Sept. 16, 2006

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - UNLV cross country finished 12th with 360 points this Saturday morning at the 62nd annual Aztec Invitational at Balboa Park, hosted by San Diego State.

It was the second-straight meet for the Rebels in the Golden State after they opened their season at UC Irvine last weekend and placed 15th overall. That meet was the first for UNLV under new cross country head coach Tony Houchin.

The Rebels were once again paced by sophomore Jenni Shearer, who finished 68th overall, covering the 5,000 meter course in a time of 20:36. It was second-straight meet that Shearer was UNLV's highest placer and last year she was the highest finisher for the Rebels in every meet as well.

Arkansas dominated the meet by placing five runners in the top six as the Lady Hogs totaled 20 points to win the team title. Long Beach State was next with 60 points, followed by Loyola Marymount which had 80. Laura Mickelson of LMU won the individual title, motoring over the course in a time of 17:19, winning by a commanding nine seconds.

Ali Ainsworth was the next Rebel to cross the finish line, finishing 85th with a time of 21:57. Desarae Tyson (27:05) was next in 95th, followed by Lekeisha Lawson (27:05) in 96th and then Tanesha Carr (30:24) in 97th.

UNLV will take this weekend off before returning to California for a meet at UC Riverside on Sept. 30.