ESPN: Before Oklahoma ruled the WCWS, Omaha wore softball's crown
May 29, 2024 | Softball
ESPN features Omaha Softball and Connie Claussen in a must-read origin story of the WCWS
IN THE 1970s they made championship trophies obnoxiously big, which is why Connie Claussen looks as if she's levitating near a skyscraper as her players hoisted her on their shoulders. It was 1975, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha had just won its first and only Women's College World Series, and they did it just a few miles away from campus.
Claussen, a curly-haired young coach with horn-rimmed glasses, extracted herself from the celebration shortly after this black-and-white photo was snapped. She had to call in the score to the local newspaper and TV stations.
An un-bylined story in the Omaha World-Herald the next day carried a headline that said UNO won the "Gals' CWS" title.
Read the full story here
