The Mavericks wrapped up the 2023 outdoor season in Fargo, N.D. at the Summit League Championships. The meet began with a bang on Thursday with Mary Fennessy in the hammer throw. On her very first attempt of the competition, she launched the ball, wire and handle, a lifetime best of 156'5". That distance moved her up to 6th all-time in school history. Each of her 3 throws were only separated by a total of six inches. In the other throwing event of the day, Chloe Cox threw a college best distance of 114'9" qualifying her for the finals.
Fennessy wasn't done yet as she came back to finish 7th in the shot put on Friday. Her distance of 46'0.75" was a season best by almost two feet, the 2nd farthest throw of her career and just 2.75 inches short of her all-time best. Over in the high jump, Kaitlin Hellbusch tied for 8th place with a first attempt clearance at 5'3.25". She narrowly missed the next bar at 5'5.25".
Omaha's first running event on Friday saw Taylor Ramaekers run a lifetime best time of 15.09 in the 100m hurdles. Right after that, senior Carrie Simonson tied her personal best in the 100m with a time of 12.21. Just behind her, Nina Cuevas ran a season best time of 12.46. As the oval races commenced, Freshman Bella Fleming ran a personal best 400m of 1:00.27 with teammate Macy Persinger running her 2nd fastest time of the year in 58.90. As the day was going smoothly, mother nature had different plans as lighting forced an hour and a half delay just as the women's 800m was approaching the starting line. Despite the delay, Gwen Steffen was able to run a season best time of 2:13.63, just missing out on making finals. That time was also the 2nd fastest of her career.
On the final day of competition, the 4x100m team of Tania Gleason, Nina Cuevas, Bella Fleming and Carrie Simonson ran a time of 47.90 for 7th place. In the 1500m, a pair of Mavericks walked away with lifetime bests. Freshman Sydney Beaudin shaved a second off her previous best with a 5:06.14. Emily Treptow had a strong race in the competitive field to finish in 4:50.32. In what looked more like a cross country race than a track event, 37 competitors lined up for the women's 5000m. Senior Maret Elgren ran a lifetime best of 18:09.48 despite running the 10000m 48 hours earlier. Maddie Yardley had a heck of a race to knock 23 seconds off her previous fastest. Her time of 18:03.71 was the 10th fastest time in Omaha school history. Saving her best for her last race of the season, Freshman Kamryn Ensley finished in 7th overall with the 3rd fastest time in school history. Her time of 17:13.15 dropped nearly 20 seconds off her previous fastest time. In the final event of the day, the 4x400m relay team of Macy Persinger, Gwen Steffen, Paige Blackford and Vanessa Gunderson finished in 8th with a time of 4:00.66.
"There were some events that I wish we could do over. Some people definitely got into their own heads, but that's part of the learning process," Omaha head coach Chris Richardson said. "As we learn more, we become more comfortable in our abilities and gain confidence. If we make a mistake, we figure why so that we don't repeat it in the future. On the flip side, we had others who came out and competed well. Getting lifetime bests at the conference meet is the goal and we had a number of people do just that. Overall, for the season, I am very pleased at how we competed. Week after week we had personal best broken, and we had 12 new or improved performances in our top 10 lists. The majority of those individuals returning next year so the future is bright."
Top 10 List Individuals
Tania Gleason: 200m 10th
Vanessa Gunderson 400m Hurdles 10th
Maddie Yardley: 5000m - 10th
Lauren Metzger: 5000m - 8th
Chloe Walker: Discus - 8th
Mary Fennessy: Hammer Throw - 6th
Maya Nachtigal: 5000m - 6th
Taylor Ramaekers: Triple Jump - 6th
Zoe Christenson: Steeple Chase - 5th
Lauren Metzger: 10000m - 5th
Kamryn Ensley: 5000m - 3rd
Emma Klein: Triple Jump - 3rd
"We are unfortunately saying goodbye to eight seniors who contributed a tremendous amount of time and energy to the Omaha Track and Field program. Their presence as student-athletes and teammates will be sorely missed, but we are excited to see what they will be able to accomplish in the next chapter of their careers. Once a Maverick, always a Maverick," Richardson said.
Seniors
Paige Blackford – Des Moines, Iowa.
Maret Elgren – Chanhassen, Minnesota
Vanessa Gunderson – Denison, Iowa
Dani Howard – Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Hanna Johnston – Thunder Bay, Ontario
Maya Nachtigal – Aurora, Nebraska
Emily Robles – Omaha, Nebraska
Carrie Simonson – Springfield, Nebraska
