Cliff Cisar was named the head coach of Omaha women’s track and field and cross country on July 10, 2024. He brings 14 years of experience working within Omaha Athletics.
During his tenure, Cisar has coached athletes to 52 different marks between Indoor and Outdoor on the program’s Top Ten history list and has assisted in coaching additional athletes to 28 different marks on the program’s Top Ten list. Eighteen of those 52 marks came in the 2024-25 season, his first as the head coach.
In cross country, Cisar has coached or assisted in coaching all 60 marks on the program’s Top 30 list for both competition distances (5k & 6k). With 9 of those marks coming in his first year as the program’s head coach.
Previously he served as a full-time assistant coach for the Omaha track & field team and the head coach of the cross country program in the summer of 2017, extending his tenure that began in 2010 as a volunteer assistant. He spent two seasons (2015-17) as a part-time assistant.
During the winter and spring of 2024, Cisar coached Lauren Metzger to school records in the 3,000 and 10,000 meters and Kamryn Ensley to school records in both the Indoor and Outdoor 5,000m.
In the fall of 2022, he coached Kamryn Ensley to a 4th place finish in the Summit League Cross Country Championships which garnered her a First Team All-Summit honor and the Newcomer of the Year award. Ensley went on to finish 32nd in the NCAA Division 1 Midwest Region Cross Country championships, the highest finish by Freshman in Maverick history.
In the fall of 2019, he coached Emily Johnson to a third-place finish in the Summit League Cross Country Championships which garnered her a First Team All-Summit honor. Johnson went on to finish 26th in the NCAA Division 1 Midwest Region Cross Country championships, the highest finish in Maverick history.
During the spring of 2019, Cisar coached Emily Johnson to school records in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Summit League Outdoor Championships, including a runner-up finish in the 10,000 m.
Also on the track, Cisar has coached All-Summit performers Alyssa Thavenet, who had a third-place finish in the 800 meters in the 2017 indoor championships, and Lauren Houston who was a three-time runner-up in the league championships in the 800 meters. Houston and Thavenet also were members of the 2017 4x800m relay team with Anita Jenkins and Kayla Sabotin that broke the indoor school record at the SDSU Indoor Classic, a record that had stood since 1984.
An Omaha native and graduate of Omaha Burke High School, Cisar graduated from the UNO in 2012 with a degree in exercise science.
From 2010 until 2015, he was a volunteer cross country and track coach for UNO. He was an integral part in helping the Mavericks reach new heights in the distance program including the setting of seven school records.
Cisar also spent 11 years working at Peak Performance, improving Omaha area runners by conducting gait analysis and developing 10k through marathon training clinics.
Cisar’s wife Lucia Zamecnik (12’ & 16’) is also an Omaha graduate and was a standout member of the Swimming program. They have one daughter, Aspen.
