Mavericks Open Outdoor Season This Weekend
Apr 2, 2010 | General, Track & Field
Weekly Release
The Week Ahead: The University of Nebraska at Omaha track and field team will open the outdoor season on Saturday, April 3 at the Northwest Open in Marysville, Mo. Women's competition begins at 10 a.m.
The Coaches: Steve Smith is in his fourth season as the head coach of the University of Nebraska at Omaha track program after more than two decades of success as an assistant in Kansas, Nebraska and UNO. Smith was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Assocation Indoor Coach of the Year after guiding the Mavericks to a stunning win in the 2009 MIAA Indoor Championships in March and finished the season fifth in the nation indoors. Smith is assisted by #Chris Richardson# (jumps and pentathlon/heptathlon), John Mulligan (distances) and Rich Emsick (throws).
National Showing: The Mavericks finished in fourth place at the 2010 NCAA indoor championships in Albuquerque, N.M. last month. They earned 45 points to finish just two points behind Ashland and Grand Valley State which tied for second. It was the Mavs' second consecutive top-five finish after earning fifth place in 2009. #Anja Puc and Nkeiruka Domike# were crowned national champions in the 800 meters and the triple jump respectively. Puc ran a time of 2:07.14 to win the 800 and break her own school record of 2:07.99. Domike also reset the school mark in the triple jump with a winning leap of 42 feet, two and one-quarter inches. It was the fifth consecutive meet in which she reset the school record. Domike does not have any eligibility remaining for outdoor competition.
All-Americans: In addtion to Puc and Domike, four other Mavericks earned All-American honors from the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association. #Heather Minssen# earned third place in the national indoor meet in the shot put with a throw of 49 feet, 1 1/2 inches. She will redshirt the outdoor season. #Shannon Moore# took third in the pentathlon with 3,923 points and earned eighth place in the 60 meter hurdles in a time of 8.86. #Kayla Koepke# was fifth in the 400 meters with a time of 55.64, and #Maja Mihalinec# took seventh in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.58.
A Look Back: In 2009, the Mavericks finished in a tie for third place with Central Missouri at the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association outdoor championship. Each team finished with 97 points. Mihalinec won the 100 meter dash and took third in the 200. Puc took first in the 800 meters. The Mavericks also won the 4x100 meter relay. The team of #Jody-Ann Coore#, Koepke, Puc and Mihalinec posted a time of 47.95.
Back In The Fold: Two sprinters who did not compete for the Mavericks outdoors in 2009 will be back on the track this outdoor season. #Pinar Saka#, a seven-time All-American and a 2009 indoor national champion in the 400 and 4x400 will compete outdoors for the final time in her outstanding career. She was the Division II Indoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2009. #Molly Belling# also returns to the outdoor track after battling injuries for the last two seasons. She is a nine-time All-American both indoors and outdoors.
Up Next: UNO will head down I-80 to Lincoln for the Nebraska Invitational on Saturday, April 10. Competition begins at 11 a.m.
The Week Ahead: The University of Nebraska at Omaha track and field team will open the outdoor season on Saturday, April 3 at the Northwest Open in Marysville, Mo. Women's competition begins at 10 a.m.
The Coaches: Steve Smith is in his fourth season as the head coach of the University of Nebraska at Omaha track program after more than two decades of success as an assistant in Kansas, Nebraska and UNO. Smith was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Assocation Indoor Coach of the Year after guiding the Mavericks to a stunning win in the 2009 MIAA Indoor Championships in March and finished the season fifth in the nation indoors. Smith is assisted by #Chris Richardson# (jumps and pentathlon/heptathlon), John Mulligan (distances) and Rich Emsick (throws).
National Showing: The Mavericks finished in fourth place at the 2010 NCAA indoor championships in Albuquerque, N.M. last month. They earned 45 points to finish just two points behind Ashland and Grand Valley State which tied for second. It was the Mavs' second consecutive top-five finish after earning fifth place in 2009. #Anja Puc and Nkeiruka Domike# were crowned national champions in the 800 meters and the triple jump respectively. Puc ran a time of 2:07.14 to win the 800 and break her own school record of 2:07.99. Domike also reset the school mark in the triple jump with a winning leap of 42 feet, two and one-quarter inches. It was the fifth consecutive meet in which she reset the school record. Domike does not have any eligibility remaining for outdoor competition.
All-Americans: In addtion to Puc and Domike, four other Mavericks earned All-American honors from the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association. #Heather Minssen# earned third place in the national indoor meet in the shot put with a throw of 49 feet, 1 1/2 inches. She will redshirt the outdoor season. #Shannon Moore# took third in the pentathlon with 3,923 points and earned eighth place in the 60 meter hurdles in a time of 8.86. #Kayla Koepke# was fifth in the 400 meters with a time of 55.64, and #Maja Mihalinec# took seventh in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.58.
A Look Back: In 2009, the Mavericks finished in a tie for third place with Central Missouri at the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association outdoor championship. Each team finished with 97 points. Mihalinec won the 100 meter dash and took third in the 200. Puc took first in the 800 meters. The Mavericks also won the 4x100 meter relay. The team of #Jody-Ann Coore#, Koepke, Puc and Mihalinec posted a time of 47.95.
Back In The Fold: Two sprinters who did not compete for the Mavericks outdoors in 2009 will be back on the track this outdoor season. #Pinar Saka#, a seven-time All-American and a 2009 indoor national champion in the 400 and 4x400 will compete outdoors for the final time in her outstanding career. She was the Division II Indoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2009. #Molly Belling# also returns to the outdoor track after battling injuries for the last two seasons. She is a nine-time All-American both indoors and outdoors.
Up Next: UNO will head down I-80 to Lincoln for the Nebraska Invitational on Saturday, April 10. Competition begins at 11 a.m.
Players Mentioned
Sprints
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Sprints
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Jumps
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Throws
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Sprints
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Sprints
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Throws
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Multi-Events
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Sprints
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Sprints
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