Omaha
NCAA II Championship
Mavericks Finish Fifth at Indoor Track and Field N
Mar 14, 2009 | General, Track & Field
Complete Results
HOUSTON, Texas – Sprinter #Pinar Saka# won the 400 meter dash and then took up the anchor leg on UNO's winning 4 x 400 meter relay, helping the Maverick indoor track and field team to a fifth-place finish at the Division II national championship. UNO finished just one half point out of fourth place in its best ever performance on the national stage.
UNO earned 37 points during the two-day event. Future Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association member Lincoln University of Jefferson City, Mo. won the meet with 100.5 points. Lincoln will join the conference for the 2010-2011 season. Grand Valley State was a distant second with 48 points. The Mavericks' MIAA neighbor, Central Missouri, was third with 41 points, and Ashland University of Ohio was fourth at 37.5.
Saka finished the 400, her strongest event, in a time of 55.58, one-tenth of a second faster than Carla Thomas of Lincoln. She also finished in sixth place in the 200 meter dash in a time of 24.62, just one-one hundredth of a second out of fifth.
Saka teamed up with #Shannon Moore#, #Kayla Koepke and Anja Puc# to take first place in the 4 x 400 meter relay. The quartet finished in a time of 3:46.66, outdistancing second-place Lincoln by more than two seconds.
Moore registered three personal bests during a standout performance in the indoor pentathlon. She ran 8.99 in the 60 meter hurdles, threw 37 feet, 10 inches in the shot put and ran 2:21.35 in the 800 meter dash to earn third place in the event.
Puc picked up a second-place finish in the 800 meter dash, an event she began running just this season. Her time of 2:10.05 trailed only Ashley Puga of Northwest Nazarene University who finished at 2:07.63.
The Mavericks begin the outdoor season on Saturday, April 4 at the Northwest Missouri State Invitational.
