North Platte High School (Nebraska)

North Platte High School is a public secondary school in North Platte, Nebraska. In 2001, the football team went to the 2001 Nebraska State Championship, but lost 28-14.

North Platte competes in Class A, the highest classification of the Nebraska School Activities Association. It is the westernmost of the 32 Class A schools and thus faces extremely long trips throughout the season, since the next closest Class A school is Kearney High School, 95 miles east on Interstate 80. NPHS has rivalries with nearby Class B schools Cozad, Lexington, McCook and Ogalalla.

Mascot

The bulldog became the school's mascot in the 1921 football season, when coach Jim Keefe, before a game against Bayard, declared, “This game will decide whether you are skunks who spray their perfume and run, or bulldogs who grab and hold on until victory.” After North Platte had won the game, they telegraphed the news to Keefe, who had been unable to attend; the telegram was signed "The Bulldogs". The next year the name “bull dogs” appeared in the Round-Up yearbook. Several years later, the school song “We’re the Fighting Bulldogs” was introduced.

Notable alumni

• Nathan Enderle (2006), professional football quarterback, graduated from North Platte High School. He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft.^[1]
• Roland Locke (1922), who set a world record in the 220-yard dash when he ran it in 20.6 seconds in 1926.^[2] Jesse Owens broke the record 10 years later by running the race in 20.3 seconds.^[3]
• Elaine Mardis (1980), an American professor in genetics at Washington University in St. Louis and co-director of The Genome Institute. Her work as the director of the technology development group has helped create methods to sequence the human genome.^[4]
• Daryl Mundis (1982), Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the Hague. Before his 2013 appointment, he was a senior prosecuting officer for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.^[5]
• Zane Smith (1979), former Major League Baseball player. Smith pitched in the majors from 1984 to 1996. He played for the Atlanta Braves, Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Boston Red Sox.^[6]
• Danny Woodhead (2004), American football running back for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League; graduated from North Platte High School in 2004. He won the Harlon Hill Trophy twice at Chadron State College for NCAA Division II school football players and donated one trophy to North Platte High School.^[7]

References

1. "Nathan Enderle #4 QB". NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
2. "Locke Again Nicks World Dash Record". St. Petersburg Times. May 23, 1926. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
3. Smith, Wilfrid (January 13, 1954). "I Was There". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
4. "Elaine R. Mardis, Ph.D". The Genome Institute at Washington University. Washington University in Saint Louis. 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
5. "Registrar Daryl A. Mundis". Registrar Daryl A. Mundis. Special Tribunal for Lebanon. August 1, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
6. "Zane Smith". Baseball-Reference.Com. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
7. "Danny Woodhead #39 RB". NFL Enterprises LC. Retrieved October 22, 2012.

External links

• North Platte High School website

Coordinates: 41°08′09″N 100°46′34″W / 41.1358739°N 100.7762146°W