12 Huskers Named to Berringer Citizenship Team

The 12 members of the 2008 football team comprising the 12th annual Brook Berringer Citizenship Team were announced by the Nebraska Athletic Department on Friday. The student-athletes will be recognized on the field before kickoff of Saturday’s Red-White Spring Game at Memorial Stadium. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

                                                

The Brook Berringer Citizenship Team was established by the Husker football program in honor of former <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska quarterback Brook Berringer, who died in a plane crash in April of 1996. Berringer was a member of NU’s back-to-back national championship teams in 1994 and 1995. He was also one of the most dedicated Husker volunteers in the community with youth, both in Nebraska and in his hometown of Goodland, Kan. The team honors players who display a similar love and dedication for volunteering in the community.

 

This year’s Berringer Citizenship Team is headlined by five repeat honorees, including five-time honoree Jake Wesch. A 2008 senior from North Bend, Neb., Wesch has been one of the most active Huskers in community outreach since his arrival on campus in the fall of 2004. Wesch is the first five-time honoree in the history of the Berringer Citizenship Team.

 

Joining Wesch as multiple-year members on the Berringer Team are four-time recipient Dan Titchener, who was a three-year starter at punter before completing his eligibility in 2008, three-time recipient Todd Peterson and two-time honorees Tyler Wortman and Blake Lawrence. Peterson and Wortman are both Grand Island natives who completed their eligibility in the 2008 season, while Lawrence will be a junior linebacker for the Huskers in 2009.

 

Seven players are being honored for the first time in their careers.  That group includes juniors Dan Glassman, Alex Henery and Adi Kunalic, and sophomores Anthony Blue, Marcel Jones, Marcus Mendoza and Lance Thorell.

 

The football team has continued to be among Nebraska’s most active teams in the local community. The squad has been a finalist for the Life Skills Team Award each of the past four seasons.

 

Athletic Director Tom Osborne and Associate Athletic Director for Life Skills Keith Zimmer will make the presentation to the Berringer team recipients.

 

In addition to the Berringer Team, senior defensive back Matt O’Hanlon will be honored on Saturday as the recipient of the third annual Cletus Fischer Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship is presented annually to a Nebraska football player who has demonstrated a high level of athletic and academic achievement and intends to pursue a career as a high school or college coach.

 

2009 Brook Berringer Citizenship Team (years on team)

* Anthony Blue, CB, Cedar Hill, Texas, 2009

* Dan Glassman, DE, Omaha, Neb., 2009

* Alex Henery, PK, Omaha, Neb., 2009

* Marcel Jones, OT, Phoenix, Ariz., 2009

* Adi Kunalic, PK, Fort Worth, Texas, 2009

* Blake Lawrence, LB, Shawnee Mission, Kan., 2008, 2009

* Marcus Mendoza, WR, Houston, Texas, 2009

* Todd Peterson, WR, Grand Island, Neb., 2007, 2008, 2009

* Lance Thorell, DB, Loomis, Neb., 2009

* Dan Titchener, P, Cheyenne, Wyo., 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

* Jake Wesch, PK/H, North Bend, Neb., 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

* Tyler Wortman, LB, Grand Island, Neb., 2008, 2009