Weekly Release

This Week in Mavs Cross Country
The UNO cross country team runs at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Yellowjacket Classic at Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa.

Mavericks Finish Fourth at Tim Young Dakota Days Challenge
UNO cross country ran into some tough competition in Vermillion, finishing fourth at the Tim Young Dakota Days Challenge with 89 team points. Junior Amanda Vorthmann led the way once again for a Maverick team that earned 89 points in the 5K race.
Six runners competed on Saturday for UNO, led by Vorthmann, who achieved her second straight 4th place finish. It was the fourth consecutive race in which she finished first for the team, this time with a time of 18:10. Freshman Kristin Rogers followed Vorthmann with an 18th place finish with a time of 19:06. Finishing third for the Mavs was junior Nicole Behm in 28th place with a time of 20:16.  Fourth for the Mavs went to freshman Ashley Kildow, finishing the race in 31st place with a time of 20:21. Brittany Phillips immediately followed Kildow across the finish line earning her a 32nd place finish, fifth for the Mavericks, with a time of 20:24. The sixth runner for the Mavs was sophomore runner Kayla Fenske, who finished in 40th with a time of 21:08.

Mavericks Earn Sixth at Briar Cliff Invite
It was a day of season bests for the UNO cross country team at the Briar Cliff Invite.  All 10 Mavericks ran their top times over 5K to earn 138 points and sixth place on Saturday.
Junior Amanda Vorthmann led the Mavs with her fourth-place finish (18:06). This was the third consecutive race in which she finished at the top for UNO, as well as her highest individual place. Freshman Kristin Rogers finished in second place for the Mavs, 19th overall, with a time of 18:59.  Earning the third slot for Mavs was Mikayla Peck, a freshman who finished 37th overall with a time of 19:31. Finishing fourth at McCook Lake was junior Nicole Behm, coming in at 19:56 to finish 47th overall.  Following Behm to round out the top five for the Mavericks was freshman runner Lydia Martin, who finished the race 52nd overall with a time of 20:04.

Mavs Take Seventh at Rocky Mountain Shootout
The UNO cross country team finished seventh overall at the 26th annual Rocky Mountain Shootout in Boulder, Colo.  The Mavericks earned 135 team points and were led by junior  Amanda Vorthmann's 39th place finish.
Vorthmann finished with a time of 23:40 over the 6K course in the mile high altitude of Boulder. Freshman Mikayla Peck raced to second place for the Maverick squad with a time of 24:24, her highest team finish this season. Freshman Kristin Rogers finished 64th overall and third for the team with a time of 24:41. Finishing fourth for the Mavericks was junior Brittany Phillips. She recorded an 81st place finish with a time of 25:15. Sophomore runner Kayla Fenske finished fifth for the Mavs with a time of 25:42, good for 93rd overall.
    
UNO Cross Country Team Finishes 13th at Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational
The UNO cross country team competed in its second race of the young season at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational. The Mavericks earned 368 points, good for13th overall, with junior Amanda Vorthmann leading the way.
Vorthmann led the Mavs, placing 32nd overall with a time of 22:54.  Freshman Kristin Rogers was the second fastest runner for UNO after leading the way at the UNO/Creighton Classic on September 3rd.  Rogers finished 70th overall in Lincoln with a time of 23:40. Lydia Martin finished third for UNO with a time of 24:12, good for 99th overall. Rounding out the top five for the Mavericks were freshman Mikayla Peck and junior Nicole Behm. Peck and Behm finished 110th and 143rd overall with times of 24:25 and 25:02, respectively.

Mavericks Finish Third in UNO/Creighton Classic
The UNO cross country team kicked off its season at home running at the annual UNO/Creighton Invitational. The Mavericks finished third, led by the promising performance of freshman Kristin Rogers. The Mavericks earned 84 points in the six-team race.
Rogers posted a time of 20:06, good enough for eighth overall and first for the Mavs.  Amanda Vorthmann came in second for the Mavs, completing the 5k race with a time of 20:19, which put her 14th overall. Rounding out the top five for the Mavs were runners Lydia Martin (21st), Mikayla Peck (25th), and Nicole Behm (27th).  They finished with times of 21:06, 21:28 and 21:36 respectively.  This was a strong start to the season for a young team that features five freshmen.

The Coaches
Steve Smith is in his sixth season as the head coach of the UNO cross country program after more than two decades of success as an assistant in Kansas, Nebraska and UNO.  Smith was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association indoor Coach of the Year after guiding the Mavericks to a stunning win in the 2009 MIAA Indoor Championships.  Four Mavericks earned indoor All-American status under his direction. Smith repeated that feat the following year, earning Coach of the Year honors for another MIAA Indoor Championship.
In 2007, Smith guided the Mavericks to their first North Central Conference Indoor title since 1981 and he was named the 2007 NCC Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year for his efforts. Under Smith's guidance, UNO athletes won 11 NCC titles in 2007 and had six athletes earn All-American accolades. Before UNO, Smith coached at Barton Community College in Kansas, Nebraska, and Wichita State.
Marc Bierbaum is in his second season as an assistant coach for the UNO cross country and track and field teams. Bierbaum came to UNO from Dana College where he led the distance program for three and a half years. During his short stint at Dana, he led 18 runners to all- conference performances and 30 runners to the NAIA National Championship meets. He coached one All-American and 26 Academic All-Americans.
Prior to coaching at the collegiate ranks, Bierbaum was the head cross country and assistant track coach at Westside High School in Omaha from 2002-2006.  In that time, he coached 50 state qualifiers in cross country and track with nine of them medaling in the state's biggest class.
Bierbaum was a three-time national qualifier at Dana, once for cross country and twice for track.  He ran the marathon in the 2000 and 2001 NAIA National Outdoor Track and Field meets. He finished 9th both years.  He graduated from Dana in 2001 with a degree in K-12 art education. He is a traveling art teacher for the Omaha Public Schools.

Next Up for the Mavs...
The Maverick cross country team will be in action is at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5 at the University of Sioux Falls Independent Championship in Harrisburg, S.D.