Weekly Release
This Week in Mavs Cross Country
The UNO cross country team opens its 2011 season by co-hosting the UNO/Creighton Classic on Saturday Sept. 3 at 10 a.m. The meet will be held at the Chili Greens Complex at 6808 Spring Street in Omaha. Admission is free.
Season Preview
The UNO Cross Country team begins the 2011 season with designs on building around last season's MIAA Freshman of the Year
Katarina Zarudnaya as it transitions to Division I competition. Zarudnaya made her debut with a seventh overall finish at the MIAA Championship and followed that performance with a fifth overall finish in the NCAA South Central Regional to earn a spot in the National Championship as an individual.
Nebraska Omaha opens its season at the Chili Greens Sports Complex running in the UNO/Creighton Classic. After beginning at home, the Mavericks hit five other cities in the Midwest to conclude the regular season schedule. Those stops include trips to Lincoln, Boulder, Colo.; Vermillion, S.D.; Lamoni, Iowa; and Sioux Falls, S.D.
Led by Zarudnaya, a national qualifier, the Mavericks have five runners with considerable experience looking to set an example for six incoming freshman. Youth is something the Mavericks have plenty of this year. In fact, the lone senior on the team,
Katie Becker, is making the transition from the UNO swim team where she was a four-time letter winner.
Zarudnaya only participated in UNO's final four races last year, yet still won the MIAA Freshman of the Year honors. Her 21:52 time in the MIAA championship earned her a seventh overall finish as well as the second-best 6k time in UNO history.
Also bringing experience to the table is junior
Brittany Phillips. After finishing first for UNO in her first collegiate race as a freshman, Phillips has continued to be a top performer for the team. She appeared in seven races last year for the Mavs, finished in the top three for UNO in six of those seven races. Phillips also was named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll last season.
Junior
Nicole Behm is also one of the Mavericks to watch this year. Behm ran in eight events for the Mavericks last year and was UNO's top finisher at the Mount Marty Invitational with a time of 20:30. Behm was also named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll last season.
Sophomore
Kayla Fenske also will play a key role for the Mavs this season. In her freshman year, Fenske finished first for UNO twice, at the Viking Invitational hosted by Grandview College and at the Briar Cliff Invitational with times of 20:44 and 19:48 respectively. Fenske was also a member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.
Additionally, the Mavs will hope to have junior Amanda Vorthman on the course. After being voted Female Athlete of the Year at Iowa Central Community College, Vorthman was forced to sit out last year with an injury. With her injury healed, the Mavericks look for great things out of the former Junior College All-American.
Joining these Maverick runners are six incoming freshman for Coaches Steve Smith and Marc Bierbaum: four local runners-
Kelsey Green (Papillion-LaVista South),
Ashley Kildow (Millard South), Kelly Kinsel (Omaha Mercy), and Mikayla Peck (Papillion-LaVista South) and two Iowa runners:
Lydia Martin (Marshalltown) and
Kristin Rogers (Cedar Rapids Washington).
The Coaches
Steve Smith is in his sixth season as the head coach of the University of Nebraska Omaha 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 Assocation 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.
UNO Roster Showcases Area Talent
The UNO Cross Country team currently has eight runners from Nebraska and three runners from Iowa. Six of these runners make up the freshman class.
In all, seven different Nebraska high schools and three different Iowa high schools are represented on the roster. Seven of the high schools are located within an hour of the Omaha area. There is only one member of the roster outside of the Nebraska/Iowa area...way outside.
Katarina Zarudnaya comes all the way to UNO from Belgorod, Russia to join the Mavericks. The Mavs' roster consists of one senior, three juniors, two sophomores and six freshmen.
Mavericks Reclassify to Division I in 2011-12
Nebraska Omaha announced in March 2011 its plan to reclassify from NCAA Division II to Division I, beginning with the 2011-12 school year. UNO, which was previously a member of the MIAA, accepted an invitation to join the Summit League and will compete as a full-fledged member with a regular-season conference schedule in 2012-13. The Mavericks are not eligible for league or NCAA Championship competition until the 2015 season.
Next Up for the Mavs...
The Mavericks will next run on Saturday, Sept. 17 at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational. The start time is at 10 a.m. in Lincoln, Neb.
