Omaha
MIAA Indoor Championships Day 3
Mavericks Repeat as MIAA Indoor Track and Field Ch
Feb 28, 2010 | Track & Field
Results
JOPLIN, Mo. - The UNO indoor track and field team dominated the sprint events en route to its second straight Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association Indoor Championship on Sunday at Missouri Southern State University. The Mavericks earned 107 points on the final day of the meet to take the crown.
UNO finished with 127 points followed by Missouri Southern at 109.5 and Central Missouri at 76. Last year, the Mavs won by just 1.5 points.
The Mavericks had stellar performances across the board in route to victory. In both the 200 and 400 meter events, they dominated, taking the top four spots in the 200 and three of the top four in the 400.
Led by sophomore #Maja Mihalinec#'s first-place time of 25.08, the Mavericks combined for a team total of 28 points in the 200 meters. #Shannon Moore# finished second, posting a time of 25.46, followed by Koepke at 25.80 and senior #Molly Belling# at 25.82. The four leaders finished the race ahead of both Missouri Southern and Central Missouri, catapulting UNO to first place in points after the event.
“This was such an exciting experience for me,” Miahlinec said. “We knew that we had to come together as a team, but I knew that I needed to do well in the 60 and the 200 meter events. I am happy that I was able to score points for the team.”
In the 400 meter, Moore earned 10 points with a first place time of 56.28, followed by junior Kayla Koepke's time 57.12 earning eight points. Junior sprinter #Anja Puc# followed up in fourth at 57.60 good for another four points.
Puc also earned 10 points soon after as she led the field in the 800 meter event with a first place time of 2:16.35.
Moore, competing non-stop since Friday's pentathlon, added another eight points in the 60 meter hurdles with a second place finish of 8.76, followed by #Jody-Ann Coore#'s fifth place time of 9.47.
“I was prepared mentally and physically for the events,” Moore said. “I knew I was going to be doing a lot, and I wanted to show that I had what it took to contend out there. I am very happy with the way we came together as a team and showed the competition that we did belong there.”
Mihalinec and Belling also added points earlier in the day as the pair took second and third in the 60 meter dash with times of 7.66 and 7.77 respectively. Belling, a nine-time All American coming off of an 18-month hip injury, said she knew what she had to do on Sunday.
“I just really wanted to score for my team,” Belling said. “It feels really good to be able to go out there after such a long layoff with injury and compete. I am so proud of our team and of myself as well. We really came together, and I feel so happy to be a part of it.”
Middle distance runners #Jolene Smith and Lisa Tesarek# added five points in the 600 yard run, as they took the fourth and fifth spots with times of 1:27.50 and 1:29.33 respectively, just behind Central and Missouri Southern's top two finishers.
Capping the victory, UNO finished the meet with a first-place finish in the 4x400 meter relay. With combined efforts from Puc, Moore, Mihalinec and Koepke, the Mavericks finished off Central Missouri's contenders with a team time of 3:56.67.
“They all went out there and performed under pressure,” said head coach Steve Smith. “When they had to dig down deep, they dug even further to pull out the victory. I am so proud of our girls.
“I think we showed a lot of people today that we are a team that wins together. We began the day as underdogs and ended as returning champions.”
The Mavericks now will gear up for the NCAA Division-II Indoor Championship meet in Albuquerque, N.M., beginning March 12.
