CLOVIS, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV track & field team sits fourth overall through three days of competition at the 2019 Mountain West Outdoor Championships. The Rebels came into the day with eight points from
Stella Clemens' runner-up finish in the heptathlon, and added 24 more Friday from a trio of field events – shot put, hammer throw and long jump – contested at Veteran's Memorial Stadium.
Mackenna Howard and
Jasmyne Graham became the second and third Rebels to medal at the four-day conference meet, as the former took silver with a runner-up finish in the shot put (53-1.50/16.19m) and the latter claimed bronze with a third-place showing in the long jump (20-0.50/6.11m).
In all, the Scarlet & Gray tallied half of Friday's points haul – 12 – from Howard and
Cassidy Osborne-Butler's top-five finishes in the shot put. Howard earned eight points for second place, while Osborne-Butler's fifth-place showing (49-6.25/15.09m) was worth five points. Graham's third-place finish in the long jump was worth six points, while
Jaela Williams' jump of 19-6.25 (5.95m) was sixth best and garnered three points. Howard also added three points from her sixth-place finish in the hammer (173-6/52.89m).
Graham and Williams were two of 10 Rebels that qualified for their respective event finals after their performances in six track disciplines. Graham (second/13.45), Williams (seventh/14.08),
Taylor Pegram (third/13.44) and
Jada Hicks (fourth/13.51) advanced to Saturday's 100m hurdles final. Graham will also run in Saturday's 400m hurdles final after qualifying sixth (1:03.08).
Kaysha Love moves on to Saturday's 100m and 200m finals after finishing fifth in both events with times of 11.59 in the 100m and 23.75 in the 200m.
Drea Austin (sixth/11.98) and
Emerald Bowens (ninth/12.10) will join Love in the 100m final.
Avi'Tal Wilson-Perteete (second/2:09.22) and
Elisa Rovere (eighth/2:10.13) advanced out of the 800m, while Amari Prude (sixth/55.64) did the same out of the 400m.
MEET STANDINGS: Colorado State sits atop the standings through three days with a total of 48 points with San Diego State and Utah State following in second (39 points) and third (34), respectively, and UNLV in fourth. Wyoming (28), UNR (25), Boise State (22), New Mexico (21), Fresno State (16), San Jose State (4) and Air Force (4) round out the 11-team field.
MEET SCHEDULE: Saturday's slate will have the trials and finals of four field events (javelin, triple jump, discus and high jump) and the finals for 10 track events (Friday's six plus the 1500m, 5000m, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay).
NATIONALLY SPEAKING: The Rebels entered championship week with four student-athletes ranking in the top 35 of three events in the NCAA. Wilson-Perteete is first nationally in the 800m (2:02.41), while teammates
Jasmyne Graham and
Taylor Pegram are 19th and 27th, respectively, in the 100m hurdles, and
Kaysha Love is 35th in the 100m.
REBEL NOTES:
- Four Rebels notched personal bests Friday:
Kara Smith (2:13.02) and
Emma Wahlenmaier (2:13.18) in the 800m; Osborne-Butler (168-0/51.20m) in the hammer; and Jonon Yong (18-3.25/5.57m) in the long jump.
- UNLV notched its best two-year combined finishes at the MW Outdoor Championships over the past two years with a second-place finish in 2018 after a third-place showing in 2017.
- UNLV had 12 student-athletes score points in a total of nine events at last year's MW Outdoor Championships.
- UNLV has eight returning scorers from last year's MW Outdoor Championships: Love (100m & 200m), Wilson-Perteete (800m), Rovere (800m), Graham (100m hurdles, 400m hurdles & long jump), Howard (shot put),
Cassidy Osborne-Butler (shot put) and
Stella Clemens (heptathlon).
- Wilson-Perteete and Graham won the 800m and 100m hurdles, respectively, at last year's MW Outdoor Championships.
- Both of UNLV's relays – the 4x100m and 4x400m – finished second overall at last year's MW Outdoor Championships.
