TUCSON, Ariz. (UNLVrebels.com) - Coming off of their last meet at the Mountain West Indoor Championships a little less than a month ago, the UNLV track & field team took the course again on Saturday to kick off the 2024 outdoor season. The Rebels traveled out to the Arizona Spring Break Fiesta, the one-day meet being their first of two trips out to the University of Arizona.
The highlight of the day came way in two different events, both placing top-5 all-time marks in program history. The first of the two was
Roxene Simpson in the women's discus, tossing a 47.11m (154'6") distance that finished fourth in the event and fourth in Rebel history. The other high mark stemmed from the 4x100m relay, the team of
Chinyere Okoro,
Kennedi Porter,
AnnaKay Maitland and
Jaydea Carter earning one of the top times in program history on Saturday. The squad tallied a final time of 44.39, positioning themselves fifth all-time in the event in program history and third in the event.
The Scarlet & Gray also found success in their first track event of the day, posting two top-10 times in the women's 100m hurdles by way of Carter and
Delaysia Allen. Carter finished her race slotted fourth overall on a 14.03 time, Allen finding a 14.52 finish of her own at ninth. Another duo made their way to the top ranks of their event with
Grace Cunningham and
Erin Thompson, the former posting a 1.73m height for fourth overall and the later finding a 1.68m mark for sixth in the women's high jump.
UNLV's highest placing was found in Okoro's 100m time, the sprinter posting an 11.64 final time that earned her the second-place medal in the event. Maitland rounded out the top-10 competitors in the event with a personal best, clocking in at a 11.91.
The Rebels had a handful of finalists in the various field events on Saturday,
Camryn Harris jumping to fifth overall on a personal-best distance in the women's long jump at 5.56m (18'3"). She would also join
Mackenzie Okonta in rounding out the triple jump's top-10 finishers, Okonta finishing ninth on a personal-best mark of 11.76m as Harris finished 10th on an 11.05m mark.
Krishna Jayasankar found two top-10 marks in both events she competed in, her first meet for the Scarlet & Gray reaching an eighth-place spot in the discus (44.7m) and ninth in the shot put (14.3m).
Other best times throughout the meet came from
Isabella Schrader (1500m, 3000m),
Kaelin Gowdy (400m, 200m),
Malika Mashack (100m),
Emili Osula Liis (javelin) and
Keyona Burrell (400m hurdles).
UNLV will look to continue their success next weekend at the Aztec Invitational, hosted by San Diego State University as a three-day meet. They'll start on Thursday, March 21 and run through Saturday, March 23. You can catch updates on all things Rebels at
UNLVrebel.com.
