Mavericks Resume Indoor Season at Nebraska
Jan 14, 2015 | Track & Field
This Week
The Omaha track & field team resumes its indoor season at the Holiday Inn Invitational hosted by Nebraska in Lincoln. The two-day event will be held on Friday and Saturday, January 16-17. Competition begins at 2:00 p.m. each day from the Devaney Center Indoor Track.
The Coaches
Chris Richardson is in his ninth season with the Omaha track & field program, his second as its head coach after seven seasons as an assistant. Richardson helped guide the Mavericks through some of their most successful years including three conference championships and three top-five NCAA finishes. The highlight of that stretch included a fourth-place finish at the 2010 indoor championship prior to the Mavericks' reclassification to Division I. In 2011, he was named the USTFCCCA South Central Regional Assistant Coach of the Year.
Richardson is assisted by Marc Bierbaum and Ryan Finley. Bierbaum is in his fifth season coaching the distance events in addition to coaching the cross country team. Finley is in his second season, coaching both sprints and jumps. Cliff Cisar and former UNO standout and multiple record holder Sami Spenner are volunteer assistant coaches.
Previous Meet
The Mavericks opened their indoor season at the K-State Winter Invitational on December 13. Omaha had nine athletes place in the top 10 in five different events. Freshman Stephanie Ahrens tied the school indoor high jump record of 5-10, earning her second place.
Ahrens also placed second in the triple jump (36-02 1/4). Three other Maverick freshman placed in the triple jump: Noni Henderson (third), Emily Everitt (fourth) and Alexis Allgood (fifth).
Henderson also was fifth in the long jump (17-04), and Nicole Liske took seventh (16-03 3/4).
Another freshman, Maddie Buller, placed third in the 60 meter hurdles (9.31). In the 60 meter dash, Terri Armstrong took third (7.87) while Liske was seventh (8.15) and Tschida Johnson was eighth (8.35).
The Mavericks edged Oklahoma State, 50-48 while losing to Kansas State, 95-37 in dual meet scoring.
A Look at The Mavericks
The Mavericks will be long on youth during the 2014-15 season. Twenty-three of their 36 athletes are either freshmen (11) or sophomores (12).
The Mavericks' roster is dominated by distance runners (16) and, in those events, will be led by seniors Ashley Kildow, Kristin Rogers and MiKayla Peck. The Mavericks will look to underclassmen like Kristen Carmichael, Catherine Davison and Perla Gutierrez to provide depth.
Senior Amanda Alexander and sophomore Macy Woitzel will be the Mavericks' multi-eventers. Alexander is coming off a personal best score of 4,077 in the heptathlon during last year's Summit League Outdoor Championship while Woitzel competed just once in the heptathlon last year.
Seniors Terri Armstrong and Celeste Robinson are the veterans of UNO's sprinting corps while sophomores Payton Horacek and Nicole Liske will endeavor to increase their contributions in that department.
In the jumps, Horacek and Liske will join Alexander in earning points for the Mavericks while promising freshman Stephanie Ahrens is expected to contribute.
In the throwing events, the Mavericks are particularly young with sophomores Megan Adams and Amanda Conlin joined by freshman Lauren Doeschot.
Senior short distance specialist Katarina Zarudnaya and her fellow senior jumper Denneil Shaw will compete outdoors only.
The “Last” Season
This is the final season for Omaha track & field in its four-year reclassification from Division II to Division I. The Mavericks, who have never finished lower than fourth in the Summit League indoor or outdoor championships, are eligible for NCAA competition beginning with the 2015-16 season.
Up Next For The Mavericks
The Mavericks will see action again on January 24 at South Dakota State. They'll compete in Jim Emmerich/Alumni Invitational in Brookings, S.D. beginning at Noon.
