These days Lindsay Krause and Jordyn Bahl are two of the most well-known high school athletes in Nebraska.
Krause crushes kills on the volleyball court for Omaha Skutt, while Bahl dominates on the softball field for Papillion-La Vista as both a pitcher and hitter.
But about 10 years ago while going to school at Patriot Elementary in Papillion, they were just two of the neighborhood kids.
Literally.
“Jordyn’s backyard is the school," Krause said. "And I live probably three blocks from the school."
From Bahl’s backyard there is a hill up to the school. Living next to your elementary school is as fun as it sounds, Bahl said.
“I remember in the winter when it would snow we would walk with a sled up in the morning and then hide it behind a retaining wall,†Bahl said. “So then after school, me and my brothers were all there one year, so we all rode down together at the end of the day. It was fun.â€
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Bahl and Krause each still live in the neighborhood.
Krause and Bahl were in the same classroom in both kindergarten and first grade. From that start they went on to become two of the best high school athletes in the nation, and have committed to play in college at two of the top programs in their respective sports. After one more year of high school, Krause will play volleyball for Nebraska, and Bahl will play softball at Oklahoma.
Bahl is the the No. 1-ranked softball recruit in the nation in her class by both Softball America and Extra Inning Softball.
As a pitcher last season she had a 27-0 record with a 0.15 earned-run average in leading the Monarchs to a 36-0 season and a Class A state championship. Papio became the first Class A team to finish a season without losing.
The two major websites that cover college volleyball recruiting don’t rank the 2021 class for a few more months, but Krause is also expected to be a top-10 national recruit. The 6-foot-3 outside hitter committed to Nebraska one month before she started high school.
After last season, named Krause the national junior of the year. That’s an award that considers heavily team accomplishments, and Krause helped lead Skutt to the Class B state championship and also played on the U.S. youth national team that won a world championship.
It’s special for Krause and Bahl to think back to being in the same classroom, and then several years later each being able to earn a college scholarship for sports.
“I just think it’s so cool, and honestly just an amazing coincidence that something like that happened and we were not only from the same state, but know each other and have been really good friends when we were young,†Krause said.
They each still have some memories of each other as kids.
“(Lindsay) was kind of like a tomboy, and I was too, so at recess we would go play sports with the boys and that kind of thing,†Bahl said. “We also were on sports teams together growing up, so we bonded that way. She was fun.â€
They went to different middle schools for one year, but then each attended a new middle school when it opened their eighth grade year, where they played on the same basketball team.
While they go to different schools now, they still see each other on occasion, sometimes when attending their brother’s middle school basketball games.
Krause and Bahl have each put in a lot of work outside of their normal high school and club practices to be successful.
At her club program, Premier Volleyball, Krause had extra training sessions specific to her position, and also a weight training program.
After the high school softball season ends in October, Bahl takes about three weeks off, but then she’s back training about four days per week in the winter. She works on her pitching a lot in offseason. And during the season she spends extra time on hitting.
With 1.9 million people, Nebraska ranks 37th in the United States in population, so the odds aren't high that two of the best high school athletes this year would each come from the state.
But Krause and Bahl don’t think it should be a surprise that two of the most accomplished athletes in their sport in the 2021 graduating class came from the same neighborhood in Nebraska.
“I think the Midwest has some of the hardest-working athletes in the entire country, so to me it’s not that big of a surprise,†Bahl said.