Lumberjack Team Challenge: Meet Information | Schedule | Heat Sheets

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV track & field program will open its 2017 indoor season Saturday at Northern Arizona's Lumberjack Team Challenge. The one-day meet, which is slated for an 8:00 am start with the women's pole vault, will take place at the Walkup Skydome on the campus of NAU in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Joining the Rebels and host Lumberjacks in Flagstaff are Cal State Fullerton, CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, UC Irvine and Southern Utah.

"The team is hungry to get out and start getting those competitive juices flowing," said head coach Yvonne Wade. "This first one is important, so they can set the tone for what's ahead this season. We have a lot to make up for because we fell short of what we should have done last season, but the team is ready and able to get the job done."

Leading the Rebels into their season opener are returners Kaysee Pilgrim, Drea Austin, Destiny Smith-Barnett, Ayana Gales, Taylor Pegram, Amari Norris, Mandy Chitwood, Vanessa Sierra. Additionally, the Scarlet & Gray are hoping for big things from newcomers Danielle Williams (Missouri transfer), Jaela Williams (Arkansas transfer), Madison Aldred (freshman from Las Vegas/Arbor View HS) as well as twins Najia and Nylia Hudspeth (Cerritos CC transfers).

Both Pilgrim (high jump) and Gales (long jump) competed at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last season and the duo earned USTFCCCA All-America Second Team and Honorable Mention honors, respectively. Not only did the former manage to reset both indoor (6-0) and outdoor (6-0.75) high jump records at UNLV last year, but she was also a finalist at the Olympic Trials (11th place). The former -- like Pilgrim -- was an All-Mountain West performer that owns the fifth-best outdoor long jump performance (20-9.75) in program history.

Austin, the team's 2016 MVP, returns after earning All-MW honors in indoor and outdoor competition last year. She scored in both the 60m (sixth) and 200m (second) at the indoor championship as well as the 100m (third) and 200m (fourth).

Smith-Barnett overcame a back injury, which forced her to miss the indoor campaign, to place second in the 100m at the league's outdoor tilt.

Chitwood, who finished fourth in both the 800m at the indoor and outdoor championships, will step down in distance and compete in the 400m alongside Aldred.

The trio of Pegram, Norris and Jaela Williams will represent the squad in the 60m hurdles. Pegram, who sits third in UNLV's indoor performance list (8.45), was a finalist at the MW's Indoors and also qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary for 100m hurdles. Norris was a finalist at the MW's Outdoors in the 100m hurdles. Williams, a sophomore, participated in the SEC Championships for Arkansas.

Danielle Williams comes to UNLV after competing three indoor seasons at Missouri in jumping events and at SEC and West Preliminary competitions.

The Hudspeth sisters will take to an indoor track for the first time as college competitors Saturday. The pair had only competed at outdoor meets in their two years as members of the Cerritos' track & field team. Najia, who will run the 60m and 200m, won the 200m at the South Coast Conference, So Cal and California State Championships and took first in the 100m at the first two of those and third at state. Nylia will run in the 400m, an event that she claimed second at the So Cal Championships and third at the South Coast and at state.

Sierra is entered in both the shot put and weight throw. She enters the year sitting fifth in UNLV's indoor (47-3) and outdoor (48-1.75) performance lists.

The Lumberjack Team Challenge is one of three contests that UNLV will compete in during the indoor season in preparation for the MW's Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. (February 23-25).