Tomasevicz sets sights on Vancouver

Curt Tomasevicz doesn't forget the date: Jan. 15, 2000.

After a lifetime of cheering for all things Nebraska Cornhuskers, the Shelby, Neb., native learned that day that he was the newest walk-on running back for the Big Red football team.

"I still remember the date," Tomasevicz said during a recent eight-hour drive from Colorado Springs, Colo., back home to Shelby. "So it was pretty important."

That wasn't the only news he received that day.

"That date sticks out for me too, because that was the same day they named the 2006 Olympic team officially," says Tomasevicz, who later helped push a four-man bobsled to sixth place at the Torino Olympics.

 Now if only he could get married on a January 15, Tomasevicz would never have to worry about forgetting an anniversary.

 Nebraska Cornhusker. U.S. Olympian.

You can't get much bigger than Tomasevicz in Shelby, a town of about 700 people in central Nebraska. A sign at the city's limits even greets visitors by name-dropping its biggest star-"Shelby, Nebraska: Home of Olympic Bobsledder Curtis Tomasevicz."

"I get a lot of grief from a lot of my friends about it," he says. "But it's great to have it."

And it's no wonder they are proud of him back home. Tomasevicz showed that hard work and determination can take you far in life, and the Shelby native never forgot his roots.

"During the Olympics they had a pep rally at the school, the two bars in town were packed with people watching, they had a billboard in support of me, I was definitely very supported," he said. "My hometown has been great."

With Tomasevicz expected to make Team USA again this winter for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics-his goal is to compete in both the two- and four-man sleds, and he believes he could come home this time with a medal-his hometown might have to put up another billboard.

"My goal is to push both two-man and four-man," he said. "It will be a tough challenge, but I'd like to try that."

Nebraska football fans know that Tomasevicz is not one to shy away from a challenge. He certainly didn't during the 2000 football season.

After growing up a Cornhuskers fan and dreaming of wearing the red-and-white Nebraska uniform, a 19-year-old Tomasevicz joined about 120 other walk-ons for a shot at living his dream.

Four years later, only Tomasevicz and one other player from that initial 120 remained.

If Jan. 15, 2000, the day Nebraska coaches invited Tomasevicz to join the team for spring practice, was a high point, then spring practice brought him right back down to earth.

"I was new to the team, and they didn't have a big investment in me, so they put me on the scout team," Tomasevicz said. "They ran me into the ground against the Blackshirts every day to see if I survived. It taught me a lot."

The notorious Blackshirts, the name given to defensive starters at Nebraska for the black jerseys they wear in practice, made the freshman walk-on work for everything he got. One Blackshirt in particular really made Tomasevicz earn his stay. Kyle Vanden Bosch, now with the Tennessee Titans in the NFL, was an All-Big 12 senior defensive end when Tomasevicz was the scout team running back that season.

"He had a shaved head, and I think I saw him smile once in my life. But he was so tough, and he would just throw me around," Tomasevicz said. "I never told him, but he taught me a lot. He made a tougher person out of me. And I doubt he would remember my name or even who I was."

That season on the scout team only made Tomasevicz stronger and more driven to succeed.

"It takes a lot of toughness to pick yourself off the ground as a scout team running back after the 10th play when you've been driven into the ground," Tomasevicz said.

He had one carry for two yards as a running back that season before moving to special teams, where he joined the first string during his junior season.

That same toughness and determination that took Tomasevicz from a walk-on to a contributor for the Cornshuskers came through again when he was making his way through the USA Bobsledding ranks.

Just as he did with football, Tomasevicz began his bobsledding journey with a general tryout to test his physical skills. And just as he did in football, Tomasevicz impressed the bobsled coaches and began pushing his way through the ranks.

"I think if you're lower on the depth chart to begin with, your primary focus is getting better,'' he said. "You always want to work up the depth chart and get to the top, and I think that comes into effect a lot with the training I'm doing now.

"I won't be on ice until October, so the end goal is always in the back of your mind,'' he added. "Even though you can't see the end goal you are always working to improve and move up the depth chart, so to say."

Tomasevicz made Team USA for the 2004-05 season, when he pushed the second USA sled, driven by Steve Holcomb. With Holcomb still at the helm and Tomasevicz still pushing, that sled finished sixth at the 2006 Olympics.

Holcomb and Tomasevicz moved into the top USA sled for the next season. At the 2009 World Championships in Lake Placid, Holcomb and Tomasevicz won a bronze in the two-man sled and teamed up with Justin Olsen and Steve Mesler to win gold in the four-man sled.

Now their eyes are on Vancouver 2010.

"Of course we are going to give it our best, but the way the Bo-Dyn sled that we have is riding, the way Holcomb has been driving, and the way our push crew has come together, we do have the expectations to hopefully come away with some hardware," Tomasevicz said. "It will be tough with the Germans and the Canadians on their home track, and Latvia did very well last year too, so there will definitely be some tough competition."

But no matter what happens, Shelby residents and Cornhusker fans can take pride in their hometown hero, and he will always give credit to those who helped him along the way.

"Going on the walk-on program (at Nebraska), you learn a lot about yourself, hard work, determination and teamwork," Tomasevicz said. "They are life lessons that I will never forget."

 Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Chrös McDougall is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.