High school notes: Fremont's new football stadium, Class B football scheduling model

Dillon Stadium is their new 3,000-seat home at 16th and Lincoln Streets.

School district officials said the Dillon family’s “cornerstone gift” enabled the stadium’s construction. The facility has FieldTurf, a new track that was in use last spring, lighting, grandstands, home and visitor team rooms, concessions and restrooms.

Fremont’s home field has been the city’s Heedum Field, built in 1953 as Military Memorial Field. Before that, the Tigers played on a field at 11th and Bell Streets.

Fremont Bergan also will be moving its home games to Dillon Stadium. Midland University, which installed artificial turf in 2014 at Heedum, will continue to use that facility.

Other known stadium work this summer includes new turf at the Papillion-La Vista School District’s stadium and a new track at Gretna Stadium. Work at Gretna has been delayed.

Stadium sizes

Omaha North’s new stadium, which will allow the Vikings to play true home games for the first time since the 1920s, is planned to have a seating capacity of 4,023.

That number was given to the Omaha Board of Education last month in a report that also listed the seating capacity for many stadiums used by other Omaha metro-area schools.

The following is that list, expanded by The World-Herald to show capacities for most of the stadiums that Class A schools use.

Home-Visitors-Total

Seacrest Field (Lincoln): NA-NA-8,500

Buell Stadium (Millard): 4,680-1,995-6,685

Burke Stadium: 3,300-3,300-6,600

Phelps Field (Omaha Westside): 3,760-1,530-5,290

Memorial Stadium (Grand Island): NA-NA-5,109

Seemann Stadium (Omaha Central);3,020-1,960-4,980

Foundation Field (Papillion): 3,270-1,650-4,920

Gretna Stadium: 3,255-1,400-4,655

Bryan Stadium: 2,240-2,240-4,480

Elkhorn Stadium: 3,035-1,380-4,415

Kinnick Stadium (Omaha Northwest): 2,750-1,600-4,350

Omaha North Stadium: 2,803-1,240-*4,043

Benson Stadium: 2,340-1,320-3,660

Collin Field (Omaha South): 2,400-1,025-3,425

Union Bank Stadium (Lincoln): NA-NA-3,000

Dillon Stadium (Fremont): 3,000-NA-*3,000

Pawnee Park (Columbus): NA-NA-2,000

Omaha Buena Vista: 1,060-455-1,515

Beechner Field (Lincoln High): NA-NA-1,500

*-estimate for new stadium

Class B scheduling plan

Class A isn’t alone in addressing competitive equity in football scheduling.

NSAA Associate Director Jeff Johnson recently said Class B is working on a scheduling model that would have east, central and west districts plus one district for “emerging teams” that have been struggling.

Same gym, new team

Lucus Dalinghaus is switching from coaching boys basketball to girls basketball at Johnson-Brock, the reigning three-time champions in Class D-1 boys.

Dalinghaus, also the school principal, is turning over the boys to Garrison Dodge. A former Oakland-Craig athlete, Dodge graduated from Peru State and has been an assistant at Rock Port, Missouri.