VERMILLION, S.D. – The Omaha track & field got its indoor season underway at the USD Invitational at South Dakota on Saturday.
"It was good get out and compete again," said head coach
Chris Richardson. "For our freshman it's been almost two years since their last meet. There was a little bit of rust here and there, but it's a good starting point for us."
The Mavericks picked up three spots in the top eight in the 60-meter hurdles.
Jaycee Schettler finished sixth with a lifetime best time of 9.53.
Roxy Denton put up a time of 9.56, good for seventh in her collegiate debut.
Kylie Johnson, also in her first collegiate race, was eighth with a time of 9.58.
In the 60 meters,
Carrie Simonson ran a time of 8.00 to finish fifth while
Nina Cuevas, in her first collegiate race, took seventh in a time of 8.02.
In the 400 meters,
Vanessa Gunderson put up a lifetime best, running a time of 1:03.58, good for sixth.
Chloe Sabatka, in her collegiate debut, was right behind at 1:05.56, good for 10th.
In the distance events,
Joanna Topham finished ninth in the 3,000 meters with a lifetime best time of 11:21.21. Freshman
Taylor Sporrer was 10th in her collegiate debut with a time of 11:29.37, and
Danielle Howard ran a lifetime best time of 11:55.84 to finish 14th.
Topham also was Omaha's top finisher in the mile run, posting a time of 5:37.56, good for 13th.
In the field events, freshman
Taylor Ramaekers led the way in the long jump with a jump of 16-09 ¼, good for seventh. Schettler put up a half-foot lifetime best with a leap of 16-04 ¾ to finish eighth overall.
Kaitlin Hellbusch finished fourth in the high jump with a mark of 5-01 ¾. Teammate
Sheridan Rodriguez tied for fifth with a jump of 4-11 ¾.
Omaha concluded the meet in the 4x200 meter relay. The team of Schettler, Cuevas,
Sekiya Simmons and Simonson finished third in a time of 1:48.37. UNO's second team of Johnson, Denton, Ramaekers and Sabatka took fifth in a time of 1:55.04.
In the team standings, the Mavericks finished in fourth place with a score of 58.50.
The Mavericks will return to USD next weekend to take part in the Dakota Realty Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 10 a.m.
