UNLV notebook: Senior duo anchors women’s cross country team

Thursday, Sept. 7, 2000 | 10:21 a.m.

UNLV's cross country team may be facing a rebuilding year this season, but the Rebels will have a solid foundation on which to improve upon last year's fourth-place finish in the Mountain West Conference.

The Rebels lost five starters from last year's squad to graduation, but return their top two runners in seniors Jenni Nelson and Katie Barto.

Nelson finished either first or second in the lineup in all six of UNLV's races in 1999 and shattered the school marks in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Barto also wrote her name into the record book, establishing the Rebels' record in the 3,000 meters.

UNLV will open the 2000 season Saturday afternoon in the UC Irvine Invitational in Huntington Beach, Calif. The field will include No. 10 Arizona State, No. 13 Northern Arizona and No. 25 UC Irvine as well as Southern Utah, Cal Poly, UC Riverside, Cal State Northridge, New Mexico State and Southern California.

Among the newcomers for the Rebels this season will be junior transfer Kelly O'Connor, who finished in the top 10 at the Junior College National Championships each of the past two seasons and was a top-five finisher nationally in distance events on the track.

Two redshirt freshmen will make their cross-country debuts this fall after competing during the track season. Juniors Tiffany Smith and Nickeisha Charles will try their luck at distance running after competing in sprint events last spring. Rounding out the list of newcomers is freshman Cherokee Osborne from Sparks High in Reno.

After finishing fourth at last year's Mountain West Conference Championships, the Rebels were chosen to finish fifth this year in a preseason poll of the league's coaches. BYU, which captured the national championship last year, was picked by seven of the conference's coaches to defend its title.

Following the Irvine Invite, the Rebels will have a week off before heading to Seattle to compete in the Sundodger Invitational Sept. 23.

UNLV will meet Loyola (2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday and take on Grand Canyon (1-1-1) Sunday at noon. In other games, Tulsa will face St. Mary's at 9 p.m. Friday and Loyola will play Tulsa at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The Rebels opened the season last week with a 3-0 victory over Ohio State and then played Notre Dame to a 0-0 tie in double overtime.

Sophomore Cosette Joffs leads the Rebels with two goals and four points.

The Rebels (0-3) will face Idaho State at 2:30 p.m. Friday and Alabama at 7:30 Friday night. UNLV will conclude the tournament on Saturday with a 9:30 a.m. match against Boise State and a 5 p.m. contest against San Jose State.