Schreiner is Remsen-Union's Renaissance Man

(Sentinel file photo) Baseball is just one of four sports Remsen-Union's Jonathan Schreiner played during his career with the Rockets. [Click to enlarge]

Next fall will likely be a strange time for the students and teachers at Remsen-Union High School: Jonathan Schreiner will be gone.

True, he will be just over the border at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. But his former schoolmates will certainly notice his absence.

"If there was an activity at Remsen(-Union), Jon was a part of it," said Colin Youde, who teaches at R-U and coached Schreiner in football and track.

(Sentinel file photo) Baseball is just one of four sports Remsen-Union's Jonathan Schreiner played during his career with the Rockets. [Click to enlarge]

A four-sport letterman who participated in National Honor Society, band and choir, was a three-year member of the student council as well as a member of the HAVE (Humanitarians and Voluntary Experience) Club and a large group speech participant, Schreiner truly was Remsen-Union's Renaissance Man during his four years in high school.

Oh yes, he beat out his close friend Ryan Schroeder for valedictorian honors, as well.

"He put everything he could into his four years of high school, both athletically and academically," Youde said. "If our leaders on the football field aren't leaders in the classroom, I think we're at a loss. I encourage my kids to be in as many activities as possible."

Schreiner doesn't seem to think about it too much. He simply wouldn't have it any other way.

"I just like participating in all the things I can," he said. "I enjoy having fun in all the things we do because everything is different. You get to do a lot of different things and have a lot of fun that way."

Music, in particular, has always fascinated Schreiner, who played percussion in the R-U concert, jazz and pep bands and sang in the concert choir.

"I just enjoy playing it - it's always interested me," he said. "I like the knowledge behind it and how it works - how music works. People that write music, I'm really interested in how they come up with (what) they do, how notes work together and stuff."

Schreiner may be most recognizable in the community due to his athletic exploits. However, there are occasions when they meshed with his academic ones. One such example occurred last fall when he was one of nine players named to the Iowa 8-man Academic All-State Team.

"He's a very intelligent player and he knew everybody's job on offense," Youde said. "Sometimes a coach on the field is invaluable. It's one of those things that maybe you don't know what you have until it is gone. I think we're going to have a few instances next year where we're going to say, 'I wish Schreiner was here.'"

Youde also said Schreiner was willing to help his football teammates in perhaps the most important way.

"He tutored a lot of kids when he was in high school and he kept some of our players eligible for awhile," Youde said.

He was also a second team All-District football performer as the Rockets won the District 1 8-man title and advanced to the first round of the state playoffs last fall.

He averaged 6.1 rebounds - good for second on the team - and chipped in 5.3 points per game in 19 starts for the Rockets basketball team this winter.

"He doesn't put out gaudy numbers as far as offensive output, but at the same time, I know we wouldn't win as many games as we did if he wasn't in the lineup," said R-U basketball and baseball coach Steve Neuberger. "He's one of those kids who makes his teammates better."

He also qualified for the Class 1A state track meet twice - finishing 23rd overall in 2008 and 18th overall as a senior in 2009 in the 400 meter dash.

He is in the midst of his senior baseball season, the starting catcher and one of the elder statesmen on a young team that has struggled thus far to a 1-16 record.

"As a catcher you see the whole field and he's always got his head in the game," Neuberger said. "He understands the game. When I have to call for defensive signals - if I'm napping - he'll be looking in the dugout and saying, 'Coach, what do you want here?'"

Even with the Rockets' struggles on the diamond the past two seasons (including last year's 3-14 record), Schreiner never considered not playing this season.

"Back when I was younger I wasn't always huge into baseball, but when I went out my eighth grade and freshman years, the upperclassmen made it a lot of fun for me," he said. "Since then I've always enjoyed playing it and I've never not considered playing it."

While Schreiner will no longer be in the halls of R-U each day, his presence will continue to be felt. Younger sister Allison, who will be a sophomore next year, has already qualified for state in track and has been a contributor on R-U's varsity basketball and softball teams.

"(They) both had a big effect on her," Youde said of Schreiner and his older brother Nick, who plays football for Northwestern College. "She's so competitive and I think she learned a lot about how to compete from them. Her never-say-die attitude came a lot from her brothers. She's also the recipient of some pretty good genes, I think."

And with Schroeder joining the Dordt College football team and Michael Ruba, another close friend, joining the Iowa Western College football team - not to mention his younger sister's burgeoning athletic career - Schreiner figures he will be around plenty.

"I'll try to get back for the football games and the basketball games whenever I can," he said. "Since we're (moving) to the War Eagle Conference, it will be more convenient because I can just hop over the border and watch."

But things will certainly be different without Schreiner and his fellow graduates in the hallways every day.

"It's going to be a tough senior class to replace, that's for sure," Neuberger said. "They've been a very active part of school and athletics over the course of their four years. These seniors will definitely be missed, but on the positive side, their leadership skills - I'm hoping some of them rubbed off on the underclassmen.

"The kids in school see this is the right way to go about things as far as academics and athletics and things like that. Hopefully these guys set a precedent that the younger classes can live up to."