May 16, 2003

Complete Results

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Three Rebels quickly advanced out of the blocks Friday to move on to the finals of their respective events at the 2003 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by the University of New Mexico.

Sophomore sprinter Halima DeCree (Bakersfield, Calif.) turned in an NCAA regional qualifying time of 11.75 seconds in the 100 meters to advance to tomorrow's finals. DeCree had the third fastest time of the day in the event and narrowly missed the cut in the 200m with a ninth-place time of 25.05.

Fellow sophomores Miesha McClendon (Pasadena, Calif.) and Kiyota Reed (Los Angeles, Calif.) both followed DeCree's stride moving on to the finals of the 100m hurdles. McClendon went a career and season best 14.12 to take fifth-place in preliminaries, while Reed came in eighth with a time of 14.46.

Senior distance runner Jessica Zarndt (Las Vegas) later put UNLV on the scoreboard with a second-place finish in the 10,000 meters (38:19.33). The Rebels currently stand eighth in women's team scoring with eight points, while three-time defending conference champion BYU leads the championship field with 74.50 points.

In field events, three Rebels marked career and season bests in the hammer throw. Freshman Angie Turner (Las Vegas) placed 17th with a distance of 142-01.00, junior Andrea Azzara (Incline Village, Nev.) 19th with a toss of 134-07.00 and sophomore Autumn Beza (Bunkerville, Nev.) 21st with a throw of 109-11.00.

Other team members making strides on the first day of competition were sophomores Michele Suszek (Alpena, Mich.) and Michel Hunt (Los Angeles, Calif.). Suszek finished 10th in the 3,000m steeplechase in a time of 13:17.67 and Hunt 11th in the preliminaries of the 400m with a career and season best time of 57.45.

Meet competition at the UNM Track Stadium concludes tomorrow with field events beginning at 10:30 a.m. and running events at 11:30 a.m. (MDT). Awards will be handed out at approximately 3:30 p.m. (MDT).