'The best we've ever had': Hayden Frank's historic career leaves its mark on Malcolm

That the Malcolm programs Hayden Frank played on his senior year all had outstanding seasons says plenty about the type of leader and changing force Hayden Frank is, too.

Frank took the lead in helping deliver the Clippers historic success in football and baseball, and a turnaround season in basketball. Along the way, he earned Super-State honors on the gridiron and the baseball diamond, and all-state accolades in basketball as one of the state's best scorers. 

Now, he earns the honor of Journal Star boys athlete of the year.

Frank is the first boy from Malcolm to be named athlete of the year, an honor that dates to 1951.

And while his athletic exploits certainly merited recognition, it was how Frank's leadership extended well behind whatever sport he happened to be competing in at the time that helped set him apart.

"I can remember there was a time when we had a huge snowstorm, and the community needed people to come and scoop out fire hydrants. And he was right there, and helping get the guys together and lined up," Malcolm football coach Scott Amen said. "People don’t see it on the field; it’s not in the stats.

"That’s what he’s meant to our program and our community. Pretty special."

Indeed, it was largely what happened away from the lights of competition that allowed Frank to leave a sizable mark in the history of Malcolm athletics.

A Concordia basketball recruit, Frank's work ethic took on almost mythical status in his community as he grew up. Going into his senior year last summer, there was rarely a break.

A typical summer day would see Frank up early for weight training. Then it was over to the football field so the quarterback could throw passes to his teammates. Then a basketball shooting workout in the gym.

Then, Frank would leave the school for a few hours to take care of his duties as the maintenance guy at a local baseball field. Then it was another shooting workout, and baseball practice, and finally, practice with his Nebraska Supreme AAU basketball squad.

All worth it, Frank said. 

"Being able to see the community treat you like you’re pretty special, and they talk (highly) about you, say, 'Oh you had a great game, you played well.' All that stuff," Frank said. "The kids respect you; they want to be like you. I had kids drawing me pictures of me in uniform — that’s cool. They want to be Hayden Frank. That’s what makes the working out so special."

When the school year rolled around, Frank was up at 5:45 a.m. most mornings to get to school for a shooting workout before lifting during his weights class, and then football practice in the afternoons. If there was no homework, Frank might head back to the gym again for another basketball workout.

"Following his sophomore year, we kind of had a rough season on the basketball court. And he goes, 'I’m going to make sure this doesn’t happen again,'" Malcolm basketball coach Chris Lewandowski said. "I've never had a player show up early in the mornings during the fall sports season.

"He’s a pretty good quarterback and football player, but he’d be in the gym at 7 in the morning, 6:30 in the morning on Friday night game nights for football, and he’d be getting shots up. Just a tremendous competitor. He always wanted to be better."

And that's the funny thing — basketball might not be Frank's best sport.

"Everyone will tell you — if you talk to almost anyone from Malcolm, they’ll tell you basketball is my worst sport. They will tell you basketball is the last choice I should have made," Frank said. "But I just felt like, the amount of hours I put into shooting and trying to be a good basketball player, I couldn’t just throw that away."

He was still elite on the court, averaging 23.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 48% from the field and 38% from 3-point range as the Clippers went 16-8 after an upset loss in subdistricts.

Frank left Malcolm as the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,365 points. He holds school records for points in a season and career 3-pointers, and is in the Clippers' all-time top 10 in 10 statistical categories.

In Frank's first two basketball games after an 11-game football season, he scored 36 and 31 points. He had 26 in the first half of an eventual 41-point outburst against Class B Ralston.

Frank was a second-team Class C-1 all-state pick and easily could have been on the first team in a tightly-packed list of athletes.

Despite the individual success and the future college career in basketball, it was football, Frank said, where he was most proud of what he and his teammate accomplished.

The Clippers went 10-1 after having won 10 total games the previous three seasons combined. A 9-0 regular season was Malcolm's first since 1999. A first-round playoff win over Archbishop Bergan was the program's first postseason victory since 2013. A bitter 10-9 overtime loss to Cedar Catholic in the state quarterfinals ended Malcolm's season, but history had been made.

Unsurprisingly, Frank was at the center of the success.

He threw for 1,615 yards and 16 touchdowns against just two interceptions. He ran for 1,314 yards and 26 scores, averaging 10.8 yards per carry and losing just one fumble. One defense he finished with 76 tackles and seven interceptions. 

Frank was a second-team Super-State pick on offense, and this summer became just the third Malcolm player in the 65-year history of the game to play in the Shrine Bowl. While in Kearney, he was named a captain for the victorious South Team.

Early in the football season, Frank convinced Amen, his coach, to go for two points and the win in overtime against Oakland-Craig. The Clippers got it, setting the stage for an unbeaten run to the playoffs.

"He was kind to people, but he wasn’t afraid — it could be his best friend, it could be the guy that hardly plays at all, it didn’t matter — he wasn’t afraid to be a leader. He wasn’t afraid to tell people to do the right thing, to prepare themselves the right way," Amen said. And that just said a lot about his demeanor, about the way he behaved.

"I don’t ever want people comparing. But he’s absolutely special. And it was something fun to be a part of."

The football success led to increased recruiting attention in football. Nebraska-Kearney and Northwest Missouri State were among the schools to walk through the doors at Malcolm High and try to convince Frank to join their program. It got harder by the day, Frank said, to tell those football coaches his college path was already set. 

Baseball was redemption for the bitter ends in football and basketball.

On the diamond, Frank admitted, he rarely worked on his game outside of practice. The passion for the sport wasn't the same as it was for hoops or football.

Still, he hit .433 with six home runs, 10 doubles, and 32 RBI for a Malcolm team that went 24-3 and won the Class C state title.

Frank struck out just nine times in 90 at-bats and was a second-team Super State selection as an infielder after manning shortstop for the Clippers. It was Frank's walk-off against Platteview in the second round of the state tournament that kept the Clippers on track for their undefeated run through the bracket.

"That's who he is," Malcolm coach Zach Wehner said after that May 15 game. "He might struggle throughout the game, but when the game's on the line, that's who I want to be up to bat right there."

The easy answer, Frank said about winning a baseball title, was that it was special.

"But the main answer for me was that I can finally say that I medaled at state. That was just my goal this year; just make it to state in something, and place in something. Make it one final year to end on a high note," Frank said. 

"And it being a team experience, being able to get a gold medal and a first-place finish, and to say that I finally got one. As selfish as it may sound, it was special to have it hang it up in my room, and do it with my teammates."

Frank makes it clear that Malcolm's success wasn't because of him alone. He has a long list of classmates and teammates that helped take the Clippers to new heights. 

But while he might not admit it, Frank was the one around which everything revolved.

"We've had some good football players, we've had some good basketball players, and I'm not taking anything away from those guys who have come through," Amen said.

"But when you're talking about a three-sport athlete, he's the best we've ever had."