UNO To Honor Student-Athletes of the Year
Oct 27, 2009 | Track & Field
OMAHA, Neb. – The University of Nebraska at Omaha athletic department will honor its male and female student athletes of the 2008-09 school year during the first intermission of UNO's hockey game with Bowling Green on Saturday, Oct. 31st. Wrestler Todd Meneely and sprinter #Pinar Saka# were selected as the men's and women's winners respectively by a vote of the media that cover UNO athletics. Both were national champions in their respective sports.
Meneely finished an outstanding career on the mat by winning his third individual national championship while helping the Mavericks to their sixth national team championship in March of 2009. Meneely was also named the Division II wrestler of the year by the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association. The Omaha native was 27-0 last season with ten falls, seven major decisions and three technical falls. He won five tournament titles last year.
Meneely won the Division II national title at 149 pounds in 2007 and 2008 before moving up to 157 pounds last season. He is one of just four wrestlers in UNO history to win three or more national championships. He is also a three-time All-American. Meneely finished his college career with a record of 85-5.
Saka was named the Division II indoor track athlete of the year following a dominant winter. She was a national champion in the 400 meter dash and earned another national championship while anchoring UNO's 4 x 400 meter relay to a first-place finish. She set school records in the 200 (23.93), 400 (53.04) and the 600 yard run (1:20.36) which is not an NCAA event in the national meet. Her time in the 400 was the eighth-fastest time in the world at that time and was ultimately the 27th-best time for the year. She lost just once in the 400 all season. She was also named the Division II South Central Region track athlete of the year.
The native of Istanbul, Turkey earned 30.5 points for the Mavericks in their stunning, upset win at the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association championship on March 1. She finished second in the 60 meter dash and took first in both the 400 meter and 600 yard dashes. She then anchored the Mavericks' title-clinching 4 x 400 meter relay team which finished more than eight seconds ahead of the second-place team. Saka was twice named the MIAA indoor track athlete of the week during the 2008-09 season.
