VERMILLION, S.D. – The Omaha track & field team racked up 15 lifetime bests at the South Dakota Tuneup, its last meet before the Summit League Championships.
"This was a great day for a lot of people," said head coach
Chris Richardson. "The amount of lifetime bests and the amount they beat them by was pretty amazing.
"The message for today was to focus on the process and let that translate into the performance, and they did just that."
Sophomore
Carrie Simonson picked up bests on both the track and in the field. In the long jump, she posted a leap of 18-11 ¼, the sixth best mark in the event in school history and nine inches farther than her previous best.
On the track, she ran a lifetime best 200 meter time of 25.15, good for seventh place and best on the team this season.
Simonson's PR in the 200 was part of a parade of top performances.
Nina Cuevas tied her lifetime best with a time of 26.10.
Roxy Denton clocked a lifetime best of 26.86, good for 28th. Taylor Johnson was right behind with a best of 26.89, and
Taylor Ramaekers clocked a lifetime best of 27.65.
In the 100 meters, Cuevas put up another lifetime best, running a time of 12.60 which put her 13th.
In the 400 meters,
Scarlett Hill was UNO's top finisher with a time of 59.60, good for 11th.
Paige Blackford ran a lifetime best time of 1:01.09 that had her 15th and second on the team this season.
Joanna Topham led a group of four Mavericks in the 1,500. She ran a time of 4:47.82 which was just .32 from equaling her lifetime best. She finished eighth.
Maya Nachtigal was 20th in a time of 5:00.17 while both
Danielle Howard and
Zoe Christenson set lifetime bests with times of 5:02.86 and 5:21.42 respectively.
In the 400 meter hurdles,
Vanessa Gunderson clocked a time of 1:06.47, her second lifetime best in the event his year.
In the field, Ramaekers joined Simonson in posting a lifetime best in the long jump. Her mark of 16-11 ½ was good for 11th place and was almost seven inches farther than her previous best.
Kaitlin Hellbusch put up a lifetime best in the high jump with a mark of 5-04 ½.
In the discus,
Lucy Turner led the Mavericks with a mark of 121-10, good for 28th place, while
Kinsey Scheffler was 31st in a lifetime best of 119-05.
In the hammer throw, Scheffler led the Mavericks with a toss of 121-09 while Turner posted a lifetime best mark of 111-10.
The Mavericks now ready for the Summit League Championships back in Vermillion on Thursday-Saturday, May 13-15.
