University Daily Kansan, August 21, 1985
Page 10
Nebraska standout's death shocks his team, hometown
By United Press International
OMAHA, Neb. — Brian Hiemer, known as a regular churchgoer and a "very quiet, private person," battled back from near defeat to become a standout tight end on the University of Nebraska football team.
That evident strength deepened the mystery of Hiemer's placing a 22-caliber rifle to his head and pulling the trigger.
He died Aug. 14 at University Hospital, $18^{\frac{1}{2}}$ hours after the shooting at his family's farm northeast of Shelby.
"I don't think anybody on our football team was aware of any difficulty," said head coach football Tom Osborne, who drove from Lincoln to be with Hiemer's family at his bedside the night before Hiemer died.
"He was one of the most popular players on our team," Osborne said. "I feel Brian symbolized the good things of athletics — a top student, a dedicated person and overachiever on the football field."
The Rev. Stanley Schieffer, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Shelby, said he had talked with him, 21, after a recent Sunday Mass.
"He was a regular churchgoer, a very good person, but someone who appeared to be a very quiet, private person." Schieffer said.
Schieffer said he had heard rumors of a suicide note, and Polk County Sheriff Tim Siemek declined to comment.
Hiemer, once cut from the team because he was considered too small to play tight end, last season caught
four touchdown passes — more than any other Nebraska player.
Siemek said his office received a 911 emergency phone call at 4:06 p.m., Aug. 13, and sent the Shelby rescue squad to the farm.
"He suffered a gunshot wound to the head, probably self-inflicted," Siemek said. "There is no evidence of foul play. It doesn't appear to be accidental."
A Shelby fire official who asked not to be identified said Hemer's father found him sitting against a farm outbuilding.
"I don't know that anybody ever knows a reason." Siemek said.
Hiemer, a two-year letterman at
6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, was a senior this year. He would have shared starting tight end duties with Todd Frain.
Hiemer was a walk-on at Nebraska in 1981 and played that year with the freshman team. He was cut after his freshman season by receiver coach Gene Huey, who said Hiemer was too small to play tight end.
Hiemer convinced Osborne to let him return to the squad in 1982 and was redshirted that season. He was the eighth-team tight end at the end of spring practice in 1983 and rose to a position as a reserve.
Hiemer was an attendant in quarterback Travis Turner's wedding earlier this month.
Return of top tennis players buoys conference title hopes
By Heather Fritz
Sports Writer
After a busy summer for players and coaches, the tennis teams are ready to make a run for their conference championships, head tennis coach Scott Perelman said Monday.
"Our kids had as good a summer as we have ever had," Perelman said. "I'm fairly pleased, but you mustn't until you get them all together."
Perelman said the hard work must continue if the team was to do well this season.
our program is going to lie on our work ethic."
"We've got to continue to work hard," he said. "The success of
The coaches will hold open tryouts this weekend before starting practices for the first tournaments of the season, which are Sept. 6.
KU lost three women and one man from last spring's squads, but Perelman said he felt good about his recruits and hoped to get more players for the spring semester.
The coaches added last year's senior captain Charles Stearns as a full-time coaching assistant.
Mike Wolf and Mike Center return from last year's team with national reputations. Wolf and
Center were ranked 50th and 85th in a collegiate poll at the end of last spring.
Also returning are the top three women's players from last year, Barb Inman, Tracy Treps and Christine Parrow, who won last year's conference title at No. 3 singles.
"I feel good that we've progressed," Perelman said. "The year before I got here we were sixth or seventh. Last year we were second in the conference. I think everyone is really hungry for a championship."
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Greek Men...8 p.m.
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