May 12, 2017
Championships Central | Schedule | Heat Sheets | Day Three Results | Live Results
LOGAN, Utah (UNLVRebels.com) - After three days of competition, the UNLV track & field team sits in 10th place at the 2017 Mountain West Outdoor Championships. The Rebels notched four points Friday to boost their total to 12 at the Conference meet hosted by Utah State at Ralph Maughan Track Stadium. Additionally, Destiny Smith-Barnett clocked the best 100m time in both Conference and MW Championships' history.
Friday's points came from Vanessa Sierra and Stella Clemens who earned two apiece in the hammer throw and long jump, respectively. Sierra tossed a personal-best throw of 181-2 (55.22m) to finish seventh, and also move into fifth all-time in the program's outdoor performance list. Clemens also took seventh in her event with a personal-best distance of 19-1.5 (5.83m).
In the 100m, Smith-Barnett rewrote the Conference record, with a time of 10.94-w in the preliminary, upping her previous best by .26 seconds.
Najia Hudspeth also secured a spot in the 100m final with her third-place time of 11.43-w. Mandy Chitwood (first, 2:10.10) and Micayla Coquia (seventh, 56.54) earned a spot in the 800m and 400m finals, respectively.
"We had a lot of highs and lows today," said head coach Yvonne Wade. "We had some outstanding performances in many areas but fell short in areas we really needed. Tomorrow, we will have to rally together and get it done. I am confident that our team is ready for the fight.
Taylor Pegram, who's first on the all-time program list in the 100m hurdles, rewrote her own mark with today's time of 13.11-w, which was the second-fastest qualifying time, and third best in MW history. Two weeks ago at the Steve Scott Invitational, she ran a then-best 13.34, which surpassed her second record-breaking performance that occurred at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
Amari Norris also advanced to the finals of the 100m hurdles with her time of 13.71-w (seventh in qualifying).
The Rebels qualified three of their own in the 200m with Najia Hudspeth, Smith-Barnett and Drea Austin advanced out of the preliminary rounds to qualify for the 200m final. Najia Hudspeth won her heat (22.89, PB), and in doing so jumped to second on the program's outdoor performance list. Smith-Barnett (fourth: 22.91) and Austin (fifth: 23.48) also qualified for the 200m finals. Nylia Hudspeth (24.28) and Madison Aldred (24.65) ran personal bests in the race.
Two Rebels notched personal bests in the hammer throw and 100m Friday. Taylor Forte threw 144-04 (43.99m) in the hammer throw finale, while Kaysha Love crossed the line in 11.73 in the 100m.
Saturday starts with the women's shot put at 1:30 p.m. PT. The 4x400m relay closes the women's portion of the meet at 6:25 p.m. PT. In all, the fourth and final day of the meet will see 12 individuals and two relay teams crowned champions in a total of 14 events - 10 track and four field.
Colorado State paces the 11-team field with 56 points. San Diego State is second (40.5 points) and is followed by Nevada, Reno (38.5), San Jose State (25), Fresno State (24), Boise State (22), Air Force (20), Wyoming (17), New Mexico (13), UNLV (12) and Utah State (five).
