ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV track & field program recorded its third straight top-two finish at the Mountain West Indoor Championships with its second-place showing (104 points) this weekend at the Albuquerque Convention Center. The Rebels, who got wins from Destiny Smith-Barnett and Avi'Tal Wilson-Perteete in the 60m and 800m, respectively, jumped from sixth to second place Saturday with an accumulation of 90 points in a total of nine events.
 
Colorado State won the 2019 MW Championships with a haul of 139 points to notch its third conference title in four years. CSU and UNLV were the only squads to break the 100-point mark, as the rest of the field notched 69 or fewer points at the three-day meet. Rounding out third through 11th was San Diego State (69 points), New Mexico (63), Boise State (62), Utah State (59), Wyoming (57), Fresno State (40), UNR (30), Air Force (15) and San Jose State (two), respectively.
 
The Scarlet & Gray, which won the 2018 MW Indoor title and was a runner-up in 2017, watched as Smith-Barnett equaled her qualifying performance from one day ago, as she clocked a 7.15 for the second straight race for her second conference title (2015). The 7.15 ties the best indoor performance in the 60m in UNLV and Mountain West history.
 
Smith-Barnett also earned points for UNLV in the 200m, as she finished third overall in 23.79.
 
Wilson-Perteete also pulled double duty for the Rebels teaming with Amari Prude and twin sisters Nylia and Najia Hudspeth to claim second place in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:39.63 to couple with the 800m win. She ran 2:08.05 for the 800m title, besting her runner-up finish one year ago at the conference meet.
 
The Rebels hauled in 19 points in the 60m hurdles with Jada Hicks (8.26), Jasmyne Graham (8.38) and Taylor Pegram (8.40) finishing second, third and fourth, respectively. Hicks time was .05 seconds faster than what she ran in Friday's qualifying round, and it improved her second-place standing in the program's all-time indoor performance records.
 
UNLV also took third in the shot put and triple jump, as Mackenna Howard threw a personal-best mark of 53-1.75 (16.20m) and Jonon Young posted a distance of 40-5 (12.32m), respectively.
 
QUOTABLE: "I am extremely proud of how our Rebels competed," said head coach Yvonne Wade. "Even though we didn't come away with the overall outcome we wanted, we had some really great performances and many of the athletes stepped up and competed."
 
SILVER STATE CUP UPDATE: By virtue of the its higher finish at the MW Indoor Championships, the Rebel track & field program claimed the three points associated with the sport towards the Silver State Cup standings. To date, UNLV leads the all-encompassing, head-to-head challenge sponsored by IBEW and Nevada Donor Network by nine points, 12-3, over the UNR Wolf Pack.
 
NOTES:
- Elisa Rovere was fourth in the 800m (2:12.81).
- Kaysha Love was fifth in the 200m (23.86 PB) and sixth in the 60m (7.50).
- Emerald Bowen was seventh in the 60m (7.54).
- The Hudspeth sisters helped UNLV individually, as well, as Najia was seventh in the 200m (24.16) and Nylia was eighth in the 400m (56.72).
- Cassidy Osborne-Butler was sixth in the shot put (48-9/14.86m).
- Jaylen Walker was eighth in the triple jump (38-7.5/11.77m PB).
 
NEXT TIME OUT: The NCAA Indoor Championships will take place March 8-9 in Birmingham, Alabama, and the Rebels will wait to see which student-athletes qualify for the final meet of the season. Currently, Smith-Barnett sits in a tie for second place in the 60m.