Feb. 26, 2000

Box Score

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Despite four individual titles and a great team effort, the UNLV women's track and field team was unable to knock off conference powerhouse BYU at the inaugural Mountain West Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday.

BYU, behind the strength of its distance runners, held off the Rebels for a 229-91.5 victory. However, the second place finish is a significant improvement over last year's sixth-place result at the WAC Indoor Championships.

Senior sprinter Ayanna Hutchinson was the Rebels' star, sweeping the sprint events. She won the 60 meters in a career-best 7.28 seconds and the 200 meters in a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 23.99. Hutchinson had previously qualified in the 60, but clocked a personal best in the 200 to achieve the standard.

Sophomore Michele Davis followed Hutchinson in the 200, also provisionally qualifying for the NCAAs with a mark of 24.05. Davis qualified in the 400 meters during Friday's preliminaries, then trimmed her time to 54.26 in the finals for the victory.

Capturing UNLV's fourth individual crown was shot put specialist Jessica Marable, who broke her own school record with a toss of 54-4. The three-time All-American won her first conference title by more than two feet.

Hutchinson, Davis and Marable will return home and train for the NCAA Indoor Championships to be held March 5-6 in Indianapolis, IN, while the rest of the Rebel squad will prepare for the upcoming outdoor season.