Saturday, May 9, 2015

Exeter-Milligan Signs to Play Volleyball At Midland



Amber Pribyl signs to play volleyball at Midland University surrounded by her parents Tim and Mary Kay Pribyl and Midland Coach Paul Giesselmann and Exeter-Milligan Coach Darcy White.




Midland University is where Exeter-Milligan senior Amber Pribyl will step onto the collegiate volleyball scene.

She isn’t the first Pribyl to do so and will follow her sister, Heather, a Midland graduating senior who helped lead the volleyball team to two back to back NAIA National Championship Tournament appearances.

Midland Coach Paul Giesselmann has no doubt that Amber is a great fit for Midland, “I think one of things we always look for when we are  for recruiting student athletes for Midland for volleyball is we want to look at high character young women and Amber fits that obviously.  We  want great students and she fits that category. For us we want a well-rounded athlete, not necessarily the young girl who her whole life all she did was volleyball. We want kids that are multi-sport athletes so we feel like they have a lot of potential left in them.  That is what we see in Amber, we see that multi-sport athlete, high character, good student.”

Pribyl is comfortable with the campus and the program at Midland, “I love their campus and their volleyball program.  I am familiar with them and the way they do things.”

Part of what Giesselmann sees in Pribyl is her athleticism.  “We aren’t 100 percent sure where we are going to play her yet . . .in the middle or on the right side.  The thing is we know what we are getting with her and her family because her older sister obviously was a great player and a great role model for the program and we see Amber being that same type of player.”

Exeter-Milligan Coach White noted that Pribyl will make an immediate impact, “Amber has the ability to control the net with her defensive skills.  She has great jumping ability and moves from pin to pin with ease.  She will contribute immediately to their team because she will provide their varsity with quality competition in practice.“

Pribyl attributes a lot of her success in volleyball to White.  “We have always gone hard with Coach White.  We have always lifted hard in the summers and gone even harder in the preseason conditioning and then the beginning practices of the season.”

Coach White sees a bright future for Pribyl, “Amber continues to grow as a player.  She certainly hasn't reached her potential, and I am excited to see her take her skills to the next level.  Amber is a great all-around student and athlete.  She is just a very well-rounded individual and I am sure she will thrive in a college setting.”

Gieselmann appreciated where White has taken the program at Exeter-Milligan, “Darcy does a great job obviously with the program down here.  I thought it was outstanding to have Amber being able to finish her career at the state tournament because that is one of the things we look for when we are looking at kids we want student athletes who have been playing in pressure situations and I will tell you what there is no more of a pressure situation than playing at a district final and if you don’t win you aren’t going to state.”

“Darcy has done a nice job here over the years getting to state tournaments so it puts them in those situations so we know how they are going to react once they get to college.”

Pribyl noted the difference that the state tournaments have made in her career, “Going to state makes volleyball more fun. State gets you playing at a higher level.  It’s the best of the best you’re playing with.  We’ve been successful and hope to continue the success in college.  Hopefully we can do that at nationals, again.“ 

White was confident in Pribyl’s success at the college level, “I feel that any athlete or individual who has the ability (and gets the chance) to continue playing their sport in college has the benefit of enhancing their college experience because it provides them with a "ready-made" family in their team, it gives them the opportunity to compete, travel, and meet new people.  It requires commitment, desire, and hard work.  College athletes learn how to manage their time and tend to be very responsible individuals.”

Pribyl has received accolades in all three sports at Exeter-Milligan in addition to her success in the classroom.  Her senior year Amber was named on the CRC All-Conference First Team, the Omaha World Herald First Team, the Lincoln Journal Star First team and the York News Times All Area Team.  As Giesselmann noted Pribyl is a multi-talented athlete also garnering recognition for her talents on the basketball court this year.  Pribyl was an honorable mention for the CRC All-Conference team along with one from the Nebraska Prep Zone All-Nebraska team.  The York News Times chose her as a member on their all-area team. Her junior year she topped the York News Times lists in rebounds - total/AVG per game and was third in the area for steals. Pribyl has consistently qualified for the State track meet for Exeter-Milligan  on both a relay team and in high jump and will most likely this year as well.  She was chosen as the Exeter-Milligan Senior Female Athlete of the Year.

Pribyl has shined off the playing field as well.  She has participated in one-act and spring play and FCCLA.  She is a member of the National Honor Society, a member of the Exeter-Milligan Band and participates in 4-H.  She maintains the highest GPA for a senior at Exeter-Milligan.




Friday, May 8, 2015

Odego Leadership Class Attends Business and Industry Session

Odegeo Leadership Class Attends Business and Industry Session

FILLMORE COUNTY - The Odegeo…Leadership for Fillmore County class attended a Business and Industry session on April 21th, 2015.
    The first stop of the day was Metal Tech Partners in Geneva where plant manager Sam Scott took the group on a tour of the plant. The group was shown how metal is powder coated, packing and shipping and the part this plant does for Claas Lexicon combines.
     The second stop of the day was Geneva Floral and A Little Inspiration where owners Karen and Harold Janda told about the shops.  Mr. Janda also told about the history of the building and Charlie Thorpe the famous jockey from Fillmore County who owned the building at one time. The Janda’s provided a coffee and snack as we heard more of the story about Charlie Thorpe, the honest jockey. 

     Kevin Bonin was the guide when the group visited All American Book Bindery.  He showed the group the step by step process of binding a book.  The company has been in business for a little over one year.    
      The last stop in Geneva in the morning was at the Diesel Pick-up Shop where Melissa Knight told the history of their business and why they wanted to locate in Geneva. 
    Traveling to Exeter the group first stopped and learned about Ekeler Repair.  Greg Ekeler talked about the growth of his business and customer service.
    Lunch was served at the Exeter Senior Center and the group joined the seniors who congregate for lunch at the center on Tuesday.  Flint Hills Resources sponsored the lunch that was delivered by the Geneva Senior Center.
 Kenton and Lori Moore greeted the group at Horizontal Boring and Tunneling.  Kenton Moore explained the process of boring and tunneling and the variety of methods to get pipe under roads, rivers, rail, etc.  The highlight was actually getting to see a boring machine in mot
     Before leaving Exeter the class stopped at Pulliam Plumbing a very recent addition to the Exeter business community.  Brady Pulliam had worked as a plumber for 10+ years before he ventured into starting his own company.
    The next stop was CPS-Crop Production Services just west of Fairmont.  The manager, Marty Ostrander, explained the services and products they offer. 
    A panel of four business managers or owners met with the leadership class at the end of the day at the Geneva Public Library.  Those panelists were Jason Rippe, Bioiberica Nebraska and Bio-Tee USA, Dale Byrkit, The Andersons, Tim Lichti, Lichti Oil, and Patt Lentfer, Lentfer Irrigation & Mfg. Inc.  Each explained the workings of the businesses they represented and changes that have occurred in the past few years. Bioiberica funded the afternoon refreshments.
     The May session of the Odegeo. . . Leadership for Fillmore County will focus on Legal and Law Enforcement.
    Persons interested in learning more about Odegeo…Leadership for Fillmore County may contact the Fillmore County Development Corporation at 759-4910 or email lentfer.fcdc@genevamail.com or go to www.fillmorecountydevelopment.org.
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Thursday, May 7, 2015

Desseret Health Closes Last Two Nebraska Nursing Homes

Desseret Health the corporation that managed the recently closed Exeter Care Center has now announced plans to close all of their Nebraska facilities.  Here's a story about it: click here

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

FCDC Sponsors Coloring Event



APRIL IS FAIR HOUSING MONTH
A Fillmore County fair housing coloring event was sponsored the Fillmore County Development Corporation, Fillmore County, the City of Geneva, and the Village of Fairmont as April is the “National Fair Housing” month. The above entities were recipients of Nebraska Affordable Housing Funds.
The event commemorates the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the fight to provide equal access to housing for all.  Its goal is to raise public awareness about the injustice of housing discrimination and to inform people of their rights under fair housing law.
Students in grades K-6 across Fillmore County were invited to participate in the Coloring Event.  Students chose page from the “Franklin’s Fair Housing Coloring Book”, used their creative and artistic ability to color a page. That artwork was displayed at the Fillmore County Courthouse, the Geneva City office and library and the Fairmont Municipal office. 
Franklin the fox is the mascot of Fair Housing month.  He reminds people that everyone is equal and anyone can live in a house or neighborhood no matter what their race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or family status. 

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Exeter-Milligan Athletic Banquet



Channel 10/11 Kevin Sjuts Sports Anchor poses with the Exeter-Milligan football team and coaches at the Athletic Banquet.




Channel 10/11 Kevin Sjuts Sports Anchor puts on the Timberwolf mascot head at the end of his speech at the Exeter-Milligan Athletic Banquet. Channel 10/11 sportscaster Ryan Nix had put the T-wolf head on while predicting the outcome of the Exeter-Milligan versus Giltner football game on live television.
 



Exeter-Milligan held their Athletic Banquet on Tuesday, April 28th in the gymnasium on the Exeter campus.
This year there was a surprise guest speaker, Kevin Sjuts, the sports anchor for Channel 10/11 in Lincoln.  Sjuts has received multiple awards for sportscasting including the 2013 Nebraska Sportscaster of the year.
Sjuts shared how much he enjoyed following of the Timberwolf teams in their bids at the championship levels.  He also noted that a Nebraska class D school has never won a dual championship in football and basketball until Exeter-Milligan did this year.
He went on to share the reasons he thought the teams at Exeter-Milligan were so successful, “Number one, community support, number two coaching, and also the love of sports.”
The 10/11 sports crew covered many of Exeter-Milligan’s home football games and thanked the community for being so welcoming to their crew. 
Sjuts parting words to the audience were, “Keep those things to remind yourselves of what you have been able to do.  Save those shirts, newspaper clippings, pictures.  Someday you might be wearing one of those shirts while you are out mowing the grass and someone will come up to you and ask you if you were on that team.  Imagine what it will be like to say, ‘yes’.”
All of the Exeter-Milligan athletes were recognized during the banquet as each of the coaches talked about their season and their teams.
During the banquet two freshman, Kelsey Bigelow and Seth Maxson, were recognized with the Rookie of the Year award.  Sydney Hall was acknowledged as the female team player of the year while Dalton Zelenka was named the male team player of the year.
The coaches also recognized Amber Pribyl as the female athlete of the year and Kyle Jensen as the male athlete of the year.