Feb. 22, 2006
LAS VEGAS - UNLV women's track and field begins competing Friday at the 2006 Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships, held at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M., and hosted by the University of New Mexico.
The meet officially gets underway Thursday with the pentathlon and heptathlon but the Rebels do not have an athlete entered in the pentathlon.
UNLV's best scoring chances are in sprinters Ashley Owens and Brittney Bullocks as the sophomores both have top-six times in two events and will run on UNLV's 4x400 relay team.
Owens is a threat to win dual championships in the 60 meters and the 200 meters and enters the meet on the heels of breaking the UNLV and MWC record in the 60-meters with a time of 7.27. She set the record set two weeks ago at the Albuquerque Convention Center and it is also the fifth-fastest time in the country this year. The sophomore transfer from LSU also has the second-fastest time in the league in the 200 meters with a mark of 24.24
Bullocks could join Owens on the podium in the 200 meters as she has the fourth-fastest time in the MWC in the event with a time of 24.40. Bullocks also has a chance to score points in the 400 as well and enters the meet with a season-best time of 56.18, the sixth-best mark in the league.
Other athletes who have a shot at reaching the podium this weekend include freshman Lekeisha Lawson, who has the seventh-best time in the 60 meters at 7.71 and Deanna Appuglise in the 400 meters. Appuglise is a senior and enters her last MWC Indoor meet with a season-best time of 57.03, the 10th-best mark in the league.
UNLV finished sixth at last year's league championship with 51 points and the Rebels' best finish came in 2000, when they finished second with 91.50 points. BYU has won the last five MWC Indoor titles and the Cougars are heavily favored to repeat again.
Friday's action gets underway at 12:00 p.m. (PST) with the women's long jump the first field event of the meet while the first running event is the women's 5,000 meters at 12:30. The final event Friday is the men's distance medley at 4:30.
Fans can get total access to the meet, including live results by clicking here.
