Donna (Layton) Locher added to Dana College’s list of outstanding athletes, Oct. 4

Donna (Layton) Locher was honored with Dana College’s highest alumni honor for athletics Oct. 4 in Blair, Neb., when the college named her to its athletic Hall of Fame at a special ceremony held as part of Homecoming festivities.

Honorees are nominated for their excellence in athletics while attending Dana. In Locher’s case, her pioneering play in women’s basketball, made her stand out.

Donna (Layton) Locher was clearly the dominant player during an era of great success for Dana in “girls’ basketball,” a distant cousin of the women’s basketball we have today. Dana played in an amateur league (Midwest AAU League), sponsored by packing plants, hospitals and other entities. Her entire career is not documented, but she scored at least 1,023 points during her four years of competition. The former Twin Rivers High (Livermore, Iowa) stand-out played on three Dana teams invited to the AAU National Tournament in St. Joseph, Mo.

Although she preceeded the development of full-court basketball for women, she was no less a great player in her time than those players of today. Her skills and accomplishments brought positive attention and exposure for Dana, which is generally considered to be the first college in Nebraska with a women’s (or girls’) basketball team. Locher is a deserving candidate, whose induction into the athletic hall of fame is overdue.

Donna (Layton) Locher earned a degree in English from Dana in 1962. She is married to Fred Locher, and they live in Clayton, Calif., near San Francisco. She and her husband enjoy sailing in San Francisco Bay and Donna continues her education, including attending workshops on photography.

Locher regretted that she was unable to attend the induction.

Dana College is a private, liberal arts institution that currently enrolls approximately 600 students. The campus is located on 150 acres overlooking the Missouri River Valley in Blair, Neb. Dana grants bachelor’s degrees in more than 20 liberal arts, business, education and pre-professional programs. Dana is affiliated with the Nebraska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and its athletic teams compete in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.

More information on Dana College can be found on its web site, www.dana.edu.

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For more information contact:
Sarah Cavanah
Communications Coordinator
Dana College
(402) 426-7216
scavanah@dana.edu