By Scott Stewart
Sophomore sprinter Anja Puc broke a 23-year-old school record in the 800-meter run during the Ward Haylett Invitational hosted by Kansas State on May 9.Puc ran the 800 in 2:07.29, beating the 1986 school record by Janice Moreau by nearly two seconds. Puc beat South Dakota’s Emma Erickson, last year’s 800 indoor and outdoor champion, by just .07 seconds in the event.
The invitational was the Mavs last meet before the NCAA Division II national championship meet in San Angelo, Texas, from May 21 to May 23.
The Mavs tied for third on May 3 in the MIAA track championship in Joplin, Mo. Host Missouri Southern won the MIAA title with 149, Truman State came in second with 124 and UNO tied Central Missouri at 72 points.
Maja Mihalinec took first place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.25, and Puc earned first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:11.76.
The Mavs also took first in the 4 x 100 meter relay with a time of 47.95. The team consisted of Jody-Ann Coore, Kayla Koepke, Puc and Mihalinec.
In the first day of competition, Heather Minssen won the shot put with a throw of 46 feet, 10 inches – 4 inches more than her previous personal best this season.
Before the MIAA meet, Shannon Moore – UNO’s lone entry in the contest – posted the best score to win the MIAA Heptathlon Championship at Northwest Missouri State in April. Moore’s final score of 5,061 points was 265 more than the second place finisher.
The heptathlon consisted of seven events: 200-meter dash, 800-meter run, 100-meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put and javelin throw. Moore took first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.84 and the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.66 seconds.
