The Nerd team
In 2015, after retiring from high school coaching at Millard South, Dustin Lewellyn founded Nebraska Elite Track Club (NETC) to promote high school distance running. Jay Slagle began writing articles for NETC in 2017. When Dustin began coaching collegiately in 2021, Jay transitioned NETC into Prep Running Nerd. The all-volunteer Nerd team, listed in roughly the order they joined us, now includes:
The Nerd – Jay Slagle competed at Falls City High way back in the 1980’s. He has PRs of 4:53 and 10:46 but, unfortunately, runs half that fast these days. The Nerd has primary responsibility for the Nerd Twitter account, writing the in-season weekly Nerdsletter, preparing Class B-D XC individual rankings, and updating the results page.
Nerd Junior – Jack Slagle competed for Creighton Prep (2014-2018) and the University of Nebraska (2018-2022), and currently has the fastest Nerd family PRs with 4:20 (1600), 9:26 (3200) and 26:00 (8k). Junior is responsible for major website updates, co-managing the Instagram account and Class A XC rankings with Nerd the Third, and keeping the Nerd humble. Really humble.
Nerd the Third – Henry Slagle competed for Creighton Prep (2017-2021) and now runs for Creighton University. The Third has PRs of 4:21 (mile), 8:38 (3000) and 26:02 (8k), with his best racing still ahead of him. He joined the photography crew in March 2022, but his main priorities are updating our T&F results database, writing pre-season and pre-State articles, coordinating Class A individual XC ratings with Junior, and co-running the Instagram page.
Nerd HD – Jaden Gebeke is based in Elkhorn and is arguably the biggest running nerd on our team. After wrapping up his Elkhorn High career in 2019 with PRs of 4:51, 10:23 and 17:11, he is now a UNL student and working with the UNL T&F and XC teams. He doesn't have as much time for the Nerds as he did in prior years, but we're thrilled to see him move up to the big leagues.
Dr. Nerd – Troy Bracker is based in Fremont. He was a semi-official photographer for the FHS and UNK XC and track teams until his kids retired from competition, and he’ll now use his camera collection to follow more schools while keeping his day job as a family medicine physician. He played four sports at Fremont High, threw shot in T&F, and his mom was the head women’s basketball coach at Midland for 42 years. If you need a volunteer photographer to perform a tracheotomy with a ballpoint pen, Dr. Nerd may be your best option.
CW Nerd – Holly Benish is based in Gurley, which is just north of Sidney and a stone’s throw from Wyoming and Colorado. Her youngest daughter attends Leyton High School and she volunteers to cover sporting events for Leyton High and a local newspaper. Photography and watching XC/TF meets are her two favorite hobbies, but she didn’t know she was a high-level running nerd until we talked to her at the 2022 State track meet. She has two daughters, she’s married to the coolest farmer on the planet, and she’s a stay-at-home mom who rarely spends time at home.
Hurdle Nerd - Mike Peterson is retired from teaching but continues to coach; he was O'Neill's long-time head girls T&F coach and boys/girls speed coach, and he now is a volunteer coach at O'Neill St. Mary. Most importantly, he’s got a killer photography portfolio. He is a 1983 Gering High grad with a 14.4 PR in the 110HH, placed 3rd at Class A State his senior season, and is married to a gal from his Gering High track team.
Broken Nerd – Doug Kuskie was a distance runner at Broken Bow back in the 1990’s and qualified twice for the State XC meet. He’s now dad to Preston, a senior distance runner at Wood River who will compete for Concordia next fall. Doug works his tail off Monday through Thursday, but he’s excited to represent the Nerd team at Friday and Saturday meets in central Nebraska.
Art Nerd – Tim O’Neill is based on North Platte and aims to cover schools from all four classes. Tim was a combat photographer in the US Navy and later opened a commercial photo studio, and his artistic interests also include clay, painting and mixed media. He eventually traded his entrepreneurial career to teach art and coach XC/TF at North Platte St. Pat’s. Art Nerd has been an endurance athlete for over 40 years, and he may have the most impressive post-high school PRs of the Nerd Team – 4:18 (mile), 9:08 (2-mile) and some pretty impressive triathlon times that led to a job at USA Triathlon in the 1990’s.
High Mileage Nerd - Larry Miles is based in North Platte and is a huge fan of his two track kids, Concordia athletes Jarrett (distance) and Hayley (sprints/jumps). A sprinter at North Platte HS, High Mileage was part of 4x100 and 4x400 state qualifying teams. These days he wields a mean camera at high school and collegiate meets.
Nor'easter Nerd - Adrienne Harris is based in Homer in Northeast Nebraska. In her former life as Adrienne Hoffman, she finished 11th at State in 1999 and was a key part of South Sioux's state championship that year. She is an assistant XC coach for Homer in the fall but will spend the spring shooting meets where Homer and her daughter Lilly competes.
Nerd Dawg - Greg Dawes was a State qualifier in both XC an T&F back in his Millard North days with PRs of 1:58, 4:28 and 16:37. He's now a running dad to sons who compete at Doane (John & Will) and Burke (Chase and Henry). In addition to his high school coverage, he has been a consistent photographer at USATF and GPAC meets.
Nerdsam - Sammy Miller was primarily a basketball player at Lincoln North Star but also dabbled in XC and T&F under Coach Musiel's leadership. She's a graduate of Doane and has returned to Lincoln for work. She's also a prolific self-taught photographer and she shoots semi-pro hockey and baseball games, AAU basketball tourneys and Lincoln high school athletic events. She joined us in March 2023 and has blown us away with her eye for capturing key moments.
Nerd Ricky Bobby - Rick Campos is a 1985 Pius grad, still holds the 100 meter school record (10.6) and competed at Doane for one year. He's been into photography for years and has two track daughters - Kate (WSU) and Samantha (Pius 9th grade) - so he'll be a dedicated track fan for at least another decade. His specialty during the fall is drone work, and Nerd Bird gave us some pretty cool videos in 2023. Ricky Bobby has been mentoring a teenage family friend to run Nerd Bird 2, but due to HIPAA rules and national security reasons, we can't talk about Nerd Bird 2.
Nauj Nerd - Christian Naujokaitis is a Millard West XC/TF alum who majors in Sports Media and Broadcast Journalism at UNL. His PRs are 4:35, 9:59 and 16:26. He's been very active on Instagram, specializing in meet videos, and he's been our lead editor for cross country videos. We're just one of the many platforms to which he contributes, but we appreciate that we get to showcase his passion for running.
Nerd Speedwalker - Trevor Alber competed in XC, TF and wrestling at Aurora High, and then XC/TF at Hastings College. He qualified twice for State XC, earned a 2nd-place medal in the 4x800 at State Track, and qualified for NAIA Indoor Nationals in the 3000-meter racewalk. His PRs are 2:07, 4:24 (1500), 15:11 (3k racewalk), 17:47 (5k XC) and 29:02 (8k XC). He coaches at Hastings St. Cecilia, so he'll be juggling coaching and photography duties at XC meets.
Joyful Nerd - Based in Fremont, Tonya Miller is a native Iowan and mother of four. She has a 5:15 PR in the 1500 but we're more impressed by the half-Ironman she completed in 2022. A photography protege of Dr. Nerd, she'll mostly be shooting meets where her son Noah and the Fremont Tigers compete. She loves taking pictures of athletes and hopes to live every day with joy, faith and a love for others.
Nerd Convert - Tony Chapman has been covering high school sports as a hobby for over a decade, most recently with NebPreps. He writes about nearly all high school sports - plus Nebraska football - in his newly-launched Flatwater Sports newsletter, and he is an absolute golf nut. His last competitive race was a lackluster 1200 way back in junior high, but he got bit by the XC bug after watching daughter Liv (GI Northwest) fall in love with distance running.
Bloomin' Nerd - Melanie Hartung is based in Laurel and has been a lifelong fan of running. She was a mid-distance runner at Bloomfield back in the day under the guidance of her uncle Coach Wilken, and her 4x800 team has held the school record since 1994. As an adult, she's competed in races from 5k up to marathons. She's excited to join the Nerd team and give back to the sport.
Word Nerd - Renae Bottom is a retired English teacher living in Grant. She's from a big running family - she had PRs of 25.8/60.0 in the 220/440 in high school, her husband coaches JH track, two kids ran in college, and her son coaches the Hershey XC team. She also worked in the newspaper biz and was the copy editor for Running Times for ten years when editor Jonathan Beverly lived in Chase County.
Wild Nerd - Maelee Beacom is a sophomore at Wayne State majoring in Sports Media and social media, and she's already an accomplished photographer at Wayne State events. She's a member of the WSC cross country and track teams, favoring the 5000 and 10000 while dabbling in half marathons in the offseason. A graduate of Logan View High School, she'll help us cover events in Northeast Nebraska. She has two brothers competing at Logan View so there's a good chance she'll be at some of those meets.
Nerd Stammpede - Diane Stamm comes to us with deep history of athletics and newspapers. Her mother played on Kearney State's first basketball, volleyball and softball teams, her cousin played in the first-even girls State basketball tournament, and she was a multi-sport athlete at Cambridge. Her husband (Dundy County) and brother (Cambridge) each hold triple jump school records, and her oldest daughter is a former triple jumper from Chase County who now competes for York University. She covered Southwest Nebraska high school sports for eleven years and we're thrilled to have her as a Nerd.
Nerd atTack - Ashton Tackwell is a college sophomore based in Hastings who hopes to have a career in sports media. A former Hastings athlete with PRs of 55.6 (400) and 20:41 (5k), he professes that he's "a more talented photographer than runner" but he still loves the sport. We're excited to have Ashton bolster our Tri-City coverage area.
Science Nerd - Deanne Bishop is a science teacher, curriculum coordinator, girls basketball coach and six other things at Perkins County schools in Grant. She competed in the high jump, discuss, shot put and 4x400 during high school and she coached T&F for 10 years. She and her husband also run the Eagle Eye timing system for meets in the area. Deanne caught our eye with the banger photos she posts on the PCHS Twitter account, so we're thrilled to have her on board.
Sky Nerd - Joarcy Sanchez is a senior distance runner at Schuyler High School. He's been an active photographer at Schuyler sporting events for the past few years and comes highly recommended by one of our good friends - who was Joarcy's 6th-grade teacher. Joarcy helps us cover a part of the state that we've neglected, so we love seeing his work.
Mega Nerd - Megan Beals is new to cross country with her freshman daughter on the Lincoln North Star squad. She's a mother of three, a special education para-professional and a fan of all sports. We're excited to see the experience she brings from shooting other sports.
Nerdennan - Tina Brennan works for the Sioux City schools and is the mother of Ava, who competes for Ponca and was a member of Ponca's 2024 4x800 State championship squad. Tina has run her share of 5Ks and the Lincoln half-marathon, but her biggest hobby is shooting photos of athletes doing their best.
Sun Nerd - Lindsey Escritt lives in Hebron and is the mother of Isabella Escritt, a junior at Thayer Central, and Sydney, a junior at Wayne State. Her daughters both started running in 4th grade so she's been a passionate XC mom for fifteen years. A uniquely-Nebraskan Nerd, Lindsey also knows a thing or two about the grain market.
Nerdy by Nature - Chuck Bitker is the proud dad of Josiah and Titus, respectively a senior and freshman and Lincoln North Star. He previously owned photo studios but now devotes most of his camera time to chasing his kids at meets.
Distant Nerd - Jessica Miller is based in Kimball, a mere 25-minute drive from both Wyoming and Colorado. She's had years of sports photography as she's followed her kids - two teenagers and a toddler - and this former hooper has found joy in being behind the lens.
Nerdfoot - Nathan Penney is a podiatrist in Omaha who was a state medalist in hurdles and relays at Burke. His high school injuries led him to pursue a medical career, and his son is distance runner at Westside who will join the Midland team next fall.
Nerdtron - Son Tran lives in Lincoln and has over 20 years of experience shooting for dozens of magazines and newspapers in Vietnam. In addition to following his distance-running daughter at Lincoln High, he's a volunteer photographer for the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra.
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All of the Nerds are volunteers, but we're serious about promoting the sport. Team rankings are typically prepared by coaches while we prepare individual rankings. The goal of the rankings is simply to shine a light on the sport, so please don’t take offense. If you have story ideas or information you’d like to share, shoot the Nerd an e-mail at jayslagle@hotmail.com.