Oct. 16, 1999

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV women?s cross country team finished second in their only home appearance of the season, narrowly edged by Southern Utah in the UNLV Invitational at Sunset Park on Saturday morning.

The Thunderbirds captured four of the top seven finishes and scored 24 points to win the team title. UNLV, without its top runner, senior Stephanie Davidson (Renton, WA/Coll. Of Southern Idaho), followed SUU with 47 team points.

Sophomore Jenni Nelson (Seattle, WA/Univ. of Montana) picked up the slack, finishing third and breaking her career best for the third time this season. She was just four seconds off the medalist, SUU?s Teresa Rice, who won the 5-kilometer race in 18:07.

Six other Rebels also posted career bests, the third time in four races this season that so many of the UNLV squad has done so.

Junior Katie Barto (Henderson, NV/Green Valley) enjoyed the best race of her career, trimming 23 seconds off her best time and posting her best-ever finish at fifth.

Senior Kathryn Goetz (Denver, CO/Univ. of Nevada, Reno) and freshman Rhonda Kilfoyle (Las Vegas, NV/Clark) both broke the 19-minute mark for the first time in their careers, finishing 9th and 12th, respectively.

The meet was the last for UNLV before the squad travels to Provo, UT to compete in the inaugural Mountain West Conference Championships on Friday, Oct. 29.