April 26, 2001
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Storyline: The UNLV track and field team hits the road for the third straight week to compete in the Cal-Nevada Championships. The two-day meet, hosted by UC Irvine, begins on Saturday, April 28 at Anteater Stadium in Irvine, Calif. Field events will begin at 9:00 a.m. PDT on Saturday with running events following at 11:00 a.m. All events on Sunday are finals, with field events at 9:00 a.m. and running events at 1:00 p.m. With schools from across California and Nevada participating, the meet will boast more than 30 schools and more than 800 athletes to compete.
UNLV: The Rebels' runners will be looking for some of their fastest times of the year while facing some of their best competition. Nickeisha Charles in the 400, Katie Barto in the 1,500 and Jenni Lopez in the 3,000 have posted some of the top times in their heats. UNLV will be looking for some scoring efforts from Erin Dangerfield, Patrice Harvey and Christine Spence as well. In the field, Spence and Tianika Sharrieff are likely to score in the high jump. Harvey, Belisa Suarez and Tiffany Smith hope to surprise in the long and triple jumps, and Jennifer Gardner will compete in the top flight in the javelin.
Noteworthy: Katie Barto topped her own school record and provisionally qualified in the 5,000 for the second time this year last week, running 16:27.92 at the Mt. SAC Relays ... Barto, who will run in the 1,500 meters this weekend, also ranks second in the MWC in that event and posted a UNLV top-five mark earlier this year ... Tiffany Smith's season best in the triple jump of 39-09.75 ranks fifth in school history ... Tianika Sharrieff won three straight high jump competitions to open the season, clearing 5-08.75 in each win. That ranks her third in the MWC ... As the first Rebel freshman to record a mark in the pole vault, Amber Baker set the UNLV freshman record in San Diego, clearing 8-06.75.
Up Next: Following the Cal-Nevada Championships, the Rebels will have just two weeks to prepare for the Mountain West Conference Championships. UNLV has possible competitions lined up at the Jesse Owens Classic in Columbus, Ohio, on May 5, and at the Oxy Invitational in Los Angeles on May 12.
