Merrill Warkentin's Personal Interests
My wife (Kim) and I grew up in
Lincoln,
a friendly small city of about 200,000 on the prairies of eastern Nebraska. My
Dad got his Master's degree at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) in the 60's, then we got
13 more! My PhD and my wife's MBA are the 13th and 14th UNL degrees in my
family. (Trivia: Nebraska has the oldest graduate school west of the
Mississippi River.) Besides many world-class academic programs, Nebraska is
also known as the "winningest" college football
program in the country, having compiled a record of
310-56-5 (84%)
over the last 30 years of the century, best in Division I Football,
according to CNN and Sports Illustrated. The Huskers won three National Championships in the 1990s.
For more details, see the Huskers section below.
Background. We moved from Nebraska to northern Virginia in the
suburbs of Washington, DC when I started my career at George Mason University.
Then we moved up to Boston when Kim got
into Harvard. Then finally down South for the career opportunities at MSU
and for the warm weather and the friendly warm people in a nice small college
town, where nothing is more than ten minutes away, and my commute went from an
45 minutes of traffic to a five-minute drive or bike ride!
Note: Click on any picture here to open a larger
version of the same picture in another window, then close that window to return here.
Outdoors. One of my favorite things to do is hiking.
I hiked some of the ancient Kalalau Trail built along the NaPali cliffs of Kauai by the Polynesians 1000 years ago.
I have climbed Mount Monadnock in
southern New Hampshire many times and we love
Acadia National Park
in Maine (for biking, hiking, canoeing, and camping). We've also been on great
all-day hikes in places like the Canadian Rockies, Zion National Park,
Yosemite, and elsewhere. I also love technical rock climbing and other outdoor
sports. Spring 1998 took me to the annual spectacle of the
Sandhill Crane migration.
We love mountain biking,
camping, and
canoeing. We love canoeing the
upper Charles River. And we've canoed in
the Adirondacks and in the Midwest, too. (I'm Red Cross certified in canoeing.)
We tubed the Platte River near
Aurora, Nebraska in the summer of 1999. In college, I spent one Spring Break
week on the floor of the Grand Canyon. We backpacked in from the North Rim to
the bottom, and made camps along the river -- a great experience.
In the Spring of 1998, I canoed one of the original rivers in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act -- the
Namekagon River
in northern Wisconsin (which flows into the St. Croix). I've also
canoe-camped in "the BWCA" - The
Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) Wilderness, which
borders northern Minnesota and Canada and is also home to many bears, wolves,
and moose. You follow lake-river-portage routes first followed by the French
Fur Trappers. Kim and I enjoyed some outstanding day-long hikes in the Canadian Rockies a
few years back, up to some isolated waterfalls. When we lived in Boston, one of our favorite long hikes was the
"Falling Waters Trail" near the Presidential Range in New Hampshire. We also hiked a lot in Maine, especially
in Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor ("Bah Hahbah").
About two miles from our suburban home south of Boston, we enjoyed running, swimming, mountain biking, and hiking
in the "Great Blue Hills,"
which has 125 miles of trails. In fact, we probably ran around
Ponkapog Pond
over 1000 times.
Since moving south, we have enjoyed hiking nearby at Lake Lowndes (also disc golf there!) and
Choctaw Lake.
A little further away (on the south edge of Birmingham, AL), is Oak Mountain, which has some great trails...
Kim and I were hiking in the North Carolina mountains with our friend, Detmar, near his lodge (click for larger) ....
I've always enjoyed Frisbees (favoring the side-arm throw instead of the typical backhand toss), and
recently also took up disc golf. (As usual, click on any picture on this page to see a larger version.)
I've been a regular runner since high school (usually about 25 miles a week)
and I enjoy riding bikes a lot and some weightlifting.
I ran the 2002 MSU 5K Turkey Trot
and finished in about 23 minutes.
I love music -- I play piano (mostly blues) and have sung in several choirs. I also love gardening and travel.
Genealogy. I also love history and I have a
strong interest in genealogy -- I've traced my ancestors back to the 1600s in
Europe. I have pictures of great-great grandparents and pictures of the ships
that brought my Dutch ancestors to America (from the Molotschna colony in
southern Russia (Ukraine) where they had moved to flee religious persecution).
In the 1870s, tens of thousands of these "
Germans from Russia"
as they were known (also see the GRHS page)
emigrated to the US and Canada when their religious freedoms were again threatened, and they
settled in the prairie states and provinces to raise wheat.
One of the leading figures in this migration was
Bernhard Warkentin,
my great-grandfather's first cousin, who was a banker, grain
mill owner, and advisor to the US Department of Agriculture. He was even a clue
on the TV show "Jeopardy" once -- I got that one right, of course!
(He brought the
Turkey Red
winter wheat to America, which helped transform the Great Plains into the
"breadbasket of the world." I have visited his home,
"The Warkentin House"
in Newton, Kansas, which is a National Historial
Landmark. (You can read more about Bernhard Warkentin at
Newton History and
US 50.)
Thrills. I also enjoy thrills : In the summer of 1996 my wife and I
ran the Olympic Bobsled at Lake Placid and we each did our first tandem skydive
at Pepperill, Mass. The previous summer, we rode the luge (like a bobsled) at
the Olympic Park in Calgery, Alberta (way cool!), where I also
bungee-jumped. Yipee!!!
(Kim couldn't do that one.) We parasailed (many times) in Acapulco, and I have
also hang-glided. In the summer of 1996, we rafted the Class V rapids of the
Penobscott in northern Maine, and the summer before, we rafted the Maligne
River in northern Alberta (Canada). That's
us wearing the white
helmets. We have also rafted the big Arkansas River through Brown's Gorge
in southern Colorado, and the Chatooga River bordering Georgia and South
Carolina, where they shot the movie Deliverance. One of my goals is to
raft the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. I also enjoy speed-rapelling,
jumping off waterfalls in Hawaii, and maybe some day I'll BASE jump Royal Gorge
(NOT!).
Flying. I am also an FAA licensed private pilot,
flying single-engine fixed-wing aircraft. I enjoy cross-country flights and
aerobatic flying (spins, loops, and rolls) in a
Decathlon. I learned to fly at
Executive Flyers at Hanscom Air
Force Base in Bedford, MA (BED). Greg Ryan was my primary instructor and I've
also had instruction from the recent US National Champion Aerobatics Pilot,
Mike Goulian. A few pictures of me flying .
. .
Huskers.
Nebraska is known as the "winningest" college football
program in the country, having compiled a record of
310-56-5 (84%)
over the last 30 years of the century, best in Division I Football, according to CNN and Sports Illustrated.
Nebraka (under Coaches Bob Devaney, Dr. Tom Osborn, and Frank Solich)
holds many other records including home victories, consecutive bowl appearances
(35 years in a row through the 2002 season!), consecutive home sellouts (every game since 1962),
academic All-Americans, Outland Trophy winners, Big 8/Big 12 championships,
graduation rates,
dozens of rushing records, and more.
Johnny Rogers, Mike Rozier, and Eric Crouch have been Heisman Trophy winners from Nebraska.
On September 25, 1999, Nebraska became the first and only Division I College Football team to
win 100 games in two consecutive decades! On October 17, 1999, Nebraska extended their
record consecutive appearance
streak in the AP Top 25 college football poll to 300 weeks, eventually
reaching a record of 384 consecutive weekly top-20 rankings until mid-2002
(starting in Oct. 5, 1981). The Huskers were in 522 of the 525 AP weekly polls
from 1964 until mid-2002!
Six Huskers were named to the College Football All-Century Team.
From 1994 to 2001, Nebraska and Miami each won 80% of their away games -- no other team came close.
But they do great at home also!
Nebraska has sold out every home game since the start of the 1962 season (Bob Devaney's first).
Through September 2004, that was an incredible NCAA-record 262 consecutive sellouts at Memorial Stadium,
89 more than the #2 team (Notre Dame with 173). The Huskers are 233-29 during the 262 sellouts.
The mark includes a 38-20 record against ranked teams.
As Head Coach, Dr. Tom Osborne posted
a 255-49-3 career record at Nebraska from 1973 to 1997, and is the only
collegiate football coach to retire as a reigning national champion. He led
Nebraska to three national championships in the 1990s (1994, 1995 and 1997) and
retired with the nation’s best winning percentage at .836. A new era at
Husker Nation starts with the 2004 season when Coach Bill Callahan takes over as the
new Head Coach of the Cornhuskers.
Read more about the Huskers at
Huskerfootball,
Huskerpedia,
Joe's Husker Page (great links!!), or
Huskers.com.
The remaining information is from a September 2004 Huskers.com article ...
Huskers Own An Unprecedented Winning Tradition.
Nebraska, the nation's third-winningest program all time (fourth by percentage),
boasts a 781-311-40 record in 1,132 games (.708) in 114 years of football.
In the last 35 years, NU is tops, posting a record of 347-70-5 for an .828 winning percentage (422 games),
an average of nearly 10 wins per year.
NU has won 10-or-more games 24 times since 1962, has gone undefeated and untied through the regular season
seven times, played in 13 national title games (for at least one of the teams) and won the championship
five times. Since the first Nebraska season in 1890, Husker teams have won 11 or more games 12 times,
including seven of the last 11 years. NU has won 12 or more games seven times, and 13 games three times
(1971, 1994 and 1997).
Nebraska (702), Michigan (705), Alabama (728) and Notre Dame (736) were the only four programs to win 700 games
in the 1900s. NU became the first Division I team to win 100 or more games in consecutive decades,
ranking first in the 1980s (103-20-0, .837) and second in the 1990s (108-16-1, .890)
and posted a nation’s best 309-56-5 record in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
Huskers To Bid for NCAA-Record 36th Consecutive Bowl Appearance in 2004 Campaign.
Nebraska’s visit to the 2003 Mastercard Alamo Bowl marked the Huskers’ 35th consecutive bowl game,
the nation's longest current streak and an all-time NCAA record. Michigan’s streak of consecutive bowl
appearances reached 29 last year, the second-longest streak in NCAA history.
Nebraska's 42 overall bowl appearances is tied for fourth best with USC, trailing Alabama's 51,
Tennessee’s 44, and Texas’ 43.
Nebraska played the first of its 42 bowls in the Rose Bowl, when No. 7 Nebraska lost to No. 2 Stanford, 21-13,
following the 1940 season. NU's 35 consecutive bowls began with a 45-6 win over Georgia in the 1969 Sun Bowl.
The Huskers are 21-21 all-time in bowl games.
NU Owns 42 Consecutive Winning Regular Seasons.
The Huskers' 10-3 record in 2003 marked Nebraska's 42nd consecutive winning regular season
and its 41st winning season in the last 42 years.
Nebraska saw its streak of 40 consecutive winning seasons end with a 7-7 mark in 2002.
Nebraska’s streak of 40 consecutive winning seasons fell two years short of Notre Dame’s NCAA-record run of
42 straight winning campaigns from 1889 to 1932.
The Huskers boast 42 consecutive winning regular seasons and 42 straight years with a .500 or better finish.
Nebraska’s 42 straight non-losing seasons is tied for second all-time in NCAA Division I-A,
with Notre Dame's 42 (1889-1932), trailing only Penn State’s 49 (1939-87).
Since Nebraska’s 42-year .500-or-better streak began, the Huskers have averaged nearly 10 wins per season
with a 415-85-5 record (.827).
Nine Wins a Regular Occurrence for Huskers.
From 1961 through 2001, Nebraska never lost more than one home game per season!
Over the course of 34 seasons, Nebraska won five National Championships (eight
total national titles in school history) and won 9 or more games each
year of those 34 years. The next closest teams are ...
1. Nebraska, 34 seasons (1968-2001)
2. Florida St., 14 seasons (1987-2000)
3. Alabama, 11 seasons (1970-1981)
4. U. of Miami, 10 seasons (1985-1994)
Nebraska’s amazing run of nine-win seasons came to an end at 33 consecutive years in 2002.
The streak is even more remarkable when considering that Texas and Miami now share the lead for
most consecutive nine-win seasons with six apiece.
Texas’ current run of six consecutive nine-win seasons is the longest in its proud history.
Miami reeled off 10 straight nine-win campaigns spanning the 1980s and 1990s and
Florida State had a 14-year streak that ended in 2000.
However, among a group of other long-time powers, including Notre Dame, Penn State, Oklahoma,
Michigan and Ohio State, the longest streak of nine-win seasons is eight years by both Oklahoma and Ohio State.
Nebraska has won nine-or-more games in 39 of the past 42 seasons.
Only back-to-back 6-4 records in 1967 and 1968, and a 7-7 mark in 2002, have fallen short of the nine-win plateau.
Outdoors. One of my favorite things to do is hiking.
I hiked some of the ancient Kalalau Trail built along the NaPali cliffs of Kauai by the Polynesians 1000 years ago.
I have climbed Mount Monadnock in
southern New Hampshire many times and we love
Acadia National Park
in Maine (for biking, hiking, canoeing, and camping). We've also been on great
all-day hikes in places like the Canadian Rockies, Zion National Park,
Yosemite, and elsewhere. I also love technical rock climbing and other outdoor
sports. Spring 1998 took me to the annual spectacle of the
Sandhill Crane migration.
We love mountain biking,
camping, and
canoeing. We love canoeing the
upper Charles River. And we've canoed in
the Adirondacks and in the Midwest, too. (I'm Red Cross certified in canoeing.)
We tubed the Platte River near
Aurora, Nebraska in the summer of 1999. In college, I spent one Spring Break
week on the floor of the Grand Canyon. We backpacked in from the North Rim to
the bottom, and made camps along the river -- a great experience.
In the Spring of 1998, I canoed one of the original rivers in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act -- the
Namekagon River
in northern Wisconsin (which flows into the St. Croix). I've also
canoe-camped in "the BWCA" - The
Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) Wilderness, which
borders northern Minnesota and Canada and is also home to many bears, wolves,
and moose. You follow lake-river-portage routes first followed by the French
Fur Trappers. Kim and I enjoyed some outstanding day-long hikes in the Canadian Rockies a
few years back, up to some isolated waterfalls. When we lived in Boston, one of our favorite long hikes was the
"Falling Waters Trail" near the Presidential Range in New Hampshire. We also hiked a lot in Maine, especially
in Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor ("Bah Hahbah").
