998 --
Bill was the basketball coach for the Cougars from 1970 through 1973 for three seasons.
Margaret Fitzmorris
Volleyball Coach
-- January 29, 1935 - May 21, 1979 --
Margaret was the first Cougar volleyball coach in the 1970s and served as the college's PE instructor.
Shelby Edwards
Men's Basketball Coach
and Athletic Director
-- ?? - January 30, 1975 --
Shelby Edwards was the men's basketball coach from 1959 through 1970 and then became the college's athletic director.
Athletic Staff
Mary Wuerst
-- June 30, 1944 - April 2, 2023 --
Mary was the athletic secretary for the Cougars for over 20 years and was part of the athletic department in the 1990s.
Loretta Uhrich
-- Born around 1946 - September 7, 2020 --
Loretta served many hats at WNCC from being a women's basketball assistant coach, helping man the basketball score table, and being a strong Cougar supporter during her 33 years at WNCC.
Larry Janecek
-- June 7, 1948 - March 21, 2017 --
Larry was like family to WNCC serving as a dorm parent to many and was also the father figure when he drove bus for the athletic teams.
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Host Families/Supporters
Tim Hurst
Radio Play-by-Play man
Sold shoes to WNCC sports
-- June 12, 1959 - November 29, 2024 --
Tim was an encyclopedia of knowledge for local athletics and knew many high school and college athletes and kept in touch with them. He was also a radio play-by-play man and followed the Cougars.
Judy Smith
Host family in 1990s, 2000s
-- October 8, 1943 - November 29, 2024 --
Judy and Giles Smith were a host family for a number of Cougar athletes in the 1990s and 2000s. She was also the WNCC ILC director.
(A list of dorm kids to come).
Judy Schnell
Host family from 1990s-2020s
-- September 14, 1955 - January 2, 2024 --
Judy was a big dorm parent who hosted many athletes over the years. She was also a big supporter of Cougar athletics. She was also a biology instructor at WNCC.
Elnora Sell
Host family in 1990s, 2000s
-- October 14, 1932 - November 17, 2023 --
Elnora and her husband Wes were strong supporters of Cougar athletics and took in many athletes over the years as well as traveled to national tourneys and away games.
Jim and Muriel Parker
Loyal Cougar supporter
Jim Parker
-- July 23, 1934 - March 2, 2022 --
and
Muriel Parker
-- May 6, 1935 - May 22, 2022 --
Jim and Muriel were strong supporters of Cougar athletes and hardly missed a home game and traveled to away tournament. He got to know many of the athletes from all the sports.
John Rein
Cougar supporter since 1979
-- April 4, 1934 - January 22, 2021 --
John was a strong supporter of Cougar athletes and hardly missed a home game, where in the 2000s, he could be found sitting up in the top yellow seats. He also went to many national tournaments for women's basketball, men's basketball, volleyball, and softball.
Cyndi Neuwirth
Host family and Cougar Supporter
-- May 18, 1952 - March 26, 2020 --Cyndi was a big Cougar supporter as well as serving as a host family. Cyndi and Jim have been dorm parents
to many volleyball, baseball, vocal, basketball, soccer and softball players. They considered them their adopted grandkids. Cindi loved watching each and every one of them compete and Jim still stays in contact with them. They also fostered six Rotary exchange students.
Nancy Campbell
Wife of men's coach Soupy Campbell
-- September 12, 1945 - January 1, 2016 --Nancy touched the lives of so many students and athletes, and was a coach's wife and was Soupy's biggest fan at over 1,000 of his games in his coaching career.
Giles Smith
Host family in 1990s, 2000s
-- October 8, 1943 - November 29, 2024 --
Judy and Giles Smith were a host family for a number of Cougar athletes in the 1990s and 2000s.
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