Former Eudora athletes experience life in college sports

Getting to play sports past high school is something many young athletes dream about. 

However, few get the chance. 

Of the nearly 8 million high school students who play sports, only about 6% move on to play in college as NCAA athletes, according to the organization, with less than 2% playing at the Division I level. 

For those who do continue their athletic careers, the challenge becomes finding balance between their athletic goals and their schoolwork. 

“It’s a grind. It’s like a job almost,” former Cardinal Harper Schreiner said of being a college athlete. “You go to practice every day. You lift everyday. You get like one day off where you have to focus on recovery. You got to be on top of your stuff.” 

Although being a student-athlete is one of the most difficult things a college student can do, the opportunity to build enduring relationships, travel the country and make lifelong memories while continuing to play the sport you love makes being a college athlete worthwhile. 

“We’ve met a bunch of people that have made huge impacts on our lives,” former Cardinal Reagan Hiebert said about herself and her twin sister, Riley. “Before college, we literally left the state maybe once or twice. It’s just been a real blessing being able to do all this.” 

Schreiner, the Hieberts as well as other former Eudora high school athletes Cael Lynch and Emma Durr give a glimpse of what it is like to be a college athlete. 

Harper Schreiner, basketball, Pittsburg State University

Going into her freshman season at Pittsburg State, Harper Schreiner knew she had to earn a starting role on the team. 

“I didn’t really know what to expect, like, I didn’t know if I would play. I didn’t know if I would do anything,” she said. “We had 12 girls, so I liked my chances knowing we only had 12 people, but I didn’t really know.”

Schreiner said she put in a lot of work after her senior year of high school to prepare herself for the transition to college. 

Even then, Schreiner was still shocked by how much faster the game is in college and by the level of competition just at practice. 

“In high school, you can find success every day in practice. But in college, you look for smaller things,” Schreiner said. “So, maybe I go get this rebound, you know? It’s not all about scoring. For me, it’s, ‘Oh, let me find out how I can do things that don’t go on the stat sheet.’”

This is the mentality Schreiner started the season with as well. 

“I found myself as an energy giver,” she said. “Like try to get the team fired up, get rebounds, go after loose balls.” 

Schreiner said every game was a learning experience for her and that you have to be on your game every time you step on the court in college. 

“Winning in the MIAA is tough,” Schreiner said about Pittsburg State’s conference, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. “It’s a good game every night and you got to bring your best every night. And so, just learning to be consistent in a tough league, I think, is one of the biggest things I learned.” 

As the season progressed, Schreiner said she started to find more ways to score. Schreiner was second among Pittsburg State’s starters in field goal percentage at 49.5%, helping her average 10.3 points on the season. Schreiner was also second on the team with 6.6 rebounds a game.

Schreiner led the team in assists, steals and minutes played.

The Gorillas finished the season with a 23-8 record after losing to Missouri Western in the round of 32 of the NCAA Division II tournament. 

Schreiner learned how much longer the season is in college as well. 

“You hit January, February and it’s a mental battle just getting through practice every day,” she said. 

With practices taking up anywhere from 90 minutes to three hours of her day, Schreiner usually has her planner packed for every day of the week. 

Schreiner said the team usually plays Thursdays and Saturdays, and depending on where the team is playing, sometimes Schreiner is out of Pittsburg for most of the week, which means doing homework while traveling. 

The team usually gets Sundays off, but Schreiner uses most of the off-day to go to the library to get caught up on homework and studying. Schreiner is a nursing major.  

Schreiner said even her schedule during the offseason is pretty full, and this year’s offseason includes a trip to Spain in late July and early August. 

“We have a girl from Spain on our team, so that’s kind of our connection there,” Schreiner said. “We’ll get 10 days of practice here and then we’ll get 10 days in Spain. People from the community were welcome to come on the trip. I mean, they had to pay, but like my mom and grandparents are going to go. So, that’ll be really cool.” 

Whether it’s going to Spain or just going to the training room ahead of practice to get ankles taped, Schreiner said any time she gets to spend time with her teammates makes all the hard work worth it. 

“I picked a great place to be. I’m really happy where I’m at,” she said. “I love my teammates. I mean, I said it’s a grind, but I’m around my favorite people every day, so they make it worth it.”

Riley and Reagan Hiebert, cross country, indoor and outdoor track, University of Saint Mary

Three years ago, if you would’ve told twin sisters Riley and Reagan Hiebert they would be All-Americans in outdoor track, they would’ve laughed at you. 

“I was scared to run in college, not going to lie,” Reagan Hiebert said. “In college, you can be racing 22-year-olds. As an 18-year-old, you can be racing 26-year-olds who have extra eligibility for running. You’re like, ‘Wow, I’m racing a full-grown woman.’ It’s crazy.”

But once they learned of their new status this past season, the two were overcome with emotion as all their hard work had paid off. 

“For us to be All-Americans this year was like a really big milestone for us. We cried. Our coach cried for us,” Riley Hiebert said. “It’s so much harder to get an All-American in track because it’s the top eight places and for cross country it’s top 40. So, it’s a lot lot harder, and the competition is a lot lot faster.” 

Riley Hiebert was an All-American in the 4x800m relay and the 3000m steeplechase while Reagan Hiebert was an All-American in the 4x800m relay and 5000m run at the NAIA national championships. 

The University of Saint Mary women’s outdoor track team placed 16th at nationals. The Hieberts said this is the highest finish for the program in school history.

Riley Hiebert was also a two-time All-American in cross country this past season for placing in the top 30 in the 4000m run and 5000m run at the NAIA national championships.

If you want to be an All-American, you have to put the miles in just about every day. Reagan Hiebert said the team has morning practices three times a week where they run about two or three miles before lifting weights at 6:30 a.m. 

After the Hieberts finish their classes during the day, they head to afternoon practice around 3:30 p.m. Depending on the intensity of the workout, sometimes the Hieberts could put in another six miles of running.

Sundays, however, are always “long run days,” Riley Hiebert said, which means the sisters go on a 16-mile run. 

All this running is on top of their class and work schedules as well. 

Reagan Hiebert is studying health and sports science and plans to receive her master’s degree in athletic training in 2026. She said she would like to be an athletic trainer in any sort of sport, but thinks she will eventually go back to school to receive her master’s in physical therapy. 

Riley Hiebert will receive her bachelor’s degree in science with a minor in chemistry this spring with the hopes of working in a lab as a forensic scientist. She plans to receive her MBA in 2026. 

It could be easy for the Hieberts to get stressed out when they put in so much time and effort into running, school and work, but both girls said they often turn to humor to pick themselves up. 

“You can’t be stressed if you’re dancing,” Riley Hiebert said. “You can always catch Reagan and I dancing. Always.”

Riley Hiebert said she and Reagan take pride in being the jokesters of the team, which helps motivate themselves as well as their teammates by getting everyone in a positive attitude. 

“I think Reagan and I will make a lot of things just fun, even if you don’t think they’re fun. We’re always goofy about everything,” Riley Hiebert said. “We just like to make everybody laugh because if one person on the team isn’t in a good mood, then nobody’s going to be in a good mood. So, we just try to help everybody stay in a good mood.” 

Reagan Hiebert said having feelings of gratitude instead of sorrow helps her maintain her focus as well. 

“Always be thankful for things because you’re doing things that some people can’t even think about doing,” she said. “Like, every Sunday morning to get up and run 16 miles is not very fun. But if you make it fun, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, my body does this for me.’ Like, it’s so great my body can do this because we’ve trained so hard.” 

Reagan Hiebert has also developed a five-minute rule for herself that she uses when things are not going her way, whether it be on the track or in other areas of her life. 

“I give myself five minutes. I can pout, I can do whatever for five minutes,” she said. “But then after that, just let it go because there’s nothing you can do about it.” 

Another thing that helps the Hieberts stay motivated is having someone there who they share a “twin telepathy” with: each other. 

“It’s been a lot of fun always having a best friend there,” Riley Hiebert said. 

Cael Lynch, football and wrestling, MidAmerica Nazarene University and Baker University

Even though his college sports career is already behind him, Cael Lynch doesn’t have any regrets about his experience. 

“I would not have been able to go the rest of life without knowing I had at least tried,” Lynch said. “I’m very thankful for my willingness to go out and say, ‘Man, that sucked. I didn’t enjoy it,’ but be able try the next thing because I can at least say moving forward I know what it’s like to do both those things [play football and wrestle in college].” 

Lynch had a deep passion for sports in high school, and after his senior season of wrestling he committed himself to playing football at the next level. 

Lynch signed on to play football at MidAmerica Nazarene University in the fall of 2021. Lynch said the team tried him out at several defensive positions, including safety and cornerback. 

However, Lynch played linebacker his entire high school career, so he struggled to make the shift into the secondary. 

“I told the coach, ‘I would really appreciate if you could maybe reconsider my position,’” Lynch said. “Go back and review the film and tell me I’m not a linebacker. So, he did, and he came back to me and said, ‘Yeah, your feeling was pretty good. You can start taking some reps at linebacker.’” 

Lynch got what he wanted, but then a pre-existing knee injury soon started to hinder his chances at continuing to play football. 

“My senior year of wrestling, I tore my meniscus,” Lynch said. “So I was playing that semester [at MidAmerica] and every time I’d push off my foot I just felt it lock up.” 

Fearing he’d have to have surgery on his knee again, Lynch made the tough decision to end his football career after just one semester in college. 

Upon hearing this news, however, the wrestling coaches at Baker University reached out to Lynch to see if he would be interested in joining their team. 

“They just kind of talked me into it and I was like, ‘Man, I guess I’m not really done with wrestling.’ I never knew,” Lynch said. “I just decided I wanted to give it one more shot. I decided to play football to know what it’s like, and I knew I was going to think about it and regret it if I hadn’t wrestled or at least tried it.” 

After completing a semester at Kansas City Kansas Community College to get his credits lined up, Lynch transferred to Baker University. 

Lynch said he enjoyed the environment at Baker more than he did at MidAmerica. 

“The community there was better. The people there I enjoyed more. Wrestling was fun. It was good,” he said. 

Lynch said a highlight for him during wrestling was improving over the course of the season, especially after taking a year off from his senior year to his first year at Baker. 

Lynch could see his improvement even during practice. 

“There was this one kid on the team that I had wrestled a couple of times, and he just rolled me the first four or five times. I just got stomped by him,” Lynch said. “About a quarter of the way through the season, I just really started to become coachable and really started to have things click. When it came time to do like our wrestle-offs for positions on the team, I had to wrestle this kid again and I just swept him.” 

Lynch said this moment gave him his confidence back to keep wrestling. 

“I was really down on myself thinking, ‘Man, this is harder than I ever would’ve expected it to be,’” Lynch said. “Then, I just stuck with it, and stayed after practice to learn, listen to the things the coaches were telling me and I just improved. I truly feel like that was probably the coolest thing for me was getting beat by this kid, and then as the season went on he didn’t want anything to do with me.” 

Once wrestling season ended, however, Lynch started to have second thoughts about the road he was headed down. Lynch was pursuing a business degree. 

“I’ve never been crazy about school, and after wrestling was done I was just a little confused,” he said. 

Lynch once again made the tough decision to end his wrestling career after just one season to start pursuing his career as a firefighter. 

Lynch said he doesn’t have any regrets about his decision. 

“I definitely felt I had a lot more to achieve in wrestling,” he said. “Looking back, I don’t regret that I did it. Just because I really truly feel like that what I’m doing now is in my best interest.” 

While Lynch enjoyed his time playing football and wrestling, he said football took up too much of his day while wrestling gave him more freedom. 

“Football, it’s structured. People are telling you this is how your day is structured,” he said. “Wrestling is honestly kind of the opposite. Like, they just tell you what practice time is. But you are doing everything else in between.” 

Lynch is now near the end of the process of becoming a firefighter. He has received his certifications in basic firefighting and hazardous materials training from Hutchinson Community College. 

Lynch said he has applied for an open position in Manhattan, but would love to serve in Lawrence or Eudora one day. 

Lynch said the adrenaline rush of running into a burning building was appealing to him, but so was the opportunity to pursue other passions while also being a firefighter. 

As an avid outdoorsman, Lynch wants to pursue a dual career in property real estate. 

Although his days of being on a sports team are finished, Lynch said he sees a lot of similarities between being on a college sports team and being in a firehouse. 

“Showing up to work every day with those guys, the same group of guys. You get to know them. They become your family,” Lynch said. It’s really similar to the part of a football team or wrestling team where you show up every day, and you go through the same workout every day. You just build that relationship, and you can appreciate everybody going through the same stuff together.”

Emma Durr, softball, University of Nebraska Omaha

Emma Durr went through a wide range of emotions during her college recruiting process. 

Due to an ACL tear in her knee, Durr missed her entire junior season of high school and her summer softball club season, which were important times for college coaches to watch her play. 

It wasn’t until November of her senior year that Durr committed to playing softball at the University of Nebraska Omaha. 

“There were lots of emotions during that time, of course,” Durr said. “But I couldn’t have picked a better school. It was a perfect fit for me.” 

Just because it all worked out in the end doesn’t mean Durr was not nervous about taking her talents to the Division I level.

But once she got to know her teammates, Durr was able to give herself some perspective.

“I just had to remember there’s seven different freshmen that are going through the same thing I’m going through right now,” Durr said. “And everybody’s been a freshman on the team at some point, so they know what it’s like.” 

However, Durr said it can still be intimidating being a freshman on the team. 

“Having like all the girls on my team rely on me so much being in the position that I was, I felt like if I made a mistake that all the older girls were looking down on me,” Durr said. “But in no way was it like that. They were all supportive. But it was hard to kind of keep that in my mind that they’re there to back me up and we are all a team.” 

The Mavericks went 33-17 in Durr’s first year with the team this past spring. The team took the crown as Summit League champions for the first time in the program’s history after defeating South Dakota State 1-0. 

Durr drove in the only run of the game when she drew a walk with the bases loaded in the first inning. 

The Mavericks also received a bid to go to the NCAA national tournament where they defeated Prairie View A&M, a Texas school, 3-0 to secure the program’s first NCAA tournament victory. The team lost its next game, however, to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. 

Durr finished the season with a .198 batting average and was third on the team with 2 home runs and 21 RBIs. In the field, Durr mostly played at first and third base.  

Durr said she learned a lot from her freshman year, and not just on the field. Durr is excited to use what she has learned heading into her sophomore year. 

“Knowing what is going to be ahead is going to be a lot easier to plan accordingly and kind of prepare mentally and physically for what I know is going to come up,” Durr said. 

A typical day for Durr starts at 6 a.m. when she gets up and heads to the weightroom. Then, depending on the day, Durr goes to her 9 a.m. class. 

However, Durr said she took a lot of online classes this past year, which helped her balance school and softball, especially when traveling. 

The team usually practices from 12:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

After practice, Durr grabs some dinner and puts in a couple hours of homework before going to bed. Durr said making her own dinner and meal planning has been a big adjustment for her. 

Durr wants to go into interior design, but the University of Nebraska Omaha does not offer that as a program. So, Durr is studying business with a concentration in real estate or entrepreneurship. She plans to get her interior design certificate from Johnson County Community College once she graduates. 

Even though she went through her own ups and downs during her freshman season, Durr encourages any incoming freshman college athlete to take their time and keep things in perspective. 

“Your freshman year is one of your hardest, but you’ll get there,” she said. “Just remember everyone else has been a freshman. Everybody knows what you’re going through. You have the other freshman there with you. Just try to remember they’re in the same boat. Just enjoy it.” 

Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected]

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