John McLaughlin lettered twice in Football, Basketball and Track; and once in both Golf and Tennis. He was a starter in Football and Basketball in his Junior and Senior years. In track, he ran the 440, high jumped and was a member of the mile relay team. He played “Doubles” in Tennis; and qualified to make the golf team during his Senior year.
He was named “Honorable Mention” on both the Nebraska All State High School Football Team and the Lincoln All City Football team. He was named to the “1967” Lincoln All City Basketball team and received the Annual Lincoln Sertoma Basketball Award. He was selected to play in the “1967” Shrine Bowl along with three Pius teammates, Dick Caster, John Hadwick and Joe Glenn. At the conclusion of the Shrine Bowl game, John was named the Outstanding Defensive Player of the game.
John attended Kearney State and played on the “67-68” freshman basketball team. In January 1969, he transferred to Nebraska Wesleyan where he played football, basketball and baseball. At the end of his football career in “71”, he held Wesleyan’s single game, single season and career pass receiving records as an offensive end; and was named to the Nebraska All State College Football Team. During the “72” Wesleyan baseball season he threw a 2-0 shut-out against Creighton University. He graduated from Wesleyan in December “72” with an Education degree and was a student teacher at Pius X working with George O’Boyle. In 1984 he was inducted into the Nebraska Wesleyan Hall of Fame along with Dick Caster, a “67” Pius X teammate.
John retired from the Banking Industry in 2013. He and his wife Tina currently live in Sun City West, Arizona. John has two sons, Scott and David.
His time at Pius is fondly remembered and he maintains life-long friendships with classmates and teammates. The Pius faculty and coaching staff provided him with core values of honesty, humility, respect, and trust for one another.
