SAN DIEGO (UNLVrebels.com) – After picking up a handful of personal-best marks during the Aztec Invitational's first session on Friday, the UNLV track & field team geared up for a second competitive day at the meet on Saturday. The Rebels found several personal-best performances during the second and final day, including even more top-eight finishes at the event.
 
UNLV found themselves as the highest finisher in the women's 4x100m relay, the squad of Chinyere Okoro, Kennedi Porter, AnnaKay Maitland and Jaydea Carter surpassing their season-best time set last week at the Arizona Spring Break Fiesta. Their 44.29 time not only also marked the fastest time in the meet by .27 seconds but also the fifth-fastest time in program history.
 
Roxene Simpson tallied the highest individual placing of any member of the Scarlet & Gray over the weekend, ending the women's discus as the event's runner-up on a final distance of 44.44m (145'9") toss. The junior also represented the Rebels in the shot put with a top-eight finish in the event on a distance of 11.74m (38'6-25") mark. Krishna Jayasankar pushed high marks in the throws as well, finishing among the top-five competitors in the shot put on her 12.27m (40'3-25") distance as well as a fourth-place finish in the discus at 44.07m (144'7").
 
The team's 4x400m relay also solidified a top-four placing as well, crossing the line at 3:46.80 for a fourth-place finish of Endya Scott, Jana Lakner, Kaelin Gowdy and Porter. Porter continued the strong day with a third-place spot in the women's 100m, the junior finishing with a personal-best time of 11.54 by .14 seconds. Saturday's race for Porter passed her previous best from the 2023 Mountain West Championships last season. Emili Osula Liis picked up a second-straight meet of setting a personal-best distance in the javelin, this time marking a fourth-place finish in the event an improvement of over seven meters.
 
The Rebels found several other top-eight finishes during the Saturday session, Grace Cunningham and Erin Thompson, once again, pairing up for the duo to both score points in the women's high jump. Cunningham reached sixth overall on a 1.66m (5'5-25") height while Thompson finished eighth overall on a mark of 1.61m (5'3-25"). Lakner found an individual top-eight placing of her own, earning an eighth-place finish in the women's 400m on a 55.22 time.
 
UNLV found a handful of other personal bests on the final day of competition, Mackenzie Okonta finding another personal-best mark in the long jump. Keyona Burrell rounded out the Rebels' achievements during the Aztec Invitational, finishing with a new career-low time in the women's 400m hurdles.
 
The next time the Rebels will compete will be at Myron Partridge Stadium, the program's first official home meet in five years. That meet will be free admission to the public on Friday, April 5 and Saturday, April 6, the team giving out free posters to the first handful of fans that attend the meet. For updates on all things Scarlet & Gray, check out their X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram social media accounts.


FRIDAY
The UNLV track & field team started their two-day competition at the Aztec Invitational on Friday night, looking to build on their success they earned last weekend at the Arizona Spring Break Fiesta.
 
The Rebels only competed in a small handful of events in the first day of competition, sending three student-athletes to the line in the women's 1500m. The trio performed their best races of their career in the event, the program picking up a perfect three-for-three best times in the event to start the meet.
 
LaKyla Yazzie led the Scarlet & Gray in the event with the top time out of the three, her personal best being dropped by almost a whole second, registering a 4:40.84. Jaida Lyles and Isabella Schrader finished one right after the other, Lyles picking up the biggest improvement of the crew with a six-second personal best. Lyles' final time was 4:50.41, Schrader clocking in a 4:51.26 final time pushing a 1.57 improvement that she originally set just last week.
 
UNLV will compete again on Saturday, March 23 for the second and final day of competition at the Aztec Invitational, taking off in the majority of their events for the weekend. The Rebels will participate in six field events that kick off at 9 a.m. PT, running in eight more events that are set to start at 12:30 p.m. PT. For live updates on the Scarlet & Gray, check out their X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram social media accounts.