Spring in Omaha usually signals a transition — a shift from the squeal of shoes and bounce of basketballs on the hardwood floor of CHI Health Center and D.J. Sokol Arena to the crack of metal against a bat and the crisp pop of a ball hitting the strings on a sunny afternoon.
While basketball dominated the winter months, the high-stakes intensity remained as the warm weather weaved its way into Omaha. This semester, Creighton’s athletic culture was defined by a never-out-of-it mentality, bolstered by highlight-worthy moments, record-breaking performances and Bluejay-style dominance.
In no particular order, here are five of the best sports moments of the last five months:
- Benchmarks and Birthday Besting at the Buzzer
February 4 was no ordinary 64-62 conference victory for the Creighton women’s basketball team versus Georgetown. Inside D.J. Sokol Arena, the night belonged to freshman Neleigh Gessert, who notched a career-high 31 points against the Hoya defense, and senior Grace Boffeli, whose birthday present delivered in spades: 17 rebounds, three blocks, nine points and the final two layups of the game.
Gessert set up the Bluejays to squeak out the win, but Boffeli tied it at 62 with a layup in the final 1:21, then finished it off with a pump-fake, wide-open game-winner with two seconds remaining to keep the birthday celebration going after the final buzzer.
This was a conference win that epitomized the Creighton women’s basketball identity: a blend of rising talent and veteran grit.
- Turning a Miss into Magic
In a game that seemed destined to be a heartbreaking loss against Xavier at home, Creighton men’s basketball guard Austin Swartz turned a silent CHI Health Center into a frenzy of cheers as a buzzer-beater jumper gave the Bluejays a 94-93 victory on January 21.
Four seconds earlier, Swartz was lined up at the free throw line, his team down 92-90, with two seemingly easy foul shots providing a quick way to tie the game and force overtime.
He made the first. A breath of relief sighed out of the near 17,000 sitting in the stands. A timeout was taken by Xavier. Swartz’s second shot took a bad bounce off the back of the rim with almost no time to make something happen.
But turning his miss into magic, Swartz got his own rebound and threw up a Hail Mary, short-range jumper. The shot went off the backboard and into the basket.
“Jays win! Jays win! Jays win!” John Bishop, the radio voice of Creighton basketball, exclaimed. It was one of those moments in which four seconds felt like four minutes, where heartbreak turned into elation, and where Creighton sports was at its finest.
- The Historic Walk-off Homer Hero
Creighton baseball graduate outfielder Lew Rice walked up to the plate against Butler, facing one out and a one-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Just two innings ago, Creighton hadn’t been the one with its back against the wall. After leading through the first five innings and reclaiming the lead after a brief tie in the sixth, the Bluejays let Butler claim two runs off a single in the eighth inning, leaving them down a run in the bottom of the final inning.
If the Bluejays were going to get out of this jam, they needed a miracle.
Rice was that miracle … again. Just like he did on April 8 with a walk-off home run against North Dakota State, the Bluejay outfielder got up to the plate and blasted a two-run home run off the right field foul pole, giving Creighton the win in the afternoon.
But Rice made more than just the game-winning play at the plate; he made history by becoming the first player to achieve two walk-off home runs at Charles Schwab field since it opened in 2011.
It was a moment not only enshrined in history, but the very definition of this 2026 baseball squad: gritty, determined, and not to be counted out until the very last pitch. It might have left fans caught in the high-wire tension, but the Bluejays have a knack for turning it into a masterpiece.
- The Triple-Crown Afternoon: Records, Runs and Postseason Ticket
Big East tournament berth secured. History made. The standard reset. The Creighton softball team achieved all three on a sunny afternoon in Storrs, Conn., as a 7-5 victory over the Huskies proved to be a ‘good day at the office.’
But it wasn’t just a win that gave the Bluejays a conference ticket. It was statistical demolition, one where Creighton rewrote the program’s offensive ceiling in three different categories.
They achieved a program record 325 runs in a single season, up from 321 runs set in 2025; Chiqui Vazquez’s leadoff double in the seventh frame locked up a single season record of 80 doubles, surpassing the previous record of 79 set in 1993; and five added RBI that afternoon pushed the season total to 297 RBI, breaking the previous school record of 292 set in 2025.
The ticket to the postseason was punched, but the message was louder. On an afternoon where thirty years of history were left in the dust, the Bluejays proved that their offense isn’t just a threat — it’s a wrecking ball.
- Omaha’s Most Unfriendly Hosts
Anyone who came knocking on the Creighton women’s tennis team’s door in the 2026 season left with a parting gift they didn’t want: a zero in the win column.
For the first time in program history, the women’s tennis team posted an undefeated home season, going a perfect 7-0 against the likes of Gustavus Adolphus, Northern Iowa, Missouri State, Western Illinois, Omaha, St. Thomas and South Dakota. Of those seven victories, three of those were clean sweeps.
The final knockdown to achieve the perfect home season? A 5-2 victory over South Dakota that saw freshman Teresa Tran clinch the match at the No. 3 singles position, playing to a 6-4, 6-3 straight set victory.
Tran’s victory didn’t just clinch the match but sealed a perfect home season and turned a moment into a historic legacy. It ensured that in 2026, the road to victory in women’s tennis never ran through Omaha.
Honorable mention: The Repeat Performance
Winning once at the historic Drake Relays is a career milestone; winning twice is a takeover. For the second year in a row, senior Jake Ziebarth emerged victorious in the open section of the 1,500 at the Drake Relays. Posting a time of 3:50.01, Ziebarth outpaced Nebraska’s Hannes Fahl by a tenth of a second to take home the repeat victory. Different year, same blue oval, same champion. The 1,500 meter crown still belongs to Ziebarth and the Bluejays.
Five moments. Five months. Many milestones. In 2026, Creighton athletics didn’t just compete; it took over. And the best part? They’re just getting started.