Weekly Release

This Week
The UNO track & field team heads to Texas this weekend to compete in the Bobby Lane Invitational at the University of Texas-Arlington on Saturday, March 24.  It is the Mavericks' second southern meet of the outdoor season after beginning at Tulsa last weekend.

The Coaches
Steve Smith is in his sixth season as the head coach of the University of Nebraska Omaha track program.  He served as an assistant for one year prior to taking the head coach's position.  Smith was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Indoor Coach of the Year in 2009 after guiding the Mavericks to a stunning win in the MIAA Indoor Championships.  He earned the award the next winter, guiding the Mavs to a repeat as MIAA Indoor Champs.   Overall, Smith has guided the Mavericks to three conference championships and three top-five finishes at the NCAA Division II Championship including a fourth-place finish indoors in 2010. Smith is assisted by Chris Richardson (jumps and pentathalon/heptathalon), who was named  the USTFCCCA South Central Regional Assistant Coach of the Year in 2011.  Marc Bierbaum coaches the distance events, and Rich Emsick handles the throws.

Last Meet
The UNO track and field team opened the outdoor season with four first place finishes at the Tulsa Duals on March 17 at Hurricane Stadium.

As part of the dual format, the Mavericks were scored head-to-head against the other participating women's teams.  They won two of the five matchups, edging host Tulsa, 48-47, and beating Kansas State, 54-48.

Kathie-Lee Laidley picked up a win in the long jump with a leap of 19-03 1/2.  Teammate Denneil Shaw was third with a jump of 18-03.

Laidley also took second in the high jump with a mark of 5-05

Shaw earned first in the triple jump with a mark of 38-11.  Teammate Jessica Ripp was third with a leap of 37-03 1/4.

Amanda Vorthmann won the 2,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 7:13.59.  She also earned fifth in the 3,000 meters in a time of 10:24.53.

Terri Armstrong picked up UNO's fourth first-place finish, winning the 100 meters in a time of 12.41.  She also earned second in the 200 meters with a time of 25.48.

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 qualifier list during the indoor or outdoor season.  However if UNO's indoor marks were included, Sami Spenner's personal best pentathlon score of 3,810 earned at the Jack Jennett Invitational at Northern Iowa on Jan. 27 ranked 40th in the nation.  Outdoors, Laidley would rank in a tie for 58th in the high jump.

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 have a week off before competing closer to home on Saturday, April 7 when they head to Maryville, Mo. for the Student Body Northwest Open hosted by Northwest Missouri State.