Feb. 27, 2009

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - After the first day of competition the Rebels currently sit in ninth place at the 2009 Mountain West Conference Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Senior Lekeisha Lawson advanced to the finals in two events, running the third-fastest time in the 60 meter dash (7.44) shattering her previous career-best of 7.55. She then posted the fifth-best time in the 200 meters with a time of 24.54, also passing her previous top time of 24.70. Lawson will run in tomorrow's finals in both of those events. Shahnel Woodley also will compete in Saturday's 200 meter dash as she placed seventh with a time of 24.65.

"Overall I was happy with the performances on the first day of competition. We had some great personal performances and we had some performances that almost made it to the finals," said head coach Yvonne Scott-Williams. "It's hard for an athlete to be in the position that just missed the finals, and we had a few like that, but I think it shows that UNLV is making its way up the ranks in this conference."

In the 60 meter hurdles UNLV had a strong showing as Candise Maxwell placed third and Meia Tezeno placed fourth. Maxwell ran a time of 8.47 while Tezeno finished with a time of 8.57, and both ran personal bests.

Freshman Amanda Bingson placed eighth for the Rebels in the weight throw with a distance of 16.42m. Senior Jennifer Shearer took seventh place in today's 5000 meter run.

BYU has a big lead with 83 points while host Air Force sits in second place with 24 points and Colorado State right behind with 21 points.

"Tomorrow is another day," Scott-Williams said. "We have to go out there and compete."