Coaching Staff

Assistant Coach | Thomas Stopak

Thomas Stopak enters his fifth season as an assistant coach with the Omaha track & field team for the 25-26 season responsible for the long jump, triple jump and high jump events. His time with the Mavericks has seen numerous personal bests and marks added into the top 10 marks in program history.

Prior to joining the Mavericks, he served as a graduate assistant with the Northern State track and field team. While with Northern State, Stopak assisted the jumps and sprints athletes. He helped coach horizontal jumps to four school records in the 2021 season. He also assisted in coaching two athletes to records in the multievents, indoor pentathlon and indoor heptathlon in the 2020 season.

Stopak, a native of Omaha, NE, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in sports management from the University Nebraska Kearney in 2019 while competing for the lopers in long jump. He went on to receive his Master of Education in sports performance and leadership at Northern State University in 2021.

Assistant Coach | Saskia Pingpank

Experience

Assistant Coach Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Omaha (NCAA Division I - Summit League) - 2025-Present

Personal

From: Hannover, Germany

B. Sc. Sport Management; Minor in Coaching- Eastern Kentucky University2022

M.Sc. in Exercise and Sport Science; Sport Administration- Eastern Kentucky University- 2024

At Omaha

-Joined Omaha as Assistant Coach in September 2024, working under Head Coach Cliff Cisar
-In the 2024/2025 season - Coached and assisted atheltes to 18 Top Ten marks in school history across the Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field season
-During the Cross Country season, contributed to and coached athletes to achieve Top 30 program marks in both the 5k and 6k events, with nine of those performances occuring in her first year during the Fall 2024 season.

Honors:

-ASUN All-Academic Team (2024)
-Academic All-District Team (2024)
-President's List Fall 2018/ Spring 2019; Fall 2019/ Spring 2020; Fall 2020; Fall 2021/ Spring 2022; Fall 2022/ Spring 2023; Fall 2023/ Spring 2024
-Dean's List (Spring 2021)
-Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) at Eastern Kentucky University (Aug 2021 - May 2024)

Playing Career Summary:

Pingpank competed for Eastern Kentucky University (2018 - 2024), contributing to the success of the Cross Country and Track & Field program.

Specialized in the steeplechase and distance events ranging from 1500m to 10,000m.

Competed in Track & Field in Germany, qualifying for and participating in the German National Championshiops across multiple years.