LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV senior Destiny Smith-Barnett qualified in the 60m for the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. The two-day meet will take place at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
The native of Oakland, California, is one of 16 student-athletes to qualify for next week's preliminaries, which are scheduled for Friday at 6:07 pm CT (4:07 pm PT). The final is slated for Saturday at 4:10 pm CT (2:10 pm PT).
 
Smith-Barnett sits tied with Arkansas' Kiara Parker for the second-fastest time, 7.15, in the NCAA this season, while LSU's Kortnei Johnson is first by a mere .01 seconds at 7.14.
 
"We are excited to have Destiny represent us at the NCAA Championships," said head coach Yvonne Wade. "She and coach Larry Wade have been focusing on preparing her for this all season, and are ready to go for it all. She is a talented young athlete and has become a strong competitor; not backing down to tough competition. She hasn't lost a race yet this season and her goal is to keep that streak going."
 
Smith-Barnett has finished first in all four meets that she's competed in the 60m this season, with two of those victories coming in record-breaking fashion. She claimed the Lumberjack Team Challenge title (Jan. 18) in 7.17, which at the time was a personal-, program- and conference-tying mark. She shaved .02 seconds off that time last week to win the 60m crown in 7.15 at the Mountain West Indoor Championships. Not only did the 7.15 rewrite the UNLV record book, once again, but it moved her atop the MW's overall and championships-only standings.
 
Earlier this week, Smith-Barnett was named twice over to the MW's Indoor All-Conference Team after winning the 60m title and taking third in the 200m.
 
NOTES:
- This is the third straight year that UNLV will be represented at the NCAA Indoor Championships, as Smith-Barnett and teammate Avi'Tal Wilson-Perteete earned Second Team USTFCCCA All-America honors in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
- UNLV had three other student-athletes rank highly in the nation: Mackenna Howard is No. 29 in the shot put, Jada Hicks is No. 43 in the 60m hurdles and Wilson-Perteete is No. 51 in the 800m.
 
SWITCHING SEASONS: The UNLV track & field team will transition to the outdoor season following the conclusion of the NCAA Indoor Championships. The Rebels open the outdoor campaign at home on March 14-16 with the UNLV Invitational & Sheila Tarr-Smith Multis at Myron Partridge Stadium.