Multiple PR's Highlight Summit League Championships for Mavericks
Feb 26, 2022 | Track & Field
Grand Forks, North Dakota - The Omaha track & field team completed it's indoor season at the two-day Summit League Indoor Championships hosted by the University of North Dakota.Â
Roxy Denton and Taylor Ramaekers started off the Mavericks with lifetime best scores in the pentathlon. Denton's score was 65 points better than her previous highest score and she had lifetime bests in the shot put, long jump and 800 meters. Ramaekers scored 66 points more than her previous best earlier this season and 145 points better than last year. Within the pentathlon, she had lifetime bests in the 60 meter hurdles, shot put and 800 meters.Â
In the 400 meters, Macy Persinger continued to improve with a indoor personal best of 59.79, which was 3/4 of a second better than her previous fastest and a full two seconds better than her time at the beginning of the season.Â
Zoe Christenson finished off her indoor season with yet another lifetime best in the mile running a 5:28.14. That time was nearly 24 seconds better than her first mile race of the season.Â
On Friday, Paige Blackford dropped 2.5 seconds off her 800 meters lifetime best, running a 2:12.22 in the prelims. That time qualified her to the finals and ranks fifth in UNO history. On Saturday, Blackford came back to finish eighth in the finals.Â
The all-freshman distance medley relay team of Gwen Steffen, Brianna Fulton, Olivia Steffen and Madeline Yardley ran Omaha's fastest time since 2015 to finish sixth.Â
In the field events, Mary Fennessy had herself quite the meet. On Friday in the weight throw, she improved her PR by seven inches and further solidifying her spot at seventh in UNO history. On Saturday, Fennessy's throw of 44'5.25" made her one of only two freshman to qualifying for finals. That distance moved her up to fifth in UNO history. Kinsey Scheffler also threw a lifetime best of 39'9.75", improving on her previous best this season by over a foot.Â
In the high jump, Kaitlin Hellbusch and Sheridan Rodriguez scored points for the Mavericks in the team competition. Rodriguez's jump of 5'5" earned her fourth place while Hellbusch cleared 5'3" to put her in a tie for seventh place.
The meet ended with the 4x400 meter relay team of Macy Persinger, Gwen Steffen, Brianna Fulton and Paige Blackford finishing seventh with a time of 3:58.16.Â
Overall the Mavericks indoor season consisted of seven new entrances or improvements in Omaha's all-time top 10 list:Â
Taylor Ramaekers: Pentathlon - 9th
Maya Nachtigal: 5000m - 8th
Lucy Turner: Weight Throw - Tie for 8th
Sheridan Rodriguez: High Jump - Tie for 7th
Mary Fennessy: Weight Throw - 7th
Mary Fennessy: Shot Put - 5th
Paige Blackford: 800m - 5th
"The conference championship is always an interesting meet," said head coach Chris Richardson. "We strive for physical greatness while also trying to keep minds grounded like it's any other competition. We had some good things happen with our scorers and top 10 performances from Mary and Paige. We also had somethings that we wish we could have changed. We learn from the mistakes and figure out how to prepare differently next time. But we can't let one meet define our entire season. Celebrate our successes and learn from the mistakes. We take everything from this season and take it outdoors."
The Mavericks will open their outdoor season on April 2 at the USD Early Bird in Vermillion, South Dakota.Â
Roxy Denton and Taylor Ramaekers started off the Mavericks with lifetime best scores in the pentathlon. Denton's score was 65 points better than her previous highest score and she had lifetime bests in the shot put, long jump and 800 meters. Ramaekers scored 66 points more than her previous best earlier this season and 145 points better than last year. Within the pentathlon, she had lifetime bests in the 60 meter hurdles, shot put and 800 meters.Â
In the 400 meters, Macy Persinger continued to improve with a indoor personal best of 59.79, which was 3/4 of a second better than her previous fastest and a full two seconds better than her time at the beginning of the season.Â
Zoe Christenson finished off her indoor season with yet another lifetime best in the mile running a 5:28.14. That time was nearly 24 seconds better than her first mile race of the season.Â
On Friday, Paige Blackford dropped 2.5 seconds off her 800 meters lifetime best, running a 2:12.22 in the prelims. That time qualified her to the finals and ranks fifth in UNO history. On Saturday, Blackford came back to finish eighth in the finals.Â
The all-freshman distance medley relay team of Gwen Steffen, Brianna Fulton, Olivia Steffen and Madeline Yardley ran Omaha's fastest time since 2015 to finish sixth.Â
In the field events, Mary Fennessy had herself quite the meet. On Friday in the weight throw, she improved her PR by seven inches and further solidifying her spot at seventh in UNO history. On Saturday, Fennessy's throw of 44'5.25" made her one of only two freshman to qualifying for finals. That distance moved her up to fifth in UNO history. Kinsey Scheffler also threw a lifetime best of 39'9.75", improving on her previous best this season by over a foot.Â
In the high jump, Kaitlin Hellbusch and Sheridan Rodriguez scored points for the Mavericks in the team competition. Rodriguez's jump of 5'5" earned her fourth place while Hellbusch cleared 5'3" to put her in a tie for seventh place.
The meet ended with the 4x400 meter relay team of Macy Persinger, Gwen Steffen, Brianna Fulton and Paige Blackford finishing seventh with a time of 3:58.16.Â
Overall the Mavericks indoor season consisted of seven new entrances or improvements in Omaha's all-time top 10 list:Â
Taylor Ramaekers: Pentathlon - 9th
Maya Nachtigal: 5000m - 8th
Lucy Turner: Weight Throw - Tie for 8th
Sheridan Rodriguez: High Jump - Tie for 7th
Mary Fennessy: Weight Throw - 7th
Mary Fennessy: Shot Put - 5th
Paige Blackford: 800m - 5th
"The conference championship is always an interesting meet," said head coach Chris Richardson. "We strive for physical greatness while also trying to keep minds grounded like it's any other competition. We had some good things happen with our scorers and top 10 performances from Mary and Paige. We also had somethings that we wish we could have changed. We learn from the mistakes and figure out how to prepare differently next time. But we can't let one meet define our entire season. Celebrate our successes and learn from the mistakes. We take everything from this season and take it outdoors."
The Mavericks will open their outdoor season on April 2 at the USD Early Bird in Vermillion, South Dakota.Â
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Distance
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Distance
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Sprints
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SJ
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Multis
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Throws
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Distance
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