Westside leads OSCA high school nominations

The Omaha Sports Commission Awards (OSCA’s), is an annual awards ceremony, which celebrates the top athletes, coaches, and teams in the metro area from the past year. Awards are given out to the best male and female amateur athletes, along with the best male and female coaches. There are also awards for the best sports moment and team of the year. The sports media person of the year also receives an award. Winners are determined through voting done by the public through the Omaha Sports Commssion’s Twitter account. 

Westside high school has six nominees in five different categories, which is the most out of any high school and tied with Creighton University. Seniors Jaylen Lloyd and Nate Germonprez have been nominated for male amateur athlete, and junior Lexi Zeiss for female amateur athlete. Senior Tristan Alvano had his state championship game winning kick nominated for sports moment of the year. Westside’s football team was nominated for team of the year and their head coach Paul Limongi for male coach of the year. 

Nate Germonprez received his second nomination for male athlete of the year this year for his impressive season in the swimming pool for Westside. Germonprez is committed to the University of Texas to continue his swimming career. He won the state championship in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events. Germonprez broke the state record in the 100 freestyle with a time of 43.17 seconds. Germonprez finished his career at  Westside with four state records in the 200 freestyle (1:33.97), 50 freestyle (19.64), 100 freestyle (43.17) and the 100 backstroke (47.58). He was also named to the 2022 USA junior national team. Germonprez was thrilled to be nominated for the second straight year. 

“It’s cool, I put a lot of work into this,” Germonprez said. “I contribute a lot to myself, but I also contribute a lot to the coaches I’ve had, so it’s good to see that work that we’ve been putting in as a team starting to pay off.” 

Jaylen Lloyd is Westside’s other male athlete of the year nominee. Lloyd is committed to the University of Nebraska to play football and compete in track and field. Lloyd was a key player in Westside’s run to the State Championship. He had 44 receptions for 784 yards and five touchdowns. He was named to the Omaha World-Herald All-State first team, after averaging 17.8 yards per reception. Lloyd was a decorated track and field athlete at Omaha Central before transferring to Westside.  He was named the 2022 Gatorade Athlete of the Year, after he took home three gold medals at the State Track and Field Championships. He won the gold medal in the 100 meters, with a time of 10.43 seconds. Lloyd also won the gold medal in the long jump with a leap of 24-feet and six-inches. He earned his final gold medal in the triple jump at 50-feet and 3.5-inches. Lloyd just finished his first meet as a Warrior due to injury, placing second in the Kansas University relays in the triple jump, with his school record jump of 47-feet and 3.5 inches.

Germonprez and Lloyd will compete against the other male athlete nominees, Duncan McGuire from Creighton’s soccer team, Millard South quarterback and baseball infielder Cam Kozeal, and Gretna’s quarterback Zane Flores. 

Westside kicker Tristan Alvano’s state championship game winning field goal was nominated for sports moment of the year. Alvano had a record breaking game, when he connected on five of five field goals in the state finals, including his 45-yard game winning kick. The score was 41-40 in Gretna High school’s favor when Alvano stepped out on the turf of Memorial Stadium, nailing the kick down the middle to win the game 43-41. Alvano is committed to play at Nebraska, where he will play at Memorial Stadium. Alvano is excited about being nominated for an OSCA. 

“It means a lot, the OSCA’s is very prestigious and it’s quite the honor to have,” Alvano said. “I’m happy I’m able to share that with my family and teammates and I believe it will be a great experience for all.” 

The other nominees for sports moment of the year are Union Omaha Soccer deafening two Major League soccer teams, AJ Tauber’s walk off home run to win the Class A baseball title for Millard West, Erin McCarthy winning the Women’s US Open Championship bowling title and Platteview’s Connor Millikan breaking the Class B Boys basketball scoring record. 

The Westside football team was nominated for the team of the year, after winning the State Championship and going 12-1 on the season. The Warriors average margin of victory was 18 points, the largest being 56 points. The team had 71 plays of 20+ yards throughout the season, and the defense had 16 interceptions by 11 different players. 

The Westside team is accompanied by the four other nominees. Creighton University men’s basketball team, who made the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, Creighton’s College Cup Final Four men’s soccer team, Bellevue West’s undefeated Class A champion boys basketball team and Millard South’s boys state championship wrestling team.  

The Westside football team was led by male head coach of the year nominee Paul Limongi. Coach Limongi was the winner of the 2019 OSCAS male coach of the year award, when he was the head coach of Omaha Burke’s state championship football team that won the OSCA for team of the year.. This was Limonji’s first season as head coach of the Warriors. 

Coach Limonji is facing other nominees, Creighton men’s soccer coach Johnny Torres, Millard South wrestling coach Nate Olson, Millard West baseball coach Steve Fry and Bellevue West boys basketball coach Doug Woodard. 

The last Warrior nominee is Lexi Zeiss, who is nominated for female athlete of the year. Zeiss is a world renowned gymnast, who medaled all over the world, including the Pan American championships and World championships. She competes all over the country, winning in the 2023 Winter Cup, Pan American trials and placing in the world team trials. Zeiss is a two-time USA national team member and is committed to compete at LSU. 

The nominees for female athlete of the year that Zeiss is accompanied with are Creighton volleyball All-American Norah Sis, Omaha Marian state champion swimmer Josie Hood, Omaha Marian softball player Maddia Groff and Elkhorn North basketball and track athlete Britt Prince. 

The voting for the OSCAs begins on Monday, April 17, and will carry through April 30. Anyone can vote at omahasports.org/oscas or through the Omaha Sports Commission’s twitter account (@Omaha_Sport). The ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 25 at the Relevant Center in Elkhorn. The red carpet reception begins at 5:30 p.m. and the awards program at 7 p.m.