SPOKANE, Wash. (UNLVrebels.com) – The UNLV women's track & field team kicked off 2024 with their second meet of the season on Friday, competing north at the Spokane Showcase, hosted by The Podium. The Rebels found success throughout the highly-competitive meet, including several top-three finishes among other top-30 ranked programs alongside UNLV in 2023. The Scarlet & Gray's meet on Friday afternoon marked the first competition of the indoor season for a majority of student-athletes on the program, the team previously sending a quad of distance runners to the Sharon-Colyear-Danville Season Opener in the beginning of December.
 
Junior Kennedi Porter led the team with a pair of top-three finishes in sprints, highlighted by a runner-up finish in the women's 200m. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., native's 24.50 time beating out the third-place finisher by a tenth of a second and currently sits 26th among NCAA DI competitors so far this season (according to athletic.net). Porter also earned a third-place finish in the women's 60m to kick off the Spokane Showcase, the junior's 7.46 final time in the event surpassed her race during the qualifier round just before at 7.47.
 
First-year Grace Cunningham also picked up a top-three placing at the Spokane Showcase, the junior earning her finish in the women's high jump in the field events. The Las Vegas native took flight to a 1.66m (5-05.25) height in the event, tying for the third-place spot with five other student-athletes in the event. Among those five were Erin Thompson, the Las Vegas product earning a clear in three different heights on her first attempt. 
 
The Rebels had several other student-athletes among the top-15 finishers in various events, including Jana Lakner in the women's 400m. The Bavaria native posted a 57.34 final time to kick off her sophomore campaign, placing among the event's top-10 finishers at seventh-place overall. The Scarlet & Gray's 4x400m A relay also finished seventh overall in the previously-mentioned event, the 3:54.97 time coming from the team of Lakner, Porter, Endya Scott and Sadia Green.
 
Roxene Simpson represented UNLV in the women's shot put, tossing a distance of 12.24m (40-02.00) as her highest distance of the meet. The toss came from her first throw in the event, the junior finishing 11th overall among the competition. LaKyla Yazzie made her way into the top-15 finishers in the women's mile, finishing the race at 15th overall by less than a second on a 5:09.57 final time.
 
Camryn Harris and Mackenzie Okonta rounded out the Spokane Showcase with a pair of top-15 finishes in the women's triple jump, Harris earning a personal-best distance of 11.09m (36-04.50) on her second attempt of the afternoon. Okonta finished just behind Harris with her first run being her farthest, reaching a 10.78m (35-04.50) mark in the event.
 
UNLV will compete next at Northern Arizona University a week from Friday, traveling to the Lumberjack Team Challenge in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Friday, Jan. 19. The evening meet is scheduled to start field events at 2 p.m. with running events kicking off at 4 p.m.