Mavs Travel To Meets at Drake, Simpson
Apr 24, 2013 | General, Track & Field
Weekly Release
This Week
One week after heading west for competition, the Omaha track & field team points its compass to the East for a pair of meets. The Mavericks will take part in the prestigious Drake Relays on April 24-27 while also competing at the Kip Janvrin Open at Simpson College on April 25-26.
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.
Four Meets, Three School Records
The Mavericks competed in four meets in California and Nebraska and came away with three school records last week.
Sami Spenner continued her assault on the UNO record books by setting the heptathlon and triple jump records in two separate meets. On Thursday at the Mt. SAC Relays, she won the final event of the heptathlon to win the event outright with a score of 5,806, a mark that ranks second in the country and fifth in the world. Two days later, she had a leap of 40-02 3/4 in the triple jump to beat her own record in the event. Spenner also owns the outdoor long jump record which set set in March at Wayne State.
For her efforts, Spenner was named the Summit League's track & field female athlete of the week for the first time during the outdoor season. She won the award a league-record six times during the indoor season.
On Friday at the Doane College Relays, Amanda Vorthmann set the school record in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:21.15 to win the event. She already owns the school record in the 10,000 meters set earlier this season at Wayne State.
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. As noted, if included, Spenner would rank second in the heptathlon and ninth in the long jump.
In the Summit League, several Mavericks rank in the top eight in the league. Spenner's long jump mark and heptathlon score lead the league while her triple jump distance ranks second and her high jump mark fourth. She's also second in the 200 meters and fifth in the 800 meters. Vorthmann leads the Summit in the 10,000 meters and is ranked seventh in the 5,000. Maja Mihalinec has the Summit's top time in the 100 meters and is third in the 200 meters. Katarina Zarudnaya is second in the Summit in the 800 meters and ranks fifh in the 1,500. Lauren Psota is sixth in the 800 meters. Spenner and Kathie-Lee Laidley rank 4-5 in the 100 meter hurdles while Vorthmann is fifth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, and Nicole Behm is sixth. UNO has the league's second-best 4 x 100 meter relay time and its fifth-best 4 x 400 meter relay time. Laidley is second in the high jump and third in the long jump while Denneil Shaw is sixth in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump. Amanda Alexander is sixth in the heptathlon. Links to the full NCAA and Summit League outdoor performance lists are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks will stay in-state next week for the Nebraska Open on Saturday, May 4 at 2 p.m. in Lincoln. It is their final meet before the Summit League outdoor championship.
This Week
One week after heading west for competition, the Omaha track & field team points its compass to the East for a pair of meets. The Mavericks will take part in the prestigious Drake Relays on April 24-27 while also competing at the Kip Janvrin Open at Simpson College on April 25-26.
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.
Four Meets, Three School Records
The Mavericks competed in four meets in California and Nebraska and came away with three school records last week.
Sami Spenner continued her assault on the UNO record books by setting the heptathlon and triple jump records in two separate meets. On Thursday at the Mt. SAC Relays, she won the final event of the heptathlon to win the event outright with a score of 5,806, a mark that ranks second in the country and fifth in the world. Two days later, she had a leap of 40-02 3/4 in the triple jump to beat her own record in the event. Spenner also owns the outdoor long jump record which set set in March at Wayne State.
For her efforts, Spenner was named the Summit League's track & field female athlete of the week for the first time during the outdoor season. She won the award a league-record six times during the indoor season.
On Friday at the Doane College Relays, Amanda Vorthmann set the school record in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:21.15 to win the event. She already owns the school record in the 10,000 meters set earlier this season at Wayne State.
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. As noted, if included, Spenner would rank second in the heptathlon and ninth in the long jump.
In the Summit League, several Mavericks rank in the top eight in the league. Spenner's long jump mark and heptathlon score lead the league while her triple jump distance ranks second and her high jump mark fourth. She's also second in the 200 meters and fifth in the 800 meters. Vorthmann leads the Summit in the 10,000 meters and is ranked seventh in the 5,000. Maja Mihalinec has the Summit's top time in the 100 meters and is third in the 200 meters. Katarina Zarudnaya is second in the Summit in the 800 meters and ranks fifh in the 1,500. Lauren Psota is sixth in the 800 meters. Spenner and Kathie-Lee Laidley rank 4-5 in the 100 meter hurdles while Vorthmann is fifth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, and Nicole Behm is sixth. UNO has the league's second-best 4 x 100 meter relay time and its fifth-best 4 x 400 meter relay time. Laidley is second in the high jump and third in the long jump while Denneil Shaw is sixth in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump. Amanda Alexander is sixth in the heptathlon. Links to the full NCAA and Summit League outdoor performance lists are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks will stay in-state next week for the Nebraska Open on Saturday, May 4 at 2 p.m. in Lincoln. It is their final meet before the Summit League outdoor championship.
Players Mentioned
Jumps/Multi-Even
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Jumps/Multi-Even
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & FieldTuesday, September 01
Wednesday, August 26
Friday, August 21
Tuesday, April 21
