JIM HARTUNG

Class of 1978
​Inducted in 1998 & 2001

Jim was inducted into the SHSAA Hall of Fame in 2001 and in to the SHSAA Packer Sports Greats as a Coach in 1998.

Jim was a 19-time state champion at South High. He was a member of the National USA Team as a high school student. He was the top ranked high school gymnast in the nation. Omaha South won the state gymnastics championship each season Hartung competed.  At the University of Nebraska, he became only the second person in NCAA men’s gymnastics history to win 7 individual titles in a career, including all-around NCAA champion in 1980 and 1981.  He was a record-setting 22-time NCAA All-American.  Nebraska also won team NCAA titles during the Hartung era.

He achieved a boyhood dream and earned spots on the 1980 and 1984 United States Olympic teams. Hartung helped the 1984 U.S. gymnastics squad to the gold medal.  It marked the only time in Olympic history that the U.S. men have claimed the team gold medal. 

For more than 13 years Jim has been a coach of the National Gymnastics Team and is currently a gymnastics judge with international credentials serving in such prestigious events as the Goodwill Games and the World Collegiate Championships.