Weekly Release

This Week
The UNO track & field team will head down I-80 this week to take part in the Nebraska Tune-Up on Friday, Feb. 17 beginning at 12:30 p.m. from the Devaney Center Indoor Track.  Some of UNO's athletes will travel to the John Dalton Invitational at South Dakota, also on Friday.  Competition begins at 3:30 p.m.  These will be the Mavericks' last competitions of the indoor season.

The Coaches
Steve Smith is in his sixth season as the head coach of the University of Nebraska Omaha track program after more than two decades of success as an assistant at Barton Community College, Nebraska and at 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 in March. Smith's team also finished the 2010-11 season 20th by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Smith is assisted by Chris Richardson (jumps and pentathalon/heptathalon), Marc Bierbaum (distance) and Rich Emsick (throws).

Last Meet
Last weekend, the Mavericks set several meet and fieldhouse records while competing at the Concordia Indoor Invitational.

Amanda Vorthmann won the 1,000 meters with a meet and Walz Human Performance Complex record time of 2:59.95, a new personal best.  Teammate Nicole Behm finished sixth, also posting a personal best, with a time of 3:10.85.

Vorthmann also won the mile in a meet and fieldhouse record time of 5:03.78.  It was a mark nearly four seconds faster than her previous personal best.

Sami Spenner posted a long jump mark of 19-3 ¼ to win the event and set the fieldhouse record.  Teammate Kathie-Lee Laidley was second with a jump of 18-10 ½.

Spenner also earned a personal best mark of 40-0 ¾ in the triple jump to win the event.

Laidley won the 60 meter hurdles with a personal best time of 8.96.  Spenner was third with another personal best time, 9.03.  Jody-Anne Coore took fourth in 9.40.

UNO's other first-place finish came in the 400 meters where Lauren Psota won in a time of 59.45.

NCAA Championship
As UNO begins its transition to Division I, the Mavericks are unable to compete in the NCAA Championships this season.  Therefore, they are not included in the national indoor qualifier list.  However if UNO's marks were included, Spenner's personal best pentathlon score of 3,810 earned at the Jack Jennett Invitational at Northern Iowa on Jan. 27 would rank 22nd in the nation.

All-Academic Team
Last season, the UNO track & field team earned an All-Academic Team  honor. Overall the athletes acquired a GPA of 3.19 and had 12 student-athletes on the Dean's List for the fall semester and 10 at the end of the spring semester. To earn all-academic honors, the team must accumulate a GPA of at least 3.00. Eight Mavericks also were named USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees for the 2010-11 academic year. The athletes who made the list were: Jody-Ann Coore, Kayla Koepke, Lianne McNaughton, Maja Mihalinec, Heather Minssen, Anja Puc, Celeste Robinson and Sami Spenner.     

Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks will be off for one month before returning to the track for the outdoor season.  They will begin at the Emporia State Spring Twilight meet on Saturday, March 17 in Emporia, Kan.