Dec. 1, 2011
Reno, Nev. -
The University of Nevada track & field team will get an early start to the indoor season this weekend. Nevada will travel to the Jacksons Open hosted in Nampa, Idaho to compete Friday and Saturday at the Jacksons Indoor Track.
"We are really excited about testing ourselves to see where we truly are with our fall training," head coach Shantel Twiggs said. "We have a mix of strong veterans, freshmen and transfers. We see this meet as the first step to a season that we want to be a strong impression before leaving the WAC. We believe we can be a conference contender this year, and this will be our jump-off point."
Nevada boasts some pretty impressive athletes that will be in competition at the meet this weekend. High jumper La Tijera Avery won the WAC indoor title last year and holds the school's outdoor record as well. Distance runner sophomore Samantha Diaz is the reigning indoor mile WAC Champion and qualified for the NCAA championships in both the 1,500-meters and 800-meters last year. She will be competing in the 3,000-meters this weekend, a race she has ran only once in her career when she placed fourth at the WAC Indoor Championships last season.
Junior Deborah Amoah is the team's top returning long and triple jumper. Coming off her senior campaign with the women's basketball team, Nicole Williams will be competing in her first indoor meet of her career in the high jump. Williams has twice qualified for the NCAA West Regional in the event during the outdoor season, and with her basketball eligibility exhausted, will be competing in her first full track & field season.
"In addition to our proven leaders, we have long list of conference contenders on the team this year," Twiggs said. "We have put together an amazing fall of training so far and we are ready to compete in a meet. I am very excited to see what this season holds for the Wolf Pack."
The Wolf Pack's multi-event athletes will get the first chance at action, beginning the pentathlon on Friday and concluding Saturday. The bulk of the meets events will run on Saturday. Full results will be available at Nevada's official website, www.NevadaWolfPack.com following the conclusion of the meet Saturday.
