Jan. 15, 2002
LAS VEGAS - Indoor track season is just around the corner as 10 members of the UNLV women's track and field team prepare for the Texas Tech Open on Jan. 18-19 in Lubbock, Texas.
The meet will be a good starting point to the 2002 season and will gauge how the Rebels will do throughout the year leading up to the Mountain West Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 21-23, according to UNLV coach Karen Dennis. In her 10th season with the Rebels, Dennis looks for veteran leadership and a crop of newcomers to keep UNLV among the top performers in the MWC. The team has been training since September and are ready for action.
Last season, the Rebels finished third at the conference meet behind 19 individual finishes in the top 8. Headlining the top returnees in the indoor season will be senior sprinter Michele Davis (Lansing, Mich.), who was named MWC Athlete of the Year, after making three first-place finishes in the 60, 200 and 400 meters. Davis advanced to the NCAA Championships in the 200 meters, placing 13th with a time of 23.87 seconds.
Junior Tianika Sharrieff (Euless, Texas) will return to her home state to challenge the high jumpers along with sophomore teammate Christine Spence (Lee's Summit, Mo.). Sharrieff placed second last season at the conference meet, while Spence followed in sixth.
Triple jump specialists Tiffany Smith (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and Belisa Suarez (Las Vegas), both finishing fifth and sixth respectively at the conference championship last year, hope to go the distance against the Big 12 Conference competition and other dominant programs in attendance.
Junior sprinter Nickeisha Charles (Arima, Trinidad) rounds out the seasoned athletes on the team. Charles clocked in a time of 56.70 seconds last season to place second in the 400 meters at the MWC meet, giving UNLV a 1-2-3 finish in the event. Spence picked up the third-place finish with a time of 57.40 seconds.
Freshmen Miesha McClendon (Pasadena, Calif.) and Tiffany Sims-McCray (Houston, Texas) will compete in their first collegiate race as part of the 10-member team traveling to the Texas Tech University campus.
Halima Decree (Bakersfield, Calif.) will also make her first indoor appearance as a Rebel, after redshirting last season, while sophomore Chantel Yates (Chattanooga, Tenn.) returns to the squad, after taking a year off from the indoor season in 2001.
Meet results will be posted at www.texastech.com at the end of each day.
