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What a Great 2008!

The 24th annual Cornhusker State Games closed Sunday with a final count of 12,041 registered athletes. Athletes came from 86 of Nebraska’s 93 counties and ranged in age from 40 days to 90 years. The closing weekend of competition featured three of the four new events, including beach wrestling, orienteering/land navigation and the kids triathlon.

Officials have begun the 2008 CSG Athlete of the Year selection process with more than 50 nominations to consider. Nebraska’s male and female winners, which will be announced in the coming days, are nominated for National Athlete of the Year Honors to be announced in late September.

Final weekend highlights:

--Morgan Chaffin, 25 of Omaha, was the female overall winner in the triathlon with a time of 1:10:08. Fullerton’s Jeremy Koziol, 20, was the male overall winner in 1:04:08, narrowly defeating Jeremy Davis, 28 of Omaha, who happens to be Chaffin’s boyfriend. The first-ever CSG kids triathlon was won by 12 year-old Noah Burke of Lincoln with a time of 21:33. Burke’s sister Abigail, 11, was the top girl, finishing in 22:21.

--The top overall times in the Footstock 5K run were turned in by Greg Timblin, the male winner with a time of 15:49 and female winner Amanda Godemann, who broke the tape in 19:43. Timblin and Godemann were teammates on the Nebraska Wesleyan track and cross country teams the past four years.

--Jim Peter, 56 of Lincoln, made a strong case for 2008 E. Lee Todd Senior Athlete of the Year Award, participating in four different sports over the two weekends, including the cycle tour, Footstock, volleyball and volkswalk.

--Mark Fiala won all seven of his beach wrestling matches, completing a gold-medal sweep of the five wrestling categories. Fiala, a junior from Seward, won the class B 152 lb. Nebraska State High School Championship earlier this year with a 44-0 record.

--In contrast, Games Executive Director Dave Mlnarik lost all three of his beach wrestling matches, failing to score a point. Undeterred in defeat, the 39 year-old Mlnarik, who last wrestled in 8th Grade said he had fun and predicted the new CSG sport will grow quickly based on the turnout and enthusiasm of athletes and spectators. His participation was mandated by CSG athletes who voted for the sport as part of the Dare Dave Challenge.

--A lowlight of sorts occurred Friday night when vandals broke into the new Lincoln Archery range, damaging and stealing several targets used for the 3D events. Archery Director Jim Tubbs said three targets were destroyed and two stolen, amounting in an estimated loss of more than $1,000.

All medal winners can be found under the 2008 Games tab at CornhuskerStateGames.com. Those interested can search by sport, city or county. View medal winners.

The dates for the 2009 Cornhusker State Games are set for July 17-26. The 2008 Games were sponsored by the Lincoln Journal Star, BNSF Railways and more than 200 other Nebraska businesses. The Cornhusker State Games is a program of the Nebraska Sports Council. Learn more at NebraskaSportsCouncil.com.

Other news features:

Fun Beats Heat In Volleyball Finals (Omaha World-Herald)
http://www.omahaworldherald.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=10391580

For Triathletes of all ages, the fun comes in trying (Omaha World-Herald)
http://www.omahaworldherald.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=10392150

Q & A With Eric Piatkowski (Omaha World-Herald)
http://www.omahaworldherald.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=10389900

MORE NEWS

Let the Games Begin!

The final weekend of competition in the 2008 Cornhusker State Games begins Saturday and features roughly 2,500 athletes in 13 sports, including Nebraska’s largest triathlon, a Saturday-evening fun run/festival and the area’s first look at beach wrestling.

Officials confirmed that entry numbers have surpassed last year’s total of 12,008 total participants. Entries remain open for the cycle tour and Footstock, the Saturday evening 5K road race and festival, which includes a free one mile kids run, a barbecue, adult beverage garden and live music by Lincoln rock band The Flip 3.

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