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We celebrated Baccalaureate Mass honoring our graduating seniors on Friday, May 15th. This beautiful ceremony focused on thanksgiving, reflection, blessings, and sending our students forth and onto the next chapter. Congratulations and may God continue to bless you!
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On Monday, May 20th, we celebrated our senior class at our traditional graduation ceremony, honoring our students as they completed their high school education and prepared to move into the next stage of life. It is a privilege to celebrate this important milestone alongside our students, families, faculty, and the entire school community.
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Baseball
The season started in Arizona and ended at UNO's Tal Anderson Field in the State Tournament semi-finals. In between, the season was one for the history books. The Cougars began the season with 17 straight wins and ended with a single season school record 23 wins. Eleven seniors helped guide the baseball team to a South Omaha Cup Championship, RCC Runner-Up, District Runner-up finish and fourth trip to the State Tourney in the past 5 years. The boys held the Omaha World Herald #1 ranking for four consecutive weeks.
Successful lower level seasons included both the Reserve and JV teams finishing with 11-7 records.
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Boys Soccer
The 2025 season was a memorable step forward for the Gross Catholic Boys’ Soccer program, highlighted by resilience, growth, and a return to postseason success.
The Varsity squad finished the year with an impressive 11-6 record and made the program’s first district final appearance since 2019. Along the way, the Cougars showed tremendous determination and competitiveness, ultimately falling in a tightly contested match to Lexington, a team that would go on to become a state finalist. The season reflected the hard work and commitment of the players and coaching staff, while also re-establishing Gross Catholic as a strong competitor in the postseason.
A major reason for optimism moving forward is the experience returning next year. The team graduates just three seniors — Liam Galvan, Randy Guzman, and Caleb Utterback — all of whom played important leadership roles and helped lay the foundation for this season’s success. Their contributions on and off the field will be missed. With nine starters expected to return, the future remains bright for the Cougars as they look to build on this year’s momentum.
At the JV level, the record did not fully reflect the team’s competitiveness and development throughout the season. The JV squad finished 1-8-1, but three of those losses came in shootouts, showing how close the group was to turning several matches into wins. The experience gained this year will be valuable as many players continue developing for future varsity roles.
The Reserve team also continued to gain important match experience, finishing 0-3 while providing younger players opportunities to grow within the program and prepare for future seasons.
Overall, the 2025 season marked meaningful progress for Gross Catholic Boys’ Soccer. From a district final appearance to the development of younger talent across all levels, the program has positioned itself well for continued success in the years ahead.
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Girls Soccer
The Gross Catholic girls soccer team finished with a 9-7 record which is the most wins since the 2019 season. The season ended with a hard fought 1-0 loss in the district semi-finals to Northwest. Special thanks to seniors Olivia Chau, Lauren Kosse, Hannah Payumo and Louise Waldron for doing great things on and off the field. Although they will be missed, their impact on the program remains.
The JV team developed across the season also. They put practice into process that taught lessons that will carry on next year.
The program is on the rise and the girls are excited for what the future holds.
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Trap
Cougar 4H Trap had a phenomenal 2026 season. At least one of the 11 team members placed for a medal at 5 of the 6 Division trap meets. Awards were also received at the Conference meet in Lincoln, NE. Doniphan, NE was the setting for two-day 56th Annual Cornhusker State Trapshoot. All Trap team members received awards for academic achievement and 5 were awarded Varsity letters. The team focuses on breaking clays one at a time, having a strong metal game, and most of all, having fun.
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Boys Golf
The Boys Golf Team performed well again this year, as repeat River City Conference Champions. The team also won The Bryan Invitational, The Roncalli Invitational, The Christ Cup, and continued a 4-year unbeaten streak in dual competitions. Individually, sophomore,Trevor Ross qualified for the State tournament, and had a hole-in-one earler in the season. Senior, Greyson Ames recorded a hole-in-one in March, capping a distinguished career at Gross Catholic. Congratulations on a great season!
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Track
The Cougars track and field team capped off another successful season with three state qualifiers in six events. Senior Rocky Kersey competed at the State Meet in the long jump and triple jump. Senior Amalia Doty competed in the 3200, 800, and 1600. She medaled in the 3200, placing eight overall at State. Senior Dut Akot is a State Runner Up in the triple jump, jumping a new school record.
Overall, the team saw four school records fall this season; a new SR in the boys triple jump, the boys long jump, the girls 1600, and the girls 800. These records are held by Dut Akot and Amalia Doty, respectively. Third place finishes as a team on both the girls side and boys side at the RCC meet, along with multiple RCC Champs, demonstrates how talented a group the Cougars are despite the small numbers (just 30 on the team).
The track and field coaching staff could not be prouder of how this team competed throughout the season. Every athlete’s hard work paid off as all saw success in multiple Personal Records at the RCC, Districts, and State meets.
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Girls Tennis
The Varsity Girls Tennis team competed hard throughout the season, finishing with a 4-10 record while facing some very talented competition. This year’s team was led by two outstanding seniors, Molly Exline and Liv Goodwin. Their leadership, dedication, sportsmanship, and perseverance set a great example for their teammates and will be greatly missed.
Although we are saying goodbye to two key contributors, the team remains young and full of potential. The experience gained this season has laid a strong foundation for future success, and we are excited to watch these athletes continue to grow and develop in the years ahead.
The JV Girls Tennis team had a strong season, finishing with an impressive 8-4 record. As a young team, the players demonstrated tremendous growth, determination, and enthusiasm throughout the season. With many talented athletes returning, the future of the girls tennis program looks very bright. The hard work and experience gained this year will continue to build confidence and success for seasons to come.
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Gross Catholic to Amazon
From the sidelines at Gross Catholic High School to leading workplace safety initiatives at Amazon, 2016 alumna Megan Heffelfinger has built an impressive career based on hard work, passion, and the impact of early hands-on learning opportunities.
Megan discovered her interest in athletic training while taking Sports Medicine classes with Mrs. Nano at Gross, where she gained hands-on experience working in the training room and assisting at football practices and games.
After graduating in 2016, Megan attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and was accepted into its Athletic Training program. While at UNL, she worked with the football and women’s soccer teams before becoming a Certified Athletic Trainer. She also earned her Master’s degree in Health Behavior from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
In 2022, Megan joined Amazon as an Injury Prevention Specialist during the launch of Omaha’s first Amazon Robotics Fulfillment Center. Since then, she has earned Amazon’s Top Tier Talent distinction and has been recognized as the top Injury Prevention Specialist in the company’s Central Region. Now serving as a Safety Manager, Megan helps lead efforts focused on employee wellness, injury prevention, and workplace safety. She credits the foundation she built at Gross Catholic for helping launch a career dedicated to keeping others healthy, safe, and successful.
Congratulations to Megan on an incredible start to a long and successful career! You make your alma mater proud!
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Kolbie Minardi
Kolbie Minardi is signing to further her education and cheer at the University of Nebraska Omaha! We wish Kolbie great luck and will miss her next year!
Let’s go, Mavs!
| | Second Semester Honor Roll | | |
Please keep 1997 alumna Jen (Finken) Moylan in your prayers. Jen is currently facing an aggressive form of breast cancer and the difficult battle that comes with it. We ask our school community to lift Jen and her family up in prayer during this challenging time.
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How can we pray for you?
Please send us the names of any members of our Cougar Family who need our prayers.
Email:
kpovondra@gcgmail.org
| | | Did you get married, have a baby, or have news you want to share? Please send us your latest news and photos so we can share them with your classmates and the Cougar Family. These will be featured in the next Dux Esto Magazine. | | Alumni Business Directory | |
Do you own a business? Do you work at a business? Are you looking to grow your customer base? Last year, we started the Alumni Business Directory as a way to support our fellow Cougars with the services and products we need every day. Our alumni built the strong foundation of Gross Catholic and this is an opportunity to expand that foundation throughout the community.
*The Alumni Business Directory is on our website and is available to all members of the Cougar community and anyone that visits our site.
| | If your email, phone number, and/or physical address have changed, please contact us with your latest information. You can submit the update HERE! | | |
Gross Catholic High School
7700 South 43rd Street, Bellevue, NE 68147
402-734-2000
grosscatholic.org
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