Kearney, Neb. - Five former student-athletes and a former coach will be inducted into the Nebraska-Kearney Athletic Hall of Fame during ceremonies on Homecoming weekend this Oct. 2-3. 

The 2026 Hall of Fame members are baseball player Bronson Bosshamer ('01), kicker Henrik Juul-Nielsen ('02), swimmer Yohara Salinas ('94), volleyball player Nikki Scott ('10; '12 UNL), wrestler Jeff Sylvester ('06; '09), and cross country/track & field coach Lyle Claussen. 
 
The Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet begins at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2, in the Gala Room in the Regional Engagement Center with a social hour. A dinner follows at 6:15 p.m. with the induction ceremony afterwards. To purchase a ticket for the Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet, visit unkalumni.org/homecoming. Tickets are $40 per person ($45 starting Sept. 19) and $15 for children ages 12 & under. On Saturday, Oct. 3, the class will be recognized at the Homecoming parade and at half time of the football game vs. Pittsburg State (2 p.m.).  

Bosshamer, a Kearney native, is one of the top hitters in Loper baseball history. He holds school records for doubles (63) and extra base hits (97) in a career while ranking second in total bases (390). Next, he ranks in the single season top 10 in seven different categories including a batting average of .465 in 1998. That effort led the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and ranks second in UNK history. The lefty batter and right-handed outfielder finished with a .394 career average as well as 30 home runs and 173 RBI's. He also logged 19 innings as a pitcher, throwing a complete game in 1999. 

The first Loper to be named Division II All-Region twice (1st-team in 1998; 2nd-team in 1997) Bosshamer also is the only Loper to be named first-team All-RMAC three times. Appearing in 175 games with 160 starts, his play helped UNK win 88 games and twice reach the RMAC Tournament.

Bosshamer currently resides in Kearney with his wife, Jolie, and children; Jenna, Jake and Jered. He serves as General Manager for Culligan Water.

Juul-Nielsen, from Hvidovre, Denmark, is one of the most decorated special team players in UNK history. As a senior in 2002, he made four different All-American teams after being chosen to one in 2001. Juul-Nielsen is one of seven Lopers to be a first-team American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) All-American and one of just 12 selected to the Associated Press (A.P.) Little All-America squad.

A two-time All-Region and two-time All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) selection, the Trenton High School exchange student currently has the sixth most points in school history (232). He made 36 field goals, including a school-record 20 in 2002, and 127 PAT's in his career. His play helped UNK win 31 games between 1999-02 and twice reach the NCAA playoffs.

Juul-Nielsen continued to kick after graduation, having a successful indoor career in Green Bay, Wisc., and Peoria, Ill. Now an Assistant Principal, he currently resides in Denmark with his wife, Pia, and children; Elias and Emmalie.

Salinas, from Panama, was a two-year member of the Aqualoper swimming team between 1990-92. She earned five All-American honors and held three school records for over 25 years. Salians still holds UNK standards in both the 100 (1:06.30) and 200 (2:23.60) breaststrokes.

The only Aqualoper swimmer to qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships, she first earned All-American status at the 1991 meet in Milwaukee. She placed seventh in the 200 breaststroke (2:25.47), was eighth in both the 100 breaststroke (1:07.05) and 200 individual medley (2:10.65) while being 13th in the 50-freestyle. The following winter in Grand Forks, N.D., Salinas finished third in both the 100 (1:063.30) and 200 (2:23.60) breaststrokes, 12th in the 50-free, and 22nd in the 200 I.M.

Salinas and her husband, Fernando Villalobos, and children, Yinella Villalobos and Daniel Arturo Villalobos, reside in Panama. She serves as an Assistant Vice President for IT Digital Transformation.

Scott, a Broken Bow native, starred as a middle hitter between 2006-09. She is the daughter of UNK Athletic Hall of Famer and former Loper football player, Jerry Scott.

She was a two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American, earning first-team honors in 2009. That fall Scott also was tabbed as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Player of the Year and repeated as the league's Academic Player of the Year. Next, she was a three-time first-team All-RMAC selection who was MVP of the 2007 tournament. That fall, Scott helped UNK host the regional and reach the Sweet 16.

Part of teams that went 126-20, Scott currently ranks in the UNK career top 10 in three different categories including kills (7th/1,390) and reached the rare .700 efficiency mark in three different matches over her career.

Scott currently resides in Lincoln with her husband, Jake McGlade, a former Loper football player. They have two children, Dylan and Miles McGlade, with Scott serving as Speech-Language Pathologist and Clinical Educator at UNL.  

Sylvester helped UNK wrestling become a national power between 2003-06, earning four All-American honors and a 197-pound national championship in 2004. At the time of his graduation, he was the Lopers third-ever four-time All-American and third Division II national champ.

The Morrill native was a three-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC)/NCAA West Region champion who ranked up 119 career wins including 53 by fall. He helped the Lopers won four RMAC titles and, in 2003, win the National Duals title with a victory over rival Nebraska Omaha. In 2004, his 197-pound national title allowed UNO to win the NCAA team title by 2.5 points over North Dakota State. Finally, Sylvester was part of Loper four teams that finished in the Top 8 at the NCAA Championships including National Runner Up efforts in 2003 and 2006.

Sylvester resides in Longmont, Colo., with his wife, Sunni (UNMC '06), and their daughters, Evie and Hazel. Sylvester currently is a Senior Developer at StradaMade.

Claussen led UNK men's cross country team from 1987-96, was head men's track and field coach from 1989-97, led the women's track team in 1998 and the women's cross team from 1995-96.

The South Dakota native coached nine NAIA men's track All-Americans, 13 Division II men's cross country All-Americans and 15 men's track and field All-Americans. That includes Ivan Ivanov who was the 1996 steeplechase national champ after being runner up in the event a year earlier. Claussen also coached the only women's Division II All-American relay team in Loper history.  

Team wise, he led UNK men's cross country to second (1991), third (1992), fourth (1994), seventh (1995), and eighth (1990) place finishes at the NCAA Championsihps. The 1994 team also was region runner up with the 1995 squad placing second at the tough Rocky Mountain Athletic Championships (RMAC). On the women's side, the 1995 Lopers finished third at RMAC's. Before moving into Division II, Kearney State was seventh (1989) and 17th (1987) at the NAIA men's cross country national championships.

Prior to coming to KSC, Claussen was a teacher and decorated coach at Brandon Valley (S.D.) High School. He and his wife, Mary, live in Beatrice, and have a daughter, Nikki Kunde and a grandson, Ryker. Claussen is retired but still coaches cross country and pole vaulters at Beatrice High School.