Feb. 26, 2009

LAS VEGAS - UNLV track and field team will start competition Thursday at the Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Air Force is serving as the host of this year's league meet.

The Rebels will take 17 student-athletes, including seniors Lekeisha Lawson, Portia Ford, Olivia Raya, Claire Schreiner, Jennifer Shearer and Isabelle Stoate, and several enter the weekend with top-10 marks in the conference.

Lawson is in a top-five seed in two of her two events, the 60 meter dash and 200 meter dash, after running career-best times of 7.55 in the 60 and 24.70 in the 200. Competing along with Lawson in the sprinting events will be Shahnel Woodley, Meia Tezeno, Zadia Bryant, Candise Maxwell and Lindsay Roach.

Isabelle Stoate and Jennifer Shearer will represent the Rebels in the long distance running events while Amanda Bingson, Deja Edwards, Portia Ford, Olivia Raya and Schreiner will be on the field for UNLV. Schreiner is also competing for the Rebels in the pentathlon.

These championships will be the first for freshmen Bingson, Bryant, Edwards and Roach.

Friday's events will start at 12:00 p.m. (PT) with the women's weight throw and the conclusion of this weekend's events will be on Saturday at 12:30 (PT) with the women's one mile run relay.

Last season at the indoor championships the Rebels earned an eighth-place finish and had four individuals post top-10 finishes.