40 Nebraskaland • March 2024
She believed that highly competitive, "mannish" play was
harmful to women.
Cornhusker women's basketball was reintroduced as a
varsity sport for the 1974-75 season. The Nebraska girls'
state high school basketball tournament resumed in 1977.
How did the trophy make its way to Georgia? Jim Brogden
bought it at the estate sale of Stan Vasey. Brogden learned
that Vasey was the son of the Vyral M. (Viets) Vasey of
Wymore, Nebraska. We don't know how or why she came to
possess the trophy. Born in 1914, she was only 10 years old
at the time of the tournament, and she grew up and went to
high school not at Blue Springs but at Union Center, between
Wymore and Lewiston.
What became of the Blue Springs players? The team
consisted of guards Mabel Bolender, Iva Peck and Lucile
Davis, and forwards Helen Tays, Gladys Jenkins and Fern
Lynxweiler.
We found no defi nite information on Lucile Davis and
limited information on Iva Peck Lawrence — all we know
is that she lived in Omaha as of 1944, and in Montebello,
California, in 1950. But three of the remaining four lived
exceptionally long lives.
Mabel Bolender Gerwick married and had at least two sons
and lived her life in Gage County, dying in Beatrice at age 76
in 1983.
Helen Tays Turnbull married, was mother to six children,
and worked at Sunrise Bakery in Beatrice. She died in Lincoln
at age 98 in 2005.
Gladys Jenkins McPheron married, had a daughter
and worked as a teacher. She taught for 16 years for the
Department of Defense in Korea. She lived to be 100 years
old, dying in Lincoln in 2006.
Fern Lynxweiler Barker was the last surviving team
member, dying in 2011 at age 103. Fern married, had two
children and worked as a legal secretary in Lincoln. Her
obituary noted that she became a world traveler and was
honored for her extensive volunteer work at Bryan-LGH
Medical Centers in Lincoln. The obituary also identifi es
her as "a standout on the Gage County girls' championship
basketball team." The story of the Blue Springs team was
still being told proudly into the 21st century.
We can only imagine what the former Blue Springs players
thought in the 1970s when their granddaughters' generation
saw the revival of the girls' state basketball tournament and
the growth of opportunities for female student athletes under
Title IX. They may have wondered why it took so long.
N
Visit History Nebraska's website at history.nebraska.gov.
HISTORY NEBRASKA, RG3372-4-25
HISTORY NEBRASKA, RG3372-4-23
HISTORY NEBRASKA, RG3372-4-26
ALL PHOTOS ON THIS SPREAD:
After winning an invitational tournament on Feb. 23,
1924, the Blue Springs players posed for a series of
photos with their trophy.
