Nate Loenser was Mr. Extracurricular in high school: He piled up 11 varsity letters, earned numerous all-conference awards and played the cello and tuba.

Loenser, now a sophomore in physical education at Iowa State, also ranked first in his class with a 3.91 grade point average.

Not bad for your average Iowa boy — until you consider that Nate Loenser’s done it all with one arm.

“It hasn’t been that big of a challenge,” Loenser says, without a hint of sarcasm. “I’ve never had life any other way than this. I don’t know it any better.”

This pragmatism, he said, was nurtured in a home where his “handicap” never slowed him down.

“My parents were big on letting me do whatever I wanted,” said Loenser, who was born with a left arm that extends to just the elbow. “They were always encouraging and they let me figure out a way to do it.”

During his one-plus years at ISU, the Cedar Falls native hasn’t slowed down. He served as manager for the men’s basketball team, placed second in the Veishea 1998 slam-dunk contest and posted a perfect 4.0 GPA last semester.

Then, if that weren’t enough, Loenser followed his dream and tried out for the Cyclone baseball squad this fall.

“His disability is not even a disability,” said Dave Smith, who coached Loenser in baseball, basketball and football at Northern University High School in Cedar Falls. “You hardly even know he has anything like that.”

Many of those in Loenser’s position would be happy just to make one varsity team, but in his years as a Panther, he became a multi-sport star.

“Whatever the season was, that’s the sport I liked,” he said.

On the gridiron, he played free safety and wide receiver and garnered all-district honors his senior year. Loenser then picked up a different ball, as he started at shooting guard for the Panther hoopsters and was tabbed honorable mention all-conference.

Donning a prosthetic arm, he played on the golf team, and by the time he graduated in the spring of 1997, he had amassed 10 varsity letters.

“It didn’t take long to figure out that he was the man,” Smith remembered.

But the best was yet to come, with summer baseball just around the corner.

Loenser terrorized the North Iowa Cedar League from his leadoff spot in the Panthers’ order. He batted .596, scored 55 runs and stole 60 bases while getting caught only three times.

The stellar season propelled Loenser to an all-conference nod and a berth on the second team of the 2A all-state squad.

“He turned a lot of heads,” said Smith, who was the head baseball coach during Loenser’s career.

Though Wartburg, Central and a host of other colleges recruited Loenser for his baseball talents, a loyalty to the cardinal-and-gold drew Loenser to ISU last fall

He signed on with the men’s basketball team as a student manager, but despite the aura of “Hilton Magic,” it just didn’t feel right.

“I missed competing,” he said. “It was good to be around the game, but there was something about not being able to compete.”

An average college student with a hunger for competition would be resigned to playing intramural sports, but Loenser is far from average. Overachieving as usual, he decided to shoot for a spot on the Cyclone baseball team.

Two weeks ago, Loenser lined up on the green carpet of Cap Timm Field with 30 other hopefuls.

“I tried out just because I’m an avid Cyclone fan,” he said. “I wanted to see if there was any way I could compete for Iowa State.”

Despite a quick bat and a speedy 7.25-second mark in the 60-yard dash, Loenser wasn’t among those chosen.

Still, he was more than just a face in the crowd.

“He really impressed us with his ability to hit,” said Lyle Smith, ISU baseball head coach.

“You just wish that the guys with two arms would give you the same type of effort,” Smith said. “He’s got a heart that would stretch across the state of Iowa.”

Eric Cannon, a freshman in mechanical engineering who also tried out for the team, had more praise for Loenser.

“I really admire how much desire he has for the game,” Cannon said. “He hit better than me, and he only has one arm. I was really impressed.”

Loenser, who helped coach a freshman baseball team in Cedar Falls this summer, said he might make another run at the Cyclone team again next year.

“If I’m supposed to be playing, I’ll be playing,” he said. “If not, I’ll be teaching the game to people. Sports are what I love, and I can’t get away from it.”