May 25, 2006

LAS VEGAS - Lekeisha Lawson and a UNLV track and field relay team will compete in the NCAA West Regional, held at Clarence Robison Track on the campus of BYU in Provo, Utah.

The regional meet is the qualifying meet for the NCAA Track and Field National Championships, held June 7-10 in Sacramento, Calif.

Lakeisha Lawson will be running in the 100 meters, as the sophomore is the only individual UNLV athlete to advance to the regional meet. Lawson has the 13th-fastest time in the event in the region with a time of 11.72, set two weeks ago at the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Championships. That meet was also held Clarence Robison Track.

Lawson will also run a leg on the Rebels' 4x100 relay squad, which enters the meet with the 10th-quickest time in the regional with a mark of 45.68, set on April 1 at the UNLV Invite. She will be joined on the relay team by Lauren Johnson, Brittney Bullocks and Tanesha Carr.

The relay team will be the first to run at the regional, as qualifying for the finals is Friday at 1:00 p.m. (PDT) which will be the first running event of the meet. Lawson will then try to qualify for the finals in the 100 meters at 3:10 p.m. on Friday. The finals in the relay are Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and the 100-meter final is 1:50 p.m.