Two Mavericks Earn Athlete of the Week Honors
Jan 19, 2009 | General, Men's Basketball, Track & Field
OMAHA, Neb. – Two University of Nebraska at Omaha student-athletes were named Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association athletes of the week in their respective sports. Guard #Michael Jenkins of the UNO men's basketball team and sprinter Pinar Saka# (PIN-ahr SAH-kah) of the UNO indoor track and field team earned the honors, their first of the season.
Jenkins, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound senior from Bellevue, Neb., averaged 26.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals as the Mavericks earned home wins over a pair of nationally-ranked MIAA opponents last week. In an 88-84 win Wednesday (Jan. 14) over No. 5 Southwest Baptist, Jenkins scored 26 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, to go with a perfect 9-of-9 from the foul line. He scored the Mavericks' final five points to cap a 9-4 run after SBU had claimed an 80-79 lead with 1:40 to go.
Jenkins scored 27 points in a 74-64 victory over No. 13 Missouri Southern Saturday (Jan. 17). He scored 10 points in the final 6:40 after the Lions had closed within three, 56-53 -- including 6-of-6 from the charity stripe, where he was 14-of-15 on the night.
Jenkins, now sixth on UNO's career scoring list with 1,357 points, is a graduate of Bellevue West High School.
Saka, a 5-foot-5 senior from Istanbul, Turkey, automatically qualified for the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in the 400 meters at the Nebraska Holiday Inn Invitational Saturday (Jan. 17).
She led a 1-2-4 finish for the Mavericks with her school-record time of 53.36 seconds -- slashing the mark she set last season of 53.61. Saka was more than two seconds faster than sophomore teammate Anja Puc in the race, who also automatically qualified for nationals.
Saka, an All-America performer in the 200, 400 and 1600-meter relay at last year's Division II nationals, ran for the Besiktas Lisesi school while in Turkey and transferred to UNO from Nebraska following her freshman season.
The Mavericks men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at Pittsburg State at 7:30 p.m. The UNO track team is back in action on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 23 and 24, at the Razorback Invitational hosted by Arkansas. For more information, visit omavs.com.
