Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
"BLUE Jays! BLUE Jays! BLUE Jays! BLUE Jays! BLUE Jays!"
A baseball stadium full of Creighton fans chanted together, emphasizing each collective and joyous shout with their in-unison claps.
It was 1991. In Omaha. At the College World Series, the annual eight-team championship event for the NCAA's best Division I ball clubs (and an event that Creighton had served as the host school since 1950).
The Jays' first-ever appearance at the CWS began with a nationally televised opener against Clemson. Creighton won, 8-4.
The victory was a historic moment, preceded by the Bluejay baseball team’s remarkable season.
But it also capped an impressive stretch of athletic success and notoriety for the University's top teams — accomplishments that, at least momentarily, placed Creighton into the national spotlight and revealed its programs' competitive potential.
- The men's basketball team won its first game in the NCAA tournament in nearly 20 years.
- Creighton played in the longest softball game in NCAA history, a 31-inning affair.
- The Bluejay baseball team secured its first-ever bid to the College World Series.
All three major milestones … packed into a three-month span!
Let's look back at everything that happened 35 years ago — how Spring 1991 ended up unfolding as one of the best all-around stretches for Creighton Athletics.
The first pep rally
(there were several pep rallies)
Omaha's mayor, P.J. Morgan, joined more than 500 students, campus leaders and fans at a special pep rally inside the Old Gym for the Creighton men's and women's basketball teams. It was Tuesday, Feb. 28, and it was time to celebrate the champs.
"Double-Double Vision"
That was the theme. The men's team won the Missouri Valley Conference championship. The women's team went 11-1 in league play and clinched the Western Athletic Conference title.
Both teams fully intended to achieve even more, namely the postseason tournament crowns in their respective leagues and automatic bids to the NCAAs. But first came recognition for their regular-season titles.
Thus, the pep rally. And the excitement.
(The women's team did not end up winning the WAC tournament, though, finishing with a 22-7 record and falling short of earning a berth to the NCAA tournament. But in 1992, the Jays did break through to clinch their first-ever NCAA tournament bid and first NCAA win.)
'I'm in a fog right now'
The postseason fun for men’s basketball began with a title-clinching victory in the MVC Tournament on Tuesday, March 5. Creighton beat Southwest Missouri State and returned home the next day to a gym full of students and fans. And a band. And balloons. There were hot dogs and soft drinks served. Coach Tony Barone and star player Bob Harstad stepped to the mic to fire everyone up.
"I don't think anybody thinks we're going to win in the NCAA (Tournament). We want to prove to them we can," Harstad said.
The team hosted another party in the Old Gym four days later. An estimated crowd of 700 filled the court to support the Jays as they followed the televised reveal of the NCAA tournament pairings.
Creighton earned a No. 11 seed and drew No. 6 seed New Mexico State in the first round. The Aggies, ranked 15th nationally, were an up-tempo squad full of athletes. But the Jays had an experienced group.
And they got it done.
Creighton notched a 64-56 upset win in the first round.
"I’m in a fog right now," Barone told The Omaha World-Herald. "These kids have done things at Creighton University that have never been done before."
The Jays' season would come to an end two days later with a loss to No. 3 seed Seton Hall (watch the game).
But the win over the Aggies marked Creighton's first NCAA Tournament victory since 1974, and the 24 wins broke a single-season school record. Harstad ended his career as the Jays' top all-time scorer — his mark has since been surpassed but today he still ranks fifth on the Jays' all-time career scoring chart (2,110 points). His teammate, Chad Gallagher, is sixth (1,983 points).
The most epic doubleheader in softball history
Not only did Creighton and Utah set the record for the longest NCAA softball game (31 innings), the two teams turned around 30 minutes later and played a 25-inning championship game the same night — er, morning.
11 hours and 44 minutes of softball on May 11 and 12.
From 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
You can read more about the incredible stats and facts in this recap of the May 11/12 doubleheader (Kelly Brookhart Prokupek, BA’93, pitched 51 1/3 innings and went 9 for 22 at the plate in the two games).
It was the WAC Tournament, taking place at Omaha's Seymour Smith Park, and Creighton had to defeat Utah twice to advance to the Women’s College World Series. The Utes only needed one win that day.
So, after the Jays finished off that 31-inning game with a 1-0 victory, they had to do it again to keep their season alive. The 25-inning game ranks as the NCAA's third-longest ever.
Among the bewildering details coach Mary Higgins remembers (aside from her student-athletes’ unrelenting resolve and perseverance): The birds chirping as sunlight started to illuminate the sky. That’s when she realized how long they’d been playing.
Also, her young son, David, fell asleep in an athletic trainer’s trailer and missed the whole historic night.
“He woke up as we’re getting ready to go, stumbling out of the trailer, all dreary eyed,” Higgins said. “’We win?’ … No, no, sweetie, we did not win.”
The second game might have gone longer if the two teams hadn’t agreed to institute an international tiebreaker rule and start innings with a runner on second.
And even though the Jays couldn’t pull it out, their efforts made history.
“I’m so proud at this moment,” Higgins told The World-Herald after the 4-3 loss in 1991.
Don't call it a Cinderella story
Creighton clinched its College World Series berth on Monday, May 27, by emerging as the last team standing in a regional pod hosted by college baseball powerhouse USC.
The Jays took the Trojans’ spot. As one of the smallest schools in the field, Creighton’s run came as a big surprise to most.
But the Jays never carried themselves like an underdog. They were coming off a 48-win season in 1990. Statistically, they’d built one of the best offenses in the country. They had Major League Baseball prospects on the roster.
Read more about the student-athletes and their CWS memories in our tribute story to the 1991 squad.
“There was no ‘Cinderella story’ about it. That team was just good,” said outfielder Chad McConnell.
Before the postseason even began, third baseman Scott Stahoviak told The World-Herald that the team’s goal was to win it all.
“A College World Series ring. That’s what I want.”
When the team arrived back in Omaha on Tuesday, May 29, an estimated crowd of 500 people greeted them at the airport. Fans brought signs and banners. Balloons bounced through the air. The state’s first lady, Diane Nelson, BA’67, even showed up to read a proclamation from her husband, Nebraska Gov. Ben Nelson.
Said Hendry during that triumphant week: “It’s something we’ve all hoped would happen for a long time. In the back of your mind, you think it’s possible, but you can’t help but think it may never happen.”
* * *
As momentous and enjoyable as those three months were for Creighton Athletics, the success was followed by a period of transition that often seems inevitable in sports.
Both the men's basketball and baseball programs lost their head coaches after their milestone seasons. Hendry went to the pros. Barone accepted the Texas A&M job.
The Bluejays’ athletic director, Tom Myers, stepped down in fall 1991. Higgins retired in 1992. And a couple years later, Creighton had to find a new women's basketball coach (eventual Athletics Hall of Famer Bruce Rasmussen took over as AD in 1994).
In the decades since 1991, Creighton has elevated its standing nationally across multiple sports and regularly matched up (and defeated!) elite programs on the biggest stages. Learn more about the ways the Bluejays continue to build on their tradition of excellence and maintain their competitive edge.
