July 13, 2000

ARIMA, Trinidad - Former UNLV track and field stars Ayanna Hutchinson and Alicia Tyson were selected to represent their home country of Trinidad and Tobago at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia next month, the nation's Athletic Association announced Thursday.

Both former Rebels achieved the "A" qualifying standards in the 100 meters, which allows for complete funding by the International Olympic Committee. Furthermore, Hutchinson recorded a "B" standard mark that qualifies her in the 200 meters, and she is expected to compete in both races in Sydney.

Hutchinson was a two-year star sprinter for UNLV after transferring from Essex County Community College in Newark, N.J., before the 1998 season. Following a redshirt year in 1999, her career thrived as she won three conference titles during her senior season. She captured the Mountain West Conference individual championships in both the indoor 100 and 200 meters and won the outdoor 100 last May. Her marks in all three events were league records.

Tyson also transferred to UNLV from Essex County CC and wasted no time making her mark at UNLV. She achieved All-America status with a seventh-place finish at the 1997 NCAA Indoor Championships and again as part of UNLV's 4X100-meter relay later that year. She returned to the squad in 1999 to win WAC titles in the outdoor 100 and 200 meters and still holds the UNLV school records in both events.

"We are proud of what Ayanna and Alicia have accomplished," UNLV head coach Karen Dennis said. "Their achievements say a great deal about our program and what an athlete can do here at UNLV."

Dennis, who helped train both women, acquires the task of trying to defeat her former pupils in Sydney as the U.S. Women's Track and Field Olympic Coach.