Joseph Mather, Jacey Tran, Carl Steffens, Grace Bogner and Kaiguo Chang have all taken home a Cornhusker State Games Athlete of the Year award.
Mather, 6, is a BMX world champion from Omaha, a title he won in South Carolina while representing Team USA in mid-July. He also won the CSG BMX event later in the month.
Tran, 12, has won five consecutive girls state chess championships. Additionally, she won two gold medals, a silver and a bronze in the 2017 CSG swim meet.
Steffens, 35, has won 10 gold medals and 21 medals overall in CSG taekwondo events.
Chang, 56, won gold medals in men's singles and adult mixed doubles badminton in 2017. He has seven medals overall in the past three years. Additionally, he does volunteer work in the sport, which contributed to him being given the award.
Bogner, 24, won three CSG gold medals in 2017.
“Our 2017 Athletes of the Year represent the best of Nebraska in every way,” NSC Executive Director Dave Mlnarik said. “It’s a diverse group of people and sports, which reflects the beauty of the Cornhusker State Games. But we are most proud that fierce competitiveness and good sportsmanship are common traits in the 2017 winners. They are living examples of winning with class.”
Overall, the Cornhusker State Games had more than 10,000 participants in 2017.
