By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
Fifty years ago Judy Becker ( Lienemann ) helped pioneer girls basketball at Saint Xavier High School in Junction City. During the 1974-75 school year she played post on the first ever girls basketball team at the school. Becker was also a track and field standout, and would go on to great accomplishments in both sports at the high school and college level.
The tale begins during Becker's sophomore year in high school on December 6, 1974 when Saint X opened with a 38-17 loss at Blue Valley Randolph. But in their first ever home game, the Lady Rams defeated Manhattan Luckey 35-27, with Becker scoring 17 of those points. In that first season they went 5-11 but followed that up with 2 winning seasons with final records of 10-8 and 12-8.
At 5'11” Judy served as the team's post player while Roger Diekmann was the coach. Despite the losing record the first season Becker noted that as time went on they continually improved. "We got better every game. Roger Diekman was a great person to coach our team.
Some of Judy's teammates on the first ever squad included Julie Deppish, Annette Boller, Barbie Engstrom, Susan Wahle, Julie Hecker, Kim Deppish, Yvonne Zukowfsky and Dianea Niemcyzk. Anita Lichtenhan was also part of the program during Judy's final two years. The Lady Rams teams played in the Eastern Division of the Eisenhower League with other participating schools including Wakefield, Blue Valley, Luckey, White City, Westmoreland, Hope and St. George.
Becker achieved All League status as a sophomore, junior and senior. In track and field Becker performed at a strong level in the high jump, discus and shotput. She won two state titles in the high jump with a leap of 5’ 6” and finished second once. As a senior she won the state in discus and set a state record with a throw of 125 feet six inches. She also competed in volleyball all 4 years.
All of that served as a prelude to Becker's college career at Emporia State University where she competed in both basketball and track, playing on teams that finished with records of 15-8, 25-7, 19-10 and 20-7. The 25-7 squad was ranked 5th in the nation in the AIAW. Over her 4 year career, she averaged 12.5 points and 8 rebounds per game and was on the all-conference teams all 4 years. Her Senior year, Becker was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American 3rd team. In track she was an NAIA All American where she competed in the high jump and javelin. In 2003, Becker was inducted into the Emporia State University Athletic Hall of Honor.
Judy, currently a resident of Atchison, is married to Joe Lienemann and they have two sons. While at ESU, she achieved a degree in business administration and in April retired from a 30-year career as a tax preparer. She is remembered to this day at Saint Xavier as a true standout and still holds several school records. She is the daughter of the late Harold Becker and Elaine Becker.