Omaha Sports Commission Recognizes Past & Present CU Athletes, Coaches and Volleyball Team with OSCAS Nominations

OMAHA, Neb. – The incredible 2025 Creighton Volleyball season is responsible for four nominations for the 8th annual Omaha Sports Commission Awards Show (The OSCAS) that were released on Monday.

The Omaha Sports Commission Awards Show presented by The Lerner Company, affectionately known as the OSCAS, honors top athletes, coaches and sport performances from the Omaha metropolitan area via individual awards and by inducting the next Omaha Sports Hall of Fame class. The OSCAS Presented by The Lerner Company will be held on Thursday, May 28, 2026, at the Relevant Center in Elkhorn.

The OSCAS Committee identifies top sports accomplishments over the last year (Spring Season – Winter Season) and select nominees to be considered for eight award categories, presented in an ESPYS fashion.

"Our selection committee had the difficult task of narrowing down an incredibly talented group of nominees," Emily Winckler of the Omaha Sports Commission said. "Each finalist represents not only elite performance, but also the pride and energy that sports bring to the Omaha area. We're excited to celebrate them and engage the community in honoring their accomplishments. It's now the public's turn to vote for their favorites from this finalist list.

This year, Creighton will have a total of five current or alumni represented. Those include:

Female Athlete of the Year: Ava Martin
Team of the Year: Creighton University Volleyball
Male Coach of the Year: Brian Rosen
Moment of the Year: Creighton Volleyball Team sets NCAA indoor regular-season attendance record
Laura (Spanheimer) Dechant will be inducted into the Omaha Sports Hall of Fame as part of the 2026 Class

OSCAS will also honor the latest inductees in the Omaha Sports Hall of Fame. This year's class includes North Omaha native and Omaha Bryan graduate Terence "Bud" Crawford, one of boxing's all-time greats and a three-division undisputed world champion; Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln alum and Major League Baseball All-Star Jon Lieber; Omaha North standout and eight-year NFL veteran Niles Paul; Omaha Westside multi-sport star and professional baseball player Tony Schrager; and Omaha Marian standout and Creighton great Laura (Spanheimer) Dechant, as well as the 1981 Omaha Bryan girls basketball team, which completed a perfect 26-0 state championship season.

Creighton has won 12 OSCAS in the first seven years of the event. Jaali Winters (2019), Jaylyn Agnew (2020) and Kendra Wait (2025), have been named Female Amateur Athlete of the Year, Duncan McGuire (2023) and Baylor Scheierman (2024) have been named Male Amateur Athlete of the Year, Creighton men's basketball's win over UConn was named Moment of the Year (2024), Greg McDermott (2020) and Jim Flanery (2022) have won Male Coach of the Year, Kirsten Bernthal Booth (2025) named Female Coach of the Year, and Men's Basketball (2020 and 2023) and Women's Basketball (2022) have each been recognized as Team of the Year.

The OSCAS, presented by The Lerner Company, will be held Thursday, May 28, 2026, at The Relevant Center in Elkhorn. The Red Carpet Reception begins at 5:30 p.m., with the OSCAS show starting at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased now at http://omahasports.org/oscas. Public voting will open April 22nd and close May 8th.

Here are this year's finalists.
Male Athlete of the Year
• Ike Ackerman, Omaha Central Track
• Tyler Harrill, Skutt Catholic Wrestling
• Cole Payton, North Dakota State Football
• Jett Thomalla, Millard South Football
• Isaac Trumble, NC State Wrestling

Female Athlete of the Year
• Sonora DeFini, Oklahoma State Soccer
• Lili Denton, St. Alberts Cross Country
• Jordy Frahm (Bahl), Nebraska Softball
• Ava Martin, Creighton Volleyball
• Britt Prince, Nebraska Basketball

Team of the Year
• Creighton Prep Wrestling
• Creighton Women's Volleyball
• Iowa Western Community College Football
• Millard South High School Football
• Omaha Softball

Male Coach of the Year
• Andrew Fisher, Creighton Prep Wrestling
• Mike Heard, University of Nebraska Omaha Softball
• Taylor Mendenhall, Millard South Football
• Brian Rosen, Creighton University Volleyball
• Scott Strohmeier, Iowa Western Community College Football

Female Coach of the Year
• Michaela Dailey, Omaha North High School Basketball
• Trish Siedlik, Bellevue University Women's Volleyball
• Katie Tarman, Papillion-La Vista South Volleyball

Moment of the Year, Sponsored by MECA
• Terence "Bud" Crawford, beats Canelo Alvarez to be the undisputed super middleweight champion in his last fight before retiring from boxing with a perfect 42-0 record
• Creighton University, set NCAA Volleyball regular-season indoor attendance record of 17,675 in match against Nebraska
• Elkhorn North Football, Honors Coach's late son with emotional victory over rival
• Jake Guenztel, First Nebraska-Omaha athlete to win an Olympic Medal - USA Hockey
• Taryn Smith, becomes first American woman to compete in the annual race, The World's Toughest Row, as a solo athlete.

Steve Pivovar Sports Media Person, Sponsored by the Omaha World Herald
• Sean Callahan, HuskerOnline
• Avarie Howard, Hurrdat Sports
• Adam Krueger, Sportscaster
• Lauren Michelson, KETV 7
• Mike Patterson, Omaha World-Herald

Dr. Jack Lewis Sports Person of the Year
• Jay Lerner, The Lerner Company

Omaha Sports Commission Recognizes Past & Present CU Athletes, Coaches and Volleyball Team with OSCAS Nominations

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