We stay outside for our next edition of the UNLV Top 10 Moments of the Decade, making a visit with the Rebel track & field and cross country squads as we head down the homestretch of our special summer series.
We hope you enjoy!
NO. 10: CROSS COUNTRY'S RECORD BOOK GETS SHAKEN UP AT BRONCO INVITATIONAL
Six Rebels Run Their Way Into Program's 6K Record Book (Oct. 17, 2015)
The UNLV cross country team turned in one of the best performances in the program's history at Santa Clara's Bronco Invitational in 2015. The Rebels had six runners place their names within the top-15 of the squad's all-time 6K performance list with four of those doing so behind personal-best times in the distance.
Spencer Moore was the first member of the Scarlet & Gray to cross the finish line -- 13th overall -- in a time of 20:55.5. Not only was Moore's time a personal best, but it was the fastest run by a Rebel since Katie Barto (20:38.0) and Jenni Lopez (21:10.0) did so at the 2000 NCAA West Regional. The Rebels had three others crack the top-10 in the performance list with
Rebecca Hobby claiming fifth place (24th overall: 21:18.2),
Auzsane Crowe-Carter sixth (41st: 21:37.9) and
Sara Williams eighth (46th: 21:43.0). Additionally,
Angela Ziff notched the 12th-best time at UNLV (83rd: 22:10.7), while
Brooke Cassar was one spot back in 13th (91st: 22:18.4).
Click here for more
NO. 9: REBEL THROWERS FINISH 4TH, 5TH AT NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bingson, Cassulo Become First Rebels To Earn All-America Status In Five Years (June 10, 2011)
Amanda Bingson and
Chelsea Cassulo finished fourth (211-2/64.36m) and fifth (202-3/61.66m), respectively, in the hammer throw at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. The duo earned USTFCCCA First Team All-America honors in the event by virtue of finishing in the top eight, and were the first Rebels to earn the distinction since Christine Spence did so in 2006 in the indoor 60m.
Click here for more
SIDE NOTE: Bingson and Cassulo qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships after they posted first- and third-place finishes at the NCAA West Preliminary, which was contested at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Prior to the NCAA Preliminary, the duo finished 1-2 in the hammer throw at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships, and it was the second of three straight conference titles Bingson won in the event from 2010-12.
NO. 8: SMITH-BARNETT SPRINTS TO REWRITE RECORD BOOKS
Rebels' 100m Time Ranked As The Second Fastest In NCAAs In 2017 (May 12, 2017)
UNLV's
Destiny Smith-Barnett ran only the second sub-11 second 100m time in Mountain West history on the third day of the 2017 Mountain West Outdoor Championships. Smith-Barnett registered a time of 10.94 that not only was a Rebel 100m record, but it also rewrote the conference's championship and all-time marks. The time of 10.94 surpassed the MW's previous best of 10.96 clocked by San Diego State's Ashley Henderson just 11 months earlier (June 11, 2016). Moreover, the time was the second fastest run by an NCAA Division I student-athlete that season, with Louisiana State's Aleia Hobbs posting a 10.85 at the SEC Relays (April 18, 2017).
Click here for more
NO. 7: PILGRIM REACHES NEW HEIGHTS
Rebel High Jumper Registers The Year's Best Jump, Finishes Third At NCAA Outdoors (May 13, 2017)
UNLV's Kaysee Pilgrim entered the 2017 Mountain West Outdoor Championships with the conference's best measurement in the high jump (6-1.25/1.86m); however, the senior soared to new heights on the fourth and final day of the conference meet. Pilgrim wound up upping her personal-best distance to 6-2.75 (1.90m), which reset UNLV's record book as well as both the MW's all-time and championship marks. Additionally, the measurement was the best posted by an NCAA Division I student-athlete in 2017.
Click here for more
SIDE NOTE: Following the MW Outdoor Championships, Pilgrim wound up taking third overall at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn USTFCCCA First Team All-America status
(Click here for more), and tied for seventh at the 2017 USATF Outdoor Championships
(Click here for more).
NO. 6: SMITH-BARNETT SPRINTS TO REWRITE RECORD BOOKS, PART TWO
Rebels' 60m Time Ranked As The Second Fastest In 2019 NCAA Competition (Feb. 23, 2019)
UNLV's
Destiny Smith-Barnett placed her name atop the program's indoor 60m charts with back-to-back 7.15 times in the preliminary and final rounds of the 2019 Mountain West Championships. Smith-Barnett's time supplanted Ashley Owens' time of 7.20, which stood as the Scarlet & Gray's best dating back to the 2006 campaign. Not only was the 7.15 a Rebel record, but it's the best in MW all-time and championship annals. Additionally, it was the second fastest registered by an NCAA Division I student-athlete and the 12th best in the world standings that season.
Click here for more
NO. 5: A FRESHMAN CAMPAIGN TO REMEMBER
Avi'Tal Wilson-Perteete Earns All-America Status Twice Over, Resets Records (2018)
UNLV's
Avi'Tal Wilson-Perteete had once of the best freshman performances in both indoor and outdoor competition in program history. In 2018, the newcomer from Oakland, California, began her collegiate career taking second in a program-best 2:04.71 at the Mountain West's Indoor Championships, and followed that performance with a USTFCCCA Second Team All-America showing at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She carried the momentum into the outdoor campaign and wound up winning the first of three straight conference titles in the 800m, with the initial championship claimed in a MW Outdoor Championships and then-UNLV and MW all-time record time (2:02.87). She wound up rewriting the UNLV and MW marks two weeks later at the NCAA West Preliminary with a time of 2:01.14, which was also the second fastest run by an NCAA Division I student-athlete that season
(Click here for more). She concluded the outdoor season with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for USTFCCCA Second Team All-America honors
(Click here for more).
NO. 4: BINGSON CAPS COLLEGIATE CAREER WITH THIRD STRAIGHT HAMMER TITLE, CONFERENCE RECORDS
Amanda Bingson's Senior Season Concludes With Pair Of All-America Nods (2012)
UNLV Amanda Bingson had already become one of the most decorated throwers in program history, and she only cemented her name in Scarlet & Gray lore with her senior year efforts. Bingson, a local product out of Silverado High School, recorded a UNLV-best mark of 70-3.50 (21.42m) - and fourth in the conference - in the weight throw en route to a second runner-up finish in the event at the Mountain West Indoor Championships. She rounded out the indoor campaign with a seventh-place showing and USTFCCCA First Team All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships
(Click here for more). She wound up resetting the program's hammer throw record - and Mountain West's - for the final time at the NCAA West Preliminary with a throw that measured an NCAA-best 233-1.0 (71.04m)
(Click here for more) after winning her third consecutive hammer title at the MW Outdoor Championships
(Click here for more). In her final collegiate competition, she wound up taking third in the hammer at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and, in turn, earned USTFCCCA First Team All-America recognition.
NO. 3: REBELS CLAIM SECOND INDOOR TITLE IN THREE YEARS
Backed By Six Event Wins, 161-Point Haul UNLV Runs Away With Mountain West Championship (Feb. 29, 2020)
The UNLV track & field program claimed the 2020 Mountain West Indoor Championship behind a staggering 115-point performance backed by 18 top-eight finishes on the third and final day of the conference meet held at the Albuquerque Convention Center. More impressively, the Rebels claimed victory in six events en route to their second indoor crown in three seasons. By virtue of winning the 2020 team title, Rebel head coach
Yvonne Wade was named the MW's Women's Coach of the Year for the third time in her career, having previously been recognized in 2017 and 2018. The Scarlet & Gray's
Cassondra Hall claimed the MW's Female Outstanding Performer of the Meet after she won both the 60m (7.27) and 200m (23.42), and helped the 4x400m relay to a runner-up finish in 3:37.03. More impressively, all three times rank in the top five of their respective events in UNLV's All-Time Indoor Performance List, with the 200m time sitting second, while the 60m and 4x400m times are both third.
Click here for more
Additionally, the Rebels' 60m sprinters claimed four of the top-five spots, including all three podium positions (1-3) - a first in MW Indoor history!
NO. 2: REBELS WIN, REBELS WIN
UNLV Notched Its First Mountain West Title, Claiming the Indoor Championship In 2017 (Feb. 24, 2018)The UNLV track & field program claimed its first Mountain West Indoor Championships crown Saturday with a 14-point advantage over its closest competitor, Colorado State. The Rebels, who racked up 99 points at the three-day meet, picked up 82 points on day three with 13 top-eight finishes, including wins in both the 400m and 4x400m relay, at the Albuquerque Convention Center. The indoor victory was the first for the program since it claimed the MPSF indoor title in 1993.
Yvonne Wade was tabbed the MW's Coach of the Year for the second straight indoor campaign; one year after her Rebel squad finished second overall, a mere 3.5 points behind Colorado State for the team title.
Click here for more
NO. 1: BINGSON, ROBINSON REPRESENT UNLV, TEAM USA IN LONDON
UNLV Student-Athlete, Assistant Coach Earn Spots To Compete For The Red, White & Blue At 2012 Summer Olympics
Continuing upon the momentum built during her senior indoor and outdoor seasons, UNLV's Amanda Bingson wound up qualifying for the London 2012 Summer Olympics after she finished second overall at the U.S. Olympic Trials at Nike's World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Bingson qualified for the Olympics with a personal-best throw of 71.78m (235-6), which after four rounds was the best distance among the field of 24 competitors. Amber Campell's (Nike) fifth throw edged out Bingson's mark by two one hundredths of a meter (71.78m/235-6) for the top spot.
(Click here for more)
Additionally, UNLV track & field assistant coach Khadevis Robinson (Nike) earned a spot on the Olympic Team with his second-place finish in the men's 800m run at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Robinson, who was seventh with about 200 meters remaining, ran in the back of the pack for the majority of the race. With about 100 meters left, he outkicked his competition and eventually edged out Duane Solomon (Saucony) for second by only .01 seconds to earn his second appearance in Olympic competition (Athens 2004). (Click here for more)
SIDE NOTE: After finishing in second at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, Bingson went on to win the 2013 and 2014 USATF Outdoor Championships.
