Mavericks Head Next Door To Iowa State
Feb 6, 2013 | General, Track & Field
Weekly Release
This Week
The Omaha track & field team will compete in the Iowa State Classic on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9 in Ames, Iowa. Live stats are available at OMavs.com.
The Coaches
Steve Smith is in his seventh season as the head coach of the Omaha track & field program. Smith was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Indoor Coach of the Year in 2009 after guiding the Mavericks to the MIAA Indoor Championships and repeated the feat the following year. Overall, Smith has guided the Mavericks to three conference championships and three top-five finishes at the NCAA Division II Championship including a fourth-place finish indoors in 2010.
Smith is assisted by Chris Richardson (jumps and multi-events), who was named the USTFCCCA South Central Regional Assistant Coach of the Year in 2011. Marc Bierbaum is in his third season coaching the distance events in addition to coaching the cross country team.
Ranked Right Up There
Sami Spenner has earned her share of Summit League track awards this season. Her performances have not gone unnoticed. Spenner began the week ranked 23rd in the world in the pentathlon by the IAAF, the governing body of track & field. She is also ranked fourth in the U.S. Spenner set the school record in the pentathlon with a score of 4,103 at Northern Iowa on Jan. 25, breaking Anastasia Kyvelidou's record of 4,013 that had stood since 2005. Her mark is the best in the Summit League this year and would be fifth in the NCAA. Spenner set personal bests in two of the events (high jump, 800 m) and tied a third (60 meter hurdles) in winning the pentathlon.
Last Week's Action
Amanda Vorthmann broke her own school record in the 5,000 meters at the Varsity Apartments Invitational at Wichita State last week. Vorthmann won the event with a time of 17:30.66. She took almost eight seconds off her previous school record, and it's the third time this season she's set the school's 5,000 meter record. Teammate Kristin Rogers finished fifth in a time of 18:15.61, her second PR in the event this year and more than 20 seconds faster than the previous mark. Vorthmann also set a personal best in the mile with a time of 5:02.67.
Sami Spenner posted two personal bests. She was fourth in the 60 meter hurdles in a time of 8.73. Her time of 8.66 in the prelims was her second PR in the event this season. Kathie-Lee Laidley tied her personal best with a time of 8.96, good for ninth place. Spenner also ran a PR of 7.68 in the prelims of the 60 meter dash. She finished sixth in the finals with a time of 7.70. UNO's Maja Mihalinec, the school's record holder in the event, finished second in a time of 7.54.
Full results of the meet can be found at OMavs.com. The team's performance list appears on pages 3-5 of this release.
High Marks
Because the Mavericks do not qualify for NCAA championships during their four-year reclassification to Division I, their marks do not appear on the national performance list. However if included, Spenner would, in addition to her pentathlon score, rank 14th in the long jump with her mark of 20-02 1/2 at Nebraska Wesleyan on Jan. 18. She also leads the Summit League in the triple jump mark of 41-01 3/4 earned at Iowa State on Dec. 7. In addition, Amanda Vorthmann's school record 5,000 meter time of 17:30.66 run at Wichita State is second in the Summit. Mihalinec leads the Summit League with her 60 meter dash time of 7.52 set in the prelims on Jan. 18 at NWU. In total, the Mavs rank first in the Summit in four events and second in two others. The full Summit League performance list is available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
Next weekend, the Mavericks travel to Lincoln for the second time this season, this time taking part in the Nebraska Tune-Up on Friday, Feb. 15.
This Week
The Omaha track & field team will compete in the Iowa State Classic on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9 in Ames, Iowa. Live stats are available at OMavs.com.
The Coaches
Steve Smith is in his seventh season as the head coach of the Omaha track & field program. Smith was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Indoor Coach of the Year in 2009 after guiding the Mavericks to the MIAA Indoor Championships and repeated the feat the following year. Overall, Smith has guided the Mavericks to three conference championships and three top-five finishes at the NCAA Division II Championship including a fourth-place finish indoors in 2010.
Smith is assisted by Chris Richardson (jumps and multi-events), who was named the USTFCCCA South Central Regional Assistant Coach of the Year in 2011. Marc Bierbaum is in his third season coaching the distance events in addition to coaching the cross country team.
Ranked Right Up There
Sami Spenner has earned her share of Summit League track awards this season. Her performances have not gone unnoticed. Spenner began the week ranked 23rd in the world in the pentathlon by the IAAF, the governing body of track & field. She is also ranked fourth in the U.S. Spenner set the school record in the pentathlon with a score of 4,103 at Northern Iowa on Jan. 25, breaking Anastasia Kyvelidou's record of 4,013 that had stood since 2005. Her mark is the best in the Summit League this year and would be fifth in the NCAA. Spenner set personal bests in two of the events (high jump, 800 m) and tied a third (60 meter hurdles) in winning the pentathlon.
Last Week's Action
Amanda Vorthmann broke her own school record in the 5,000 meters at the Varsity Apartments Invitational at Wichita State last week. Vorthmann won the event with a time of 17:30.66. She took almost eight seconds off her previous school record, and it's the third time this season she's set the school's 5,000 meter record. Teammate Kristin Rogers finished fifth in a time of 18:15.61, her second PR in the event this year and more than 20 seconds faster than the previous mark. Vorthmann also set a personal best in the mile with a time of 5:02.67.
Sami Spenner posted two personal bests. She was fourth in the 60 meter hurdles in a time of 8.73. Her time of 8.66 in the prelims was her second PR in the event this season. Kathie-Lee Laidley tied her personal best with a time of 8.96, good for ninth place. Spenner also ran a PR of 7.68 in the prelims of the 60 meter dash. She finished sixth in the finals with a time of 7.70. UNO's Maja Mihalinec, the school's record holder in the event, finished second in a time of 7.54.
Full results of the meet can be found at OMavs.com. The team's performance list appears on pages 3-5 of this release.
High Marks
Because the Mavericks do not qualify for NCAA championships during their four-year reclassification to Division I, their marks do not appear on the national performance list. However if included, Spenner would, in addition to her pentathlon score, rank 14th in the long jump with her mark of 20-02 1/2 at Nebraska Wesleyan on Jan. 18. She also leads the Summit League in the triple jump mark of 41-01 3/4 earned at Iowa State on Dec. 7. In addition, Amanda Vorthmann's school record 5,000 meter time of 17:30.66 run at Wichita State is second in the Summit. Mihalinec leads the Summit League with her 60 meter dash time of 7.52 set in the prelims on Jan. 18 at NWU. In total, the Mavs rank first in the Summit in four events and second in two others. The full Summit League performance list is available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
Next weekend, the Mavericks travel to Lincoln for the second time this season, this time taking part in the Nebraska Tune-Up on Friday, Feb. 15.
Players Mentioned
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Jumps/Multi-Even
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & FieldTuesday, September 01
Wednesday, August 26
Friday, August 21
Tuesday, April 21
