Mavs shock host Missouri Southern, repeat as MIAA Indoor Conference Champions

UNO traveled to Joplin, Mo., last weekend to compete in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Indoor Championship meet to defend last year's title. Trailing in points to only Central Missouri and Missouri Southern, on day three UNO emerged with 107 team points to retain the MIAA title. The Mavericks finished with 127 points, topping Missouri Southern's team total of 109.50.

On Friday, senior Shannon Moore led the way for the Mavericks in the pentathlon. Placing second in the multi-event set the tone early for UNO and put the team in contention going into day two.

"I have to give credit to my team and to my coaches for preparing me," Moore said. "[My coaches] have all prepared me to do well in the multi events and I really can't say enough about my team and what they all do out there. They definitely go out and lay it on the line."

On day two, junior Nkeiruka Domike reset her school record in the triple jump with a leap of 42 feet 1/2 inch. The first place distance gave UNO another 10 points and furthered Domike's D-II national ranking in the event.

"I am happy that I could contribute points for the team," Nkeiruka said. "It feels really great that I did well for UNO, especially to help bring the championship again."

UNO senior Heather Minnsen added eight points for the Mavericks in the shot put with a second place distance of 46 feet 11-1/2 inches.

UNO then took the posted top-four finishes in the 200 and 400-meter events.

Led by Maja first place time of 25.08, the Mavericks combined for a team total of 28 points in the 200-meter. Moore posted a time of 25.46 for second, followed by Kayla Koepke at 25.80 and Molly Belling at 25.82. The four leaders finished the race ahead of both Missouri Southern and Central Missouri, catapulting UNO to first place in points after the event.

Finishing off her stellar weekend, Moore earned another 10 points in the 400-meter with a first place time of 56.28 seconds. Puc later earned 10 points in the 800-meter event with a first place time of 2:16.35.

"I gave it my all this weekend and I am so proud of our team," Moore said. "Even though I was not meet MVP, I am still blood thirsty when it comes to competition, so I'm definitely not done yet."

Mihalinec and Belling took second and third in the 60-meter dash with times of 7.66 and 7.77 respectively. Belling is a nine-time All-American coming off of an 18 month hip.

Middle distance runners Jolene Smith and Lisa Teserak took a fourth and fifth finish in the preliminaries into the 600-yard run finals.

"These girls showed up to take care of business," said head coach Steve Smith. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy to get our people into the finals and I am really proud of the way we went out there and never gave up."

Finalizing Sunday's qualifiers, UNO advanced Puc to the finals in the 800-meter, along with Moore and Jody-Ann Coore in the 60-meter hurdles.

"It was a lot of fun out there," Koepke said. "We have all been working really hard in practice and it feels good to go out there and show off our hard work. Our senior leaders Shannon and Molly did exactly what upperclassmen are supposed to do. I think it was a great part of our success to have them step up for us."

Now back-to-back Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Indoor Track and Field Champions, the Mavericks will gear up for the NCAA Division-II Indoor Championship meet in Albuquerque, N.M., on March 12.