Jan. 23, 2009
Entering its second year under head coach Yvonne Scott-Williams, the UNLV track and field program is beginning to take shape the way she envisioned, though there is still a lot of work to get the Rebels where she wants them.
Scott-Williams and her staff of Tamara Ards and Tony Houchin made an immediate impact last year, qualifying athletes for the outdoor national championships for the first time in two years, as well as having seven student-athletes earn Academic All-MWC. After getting a feel for the program last year, Scott-Williams firmly believes progress should continue this season as the Rebels move up the ranks in the Mountain West Conference.
"We are still a work in progress and the first year was really seeing what we had to work with and going from there," Scott-Williams said. "This year we went out and got the type of athletes that embody what we are trying to accomplish here."
Joining a group of 12 returners is Scott-Williams' first recruiting class, a group of 20 newcomers, many of whom will be counted on to come in right away and contribute. And although the numbers are not where Scott-Williams would like them to be, she and her staff are in the process of putting together a balanced team capable of scoring points in a variety of events.
"I think we have a great opportunity to move into the top half of the conference this year," Scott-Williams said. "We still have some depth issues in some areas and we are working on becoming a balanced team, but we have moved forward in a lot of areas."
REBELS ON THE TRACK
On the track, and more specifically in the sprint lanes, is where the Rebels' strength will be this season, as a pair of NCAA Championship qualifiers return, with a large group of newcomers mixed in. Senior sprinters Brittney Bullocks and Lekeisha Lawson formed half the 4x100 meter relay team that qualified for nationals last season and will be looked upon to provide leadership and results on the track once again. Bullocks also qualified for the NCAA West Regional in the 400 meters and narrowly missed qualifying for nationals in the event, finishing seventh.
"I am very excited about the depth of our sprinters," Scott-Williams said. "There will be a lot of options for the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay teams, and there will be a lot of competition among the team for those spots."
Candise Maxwell and Shahnel Woodley are a pair of junior college transfers from Laney College that Scott-Williams believes will step in right away and run well. Senior sprinter De'Lace Kelly returns to add depth and other newcomers to watch for will be transfer Chauncey David-Jacobs and true freshman Lindsay Roach.
The hurdles will also be another strong point for UNLV in 2009, as Meia Tezeno anchors a promising group that will also include newcomers Rachael Long, Christine Lowe, Allyson Stone, with Maxwell also running some hurdle events. The group, while largely young and inexperienced at the Division-I level, is one that Scott-Williams believes will contend for points at the conference championships.
"We have a great lineup of hurdlers and I would be shocked if we did not have a strong showing in the conference finals in this event," Scott-Williams said. "This is an event that we should score a lot of points in and possibly get a conference champion."
The distance athletes have had a head start on the season following the 2008 cross country campaign, and are led by senior Jennifer Shearer, a three-year letterwinner who has the school's third-fastest time in the 5,000 meters. Bailey Kuestermeyer, a senior who also participates on the Rebel swim team, will provide depth, as will senior transfer Isabelle Stoate, who comes to UNLV after spending three years at Butler.
REBELS IN THE FIELD
An area that Scott-Williams has been trying to improve the Rebels' depth has been the field events, and this season she will plug in different people in events to try to maximize scoring potential. Included in that effort will be the possibility of four different athletes competing in the heptathlon, the most the Rebel program has seen in four years.
Junior letterwinner Talyah Polee and freshman Deja Edwards are the squad's top two long jumpers, and both had strong autumn efforts leading into the 2009 season. Claire Schreiner returns for her senior season in the high jump and she will be joined in the event by freshman Stephanie Schafer, who set the Monte Vista (Alamo, Calif.) High School record in the high jump. Polee, Schafer and Tezeno will all compete in the heptathlon this season, while Schreiner also might compete in the seven-event competition at meets.
In the throwing events senior Olivia Raya enters her final season with the top two marks in school history in the weight throw and the hammer throw, and Scott-Williams believes she will make a run at the school record in both. Freshman Amanda Bingson enters as the squad's top discus thrower, while LaShante Ellison and Danielle Rios will probably compete in the hammer and shot put, respectively.
"In the jumping events, we are going to use our top athletes to score as many points as possible and also use them in the heptathlon," said Scott-Williams. "Our jumpers will also be competing in the combined events this year and our throwers will be focusing on their stronger events so that we are able to maximize our team's scoring potential".
