Hail Varsity! Revelle Gets Letter Jacket 34 Years Later

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Video: Emotional Acceptance

Video: Rhonda's Introduction

Video: A 17-Second Photo

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Timing enabled a moment to honor Rhonda Revelle and present the iconic Nebraska softball coach with an unexpected Nebraska varsity letter jacket that she earned in 1981 but didn’t receive until Sunday inside Memorial Stadium. The surprise presentation startled Nebraska’s winningest coach in history across all sports and reinforced the emotional impact that 74 first-time Husker varsity letter-winners experienced.

Occasionally, Revelle subtly reminded Keith Zimmer that she never received her “N” jacket after earning her first softball varsity letter 34 years ago. Zimmer, Nebraska’s longtime senior associate athletic director for Life Skills – and the executive director for the N-Club – corrected that void Sunday without tipping off Revelle in any way.

“I was clueless,” Revelle told me, admitting that she put two-and-two together before walking to the podium to receive her highly coveted signature item 3½ decades after earning that honor. “When Keith said he was going to honor someone who lettered from 1981 to 1983, I thought Darin Erstad’s not that old. In fact, I wondered how many people in the room might be that old.”

As the clock ticked and Zimmer talked, “I did wonder if it might be me,” said Revelle, a three-time Nebraska letter-winner who transferred after her freshman year and may have missed the biggest honor while earning a paper weight and a clock. “I don’t know what you get for each year,” Revelle said. “For whatever reason, I never got my jacket.”

Keith Zimmer: I Can't Think of Anyone More Deserving than Rhonda Revelle

A longtime wrong became an instant right worthy of celebration. “I can’t think of anyone more deserving than Rhonda, who’s arguably one of the best ambassadors of Nebraska Athletics and the entire state of Nebraska,” said Zimmer (pictured above). “We’re all glad that Rhonda finally gets to wear the scarlet-and-cream letter jacket she earned so long ago.”

Nebraska Director of Athletics Shawn Eichorst and Pat Logsdon, NU’s Senior Woman’s Administrator and softball sport supervisor, presented the honor to Revelle.

Revelle remembers adidas coming out with a letter jacket that has sleeves and Nebraska written across the back. “I told Al Recker (NU’s adidas representative) that might be the closest thing I ever get to a letter jacket, so he hooked me up with one,” Revelle said Monday. Revelle called that jacket her “pseudo” letter jacket but will drop the tag after a Hail Varsity Sunday where she was finally able to wear the real deal. Revelle also wore the longest overdue clothing in her life when she addressed  the Inner-Circle for Life Skills on Monday night.

Wearing that jacket as a keynote speaker, “Rhonda knocked it out of the park,” Zimmer said Tuesday. “Everyone in the room could feel it…a homerun all the way around the bases.” The magic, perhaps, was the R-E-A-L Hail Varsity letter jacket she was wearing. “It was very appropriate to wear the jacket,” Revelle said, “even though the engagement was already set."

Nebraska Letter Jacket Represents the Essence of Being a Student-Athlete

Three-time All-America cross country runner Fran (ten bensel) Benne (pictured above) describedthe value of the letter "N" at Sunday's ceremony. More than two decades after she competed, ten Bensel Benne remains the only conference champion and only NCAA regional champion in Husker cross country history. In September, she became the first cross country student-athlete enshrined in the inaugural University of Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame.

Revelle described NU's letter jacket as the essence of being a student-athlete. “That’s what it’s all about – doing your best in the classroom, doing your best for the team, on the field, in the weight room and trying to be the best community servant you can be," Revelle said. "That’s why I got so emotional Sunday. I had no idea that would hit me like that. But it did, so I went with it.”

Eichorst to Recipient Revelle: 'You Know You Have to Speak, Don't You?'

When Revelle received her jacket and started to walk away with it, Eichorst grabbed her arm and said. “You know you have to speak, don’t you?” Revelle said: Oh my, okay.” Revelle’s impromptu acceptance speech became emotional “because it just reinforced all those things I believe in,” she said. “It was a timely way for me to fast-forward my thoughts.”

“It’s different,” Revelle said. “It hits you even deeper because not only have I experienced that myself, but watched many, many other letter-winners experience it, too, over the past 24 years. I had no idea. It hit me once for what I experienced myself and then again for being able to watch all the others get that same letter jacket.”

Eichorst enjoyed the entire presentation ceremony after returning from Nebraska’s annual donors’ trip to New York in conjunction with the Huskers’ 31-14 win at Rutgers. “That was an extra special letter jacket award ceremony,” Eichorst said. “We were able to present Rhonda, our tremendously talented softball head coach, with the letter jacket she didn’t receive in the early 1980s. Her emotional words showed the pride and reflected the honor of what it means to wear that precious letter N.”

Husker High Jumper Came to Realize Nebraska is One Unit, One Team

Eichorst praised Landon Bartel's inspiring speech representing all Husker student-athletes. A sophomore high jumper on the men’s track and field team, Bartel (pictured above) addressed Nebraska’s 74 first-time letter honorees Sunday, including 24 of his track and field teammates.

After acknowledging the sacrifices made to earn a varsity letter at Nebraska, Bartel – who high-jumped 7-2¼ indoors and 7-1½ outdoors – thanked parents, coaches, staff members and friends who constantly reinforce Husker student-athletes on their lifetime journeys.         

“When I imagined joining Nebraska's track and field team, I thought I would be a stud,” Bartel said in his speech. “I thought that I would come into Lincoln and be the big man of the track team. I imagined everybody knowing my name and people recognizing me wherever I went. I thought that it was going to be easy. Little did I know that other athletes thought the same thing but know better now.”  

A month into school and a few weeks into practice, Bartel realized college athletics would not be easy. “I had to work incredibly hard.  It took early mornings in the weight room and late nights studying at the stadium,” he said. “I came back to the dorms on most nights physically sore and mentally exhausted. The challenges of time and scheduling were difficult. Sometimes I wondered if what I was doing was really worth it.”

Nebraska recognized 25 first-time Husker letterwinners in track and field. See Photo Gallery for other teams.

Is It Worth Being Put Through All of These Challenges? Bartel: Absolutely!

Thankfully, Bartel had understanding coaches. He also had advisors and life skills staff that helped him adapt to a schedule that emphasized study hall and constant accountability. “I had friends going through the same things,” Bartel said. “I had people at the Training Table make sure I could eat every day. I had medical staff to keep me physically healthy. I had FCA staff and church leaders that kept me spiritually connected, and I had countless others that helped me each and every day.

“I came to realize there is no big man, and there is no stud at the University of Nebraska in athletics,” Bartel said. “There is no one that is a step above the rest. I came to realize that no one here today, nor anyone who wears this letter jacket, has been able to do it on their own. At Nebraska, we are one team, one unit, and one University. We help each other so that day by day, we get better and better, until we can’t be beat,

Bartel asked the provocative question: Is it worth being put through all of these challenges? “Don’t ask me,” he answered. “Ask the new letter-winners here today. Ask the thousands who still wear their jackets proudly years and years later. I can guarantee that from each and every one of them you will hear the same answer: ABSOLUTELY!”

On behalf of the spring letter-winner 2015 class, Bartel thanked those in attendance and thanked others who sacrifice every day to help Husker student-athletes. “God bless each and every one of you and Go Big Red!” Bartel said.

Student-Athletes Earning Their First Varsity 'N' Letters

Baseball (10): Luis Alvarado, Elijah Dilday, Reece Eddins, Zack Engelken, Nate Fisher, Garett King, Jake McSteen, Jake Meyers, Jake Schleppenbach, Scott Schreiber

Men’s Basketball (2): Nick Fuller, Jake Hammond

Women’s Basketball (4): Jasmine Cincore, Anya Kalenta, Natalie Romeo, Emily Wood

Bowling (3): Kelly Belzeski, Julia Bond,Melanie Crawford

Men’s Golf (1): Ben Maschka

Women’s Golf (2): Emily Gillman,Audrey Judd

Men’s Gymnastics (7): Connor Adamsick, Kyle King, Daniel Leal, Alex Magsam, Sanjaya Roy, Brenon Sommers, Chris Stephenson

Women’s Gymnastics (4): Danielle Breen, Kamerin Moore, Grace Williams

Softball (7):Laura Barrow, Caitlin Bartsch, Kaylan Jablonski, Cassie McClure, Gina Metzler, Taylor Otte, Madi Unzicke

Swimming & Diving (4): Cassandra Brassard, Jordan Ehly, Aimee Fischer, Francesca Giganti

Women’s Tennis (3): Mackenna Maddox-Herr, Katerina Matysova, Spurti Shivalingaiah

Men’s and Women’s Track & Field (25): Grant Anderson, Landon Bartel, Sam Bransby, Kaiwan Culmer, Karlye Cygan, Reka Czuth, Kristen Dowell, Guy Fenske, Jed Fenske, Noah Gabel, Haley Harsin, Zach Legband, Antoine Lloyd, Angela Mercurio, Alex Meyer, Moujtaba Mohammed, Andrew Neal, Maddie Osmundson, Karolina Pahlitzsch, Nick Percy, Edgar Propst, Katrina Santiago, Morgan Smith, Cody Walton, Malcolm White

Wrestling (6): Justin Arthur, Eric Engler, Tyrell Galloway, Josh Kettel, Mitch Maginnis, Eric Montoya

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