Omaha Begins Outdoor Season at Tulsa Duels
Mar 18, 2015 | Track & Field
This Week
The Omaha track & field team begins its outdoor season at the Tulsa Duels in Tulsa, Okla. on Saturday, March 21. The event will begin at 9 a.m. at the Hurricane Track Stadium.
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.
Pre-Season Picks
The Omaha track & field team has been picked fifth in the Summit League's annual pre-season coaches' poll.
The Mavericks received 25 points in the voting to fall just behind Oral Roberts (30) and just ahead of Western Illinois (19).
North Dakota State, the seven-time defending Summit League women's champion, was picked to again win the league, receiving seven first-place votes and 49 points total. South Dakota received the other first-place vote and finished second in the poll with 43 points. South Dakota State was third with 37.
IUPUI (7th/12 pts.) and Fort Wayne (8th/9 pts.) rounded out the poll.
The Mavericks, who recently finished fifth at the 2015 Summit League Indoor Championship, came in fourth at last year's outdoor championship.
Back On Track
Seniors Denniel Shaw and Katarina Zarudnaya sat out during the indoor season but will be competing again in the outdoor competitions for the Mavericks.
Shaw will bolster the Mavs' jumping crew, posting season best marks of 36-08 1/2 in the triple jump and 18-04 1/4 in the long jump last season. In the distance category, Zarudaya posted season best times of 4:35.84 in the mile and 2:12.86 in the 800 meters in last year's outdoor season.
Both seniors will be an asset to the Omaha track & field team with a combined 11 top eight finishes in last year's outdoor season.
All-Summit League Honors
Two Omaha track & field athletes were named to the Summit League Indoor Track & Field All-League team.
Freshman Stephanie Ahrens and sophomore Taryn Derickson both were selected for their performances in the high jump. Ahrens finished in second place with a mark of 5-07 ¼ while Derickson came in third with a jump of 5-05 ¼.
Earlier in the season, Ahrens broke the school record with a jump of 5-10 ¾ at the Holiday Inn Invitational in Lincoln, Neb. Derickson posted a personal best jump of 5-06 at the USD Twilight Meet in Vermillion, S.D. on Feb. 20.
The All-League Teams are based on the student-athletes' performances at the Summit League Indoor Championship meet. The top-three finishers in each event were selected to the team. A total of 47 women from across the league received the honor.
The “Last” Season
The Omaha track & field team is in its fourth and final year of reclassification from Division II to Division I. The Mavericks are eligible for NCAA competition beginning with the 2015-16 season.
Up Next For The Mavericks
The Mavericks will compete again in the Dakota Duels on Saturday, April 4 in Sioux Falls, S.D. The start time has not yet been announced.
