UNLV notebook: Women to run for MWC title

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2000 | 1:57 a.m.

The UNLV women's cross country team begins its postseason run this weekend at the Mountain West Conference Championships in Fort Collins, Colo.

The 6-kilometer women's race will be held Saturday at Collindale Golf Course and will be followed by an 8-kilometer men's race. UNLV does not field a men's team.

BYU, the defending conference champion, enters the race ranked seventh in the nation while Colorado State, the host university, is ranked No. 22. Rounding out the field are Air Force, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah, Wyoming and UNLV.

The Rebels finished fourth at last year's Mountain West Championships behind top-25 finishes by Jenni Lopez and Katie Barto. Both runners have shaved more than a full minute off their 5K times from the 1999 conference race.

Lopez and Barto are coming off a 1-2 finish, respectively, in their last competition at the UNLV Invitational.

Rounding out the Rebels' lineup at the Mountain West Conference Championships will be junior Kelley O'Connor and freshmen Nickeisha Charles, Candice Happ-Rausch, Ajai Moreno and Tiffany Smith.

The Rebels (8-6-1 overall and 2-2 in the MPSF) will face UC Irvine Friday evening before concluding their conference road schedule Sunday afternoon at San Diego State.

UNLV (10-7 overall and 3-3 in the Mountain West Conference) will face Western Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday at Johann Field. UTEP will play Denver at 5 p.m. on Friday.

The championship and consolation matches are scheduled for Sunday.

UNLV (2-16 overall and 2-7 in the MWC) meets New Mexico Friday night in Albuquerque and Air Force Saturday night in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Tenth-seeded Nenad Zivkovic downed Ludo Barthe of New Mexico State 6-3, 6-1 to advance to today's third round in singles. Danny Erez, seeded 11th, whitewashed Christopher Faulman of Idaho 6-0, 6-0. Also advancing were Gregor Skorin, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Brad Lum-Tucker of Idaho, and Leslie Eisinga, a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Philip Ivanov of Weber State.

All three UNLV doubles teams are alive after Wednesday's first round.

The tournament, which features more than 90 players from 16 western schools, runs through Sunday.