Omaha
Mutual of Omaha Invite
UNO Finishes Invite as Division I Runner-Up
Dec 8, 2013 | Women's Swimming & Diving
OMAHA, Neb. – UNO ended its run in the Mutual of Omaha Invite Saturday evening as the Women's Division I runner-up.
Omaha had multiple qualifiers in each of the evening's events.
The 200-yard medley relay took first place with a time of 1:45.81, topping the previous season-high time of 1:48.21 at the USAFA five-way meet.
In the 200-yard IM, UNO had nine qualifiers for the final event. Freshman Morgan Stepp took first place with a time of 2:06.99, beating her preliminary time of 2:10.00. Sophomore Natalie Renshaw followed Stepp in second place (2:07.96). Renshaw later broke a UNO record in the 100-yard free with a time of 50.61.
Senior Whitney Korgan was Omaha's top finisher in the 500-yard free (5:14.49), taking second place.
Freshmen Sydney Dhabalt (1:03.99) and Hayley Duncan (1:02.34), along with junior Victoria Schab (1:01.02), qualified for the 100-yard back. Schab, a Ralston High School graduate, took third place.
In the 200-yard breast, UNO had five qualifiers for the evening finals. Seniors Madeline Hutt and Hannah Alexander led the event, taking first (2:19.32) and second place (2:21.32), respectively.
In 1-meter diving, sophomore Miranda Knipfer took second with a score of 218.5.
Northern Iowa was the Division I women's champion with 1,633.50 points. Omaha took second. Kearney (417.5), Iowa Lakes CC (393), Colorado (310), College of Saint Mary (245) and Morningside (180) rounded out the standings.
In men's competition, Colorado was the men's champion (616). Iowa Lakes CC closely followed in second (601). Morningside closed out the trio with 479 points.
Post-Meet Notes and Quotes
Suit Advantage:
One thing that makes UNO swimming unique in competition is that swimmers do not wear tech suits, like other teams do, in the morning preliminaries, as per team policy. Head coach Todd Samland explained, “We wear our dual-meet suits in the morning and our tech suits at night. It's up to our seniors to show everyone how we compete against that advantage in other teams.”
Senior Leadership:
Samland expressed his gratitude for the five UNO seniors in the Mutual of Omaha Invite, saying, “I noticed that the seniors did a great job of showing our underclassmen how to stay positive. They have shown what it means to be a competitor. It doesn't matter where you are at, it's what you are doing.”
Below are the five seniors thoughts on what the Mutual of Omaha Invite has meant to them during their careers at UNO.
Hannah Alexander, Exercise Science
“I am so proud of our team. The Mutual of Omaha Invite is a huge meet for us. This really tells us where we are at in our season. We swim lights out because it's our home pool. We love when our friends, family, and UNO come out to support us.”
Maddie Hutt, Art Education
“Mutual is such a big ego boost for everyone. This shows our team how strong we are. It's amazing how much atmosphere is at this meet that you don't get at other meets. It's just really fun. It's my favorite meet of the season.”
Whitney Korgan, Neuroscience
“This is our first chance to see how fast we can go. We really go after it. It's definitely a reality check of what we're capable of.”
Kari Mettenbrink, Psychology
“The high energy of this meet keeps us going for the rest of the season. We all get excited and push each other in practice to prepare for this meet. It helps us stay strong for conference at the end of the season.”
Erin Wright, Psychology
“We're at our midseason point where we can show how far we have come. This meet gives us a feel for how conference works. Everyone swims well at this meet, so it's a lot of fun for us.”
Up Next For UNO:
The Mavericks will continue their three-meet, at-home home run with a weekend stand at HPER Swimming Pool on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 13 and 14. UNO will take on Summit League foe South Dakota on Friday at 6 p.m. and will then face in-state competitor Nebraska at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
