RENO, Nev.  – The Nevada track & field team is welcomingsix newcomers to its program, as announced by head coach Shantel Twiggs on Wednesday.
 
"We went both short and long distance on this first class, along with a thrower, and I already can't wait for them to be here," Twiggs said. "Agnese will actually be joining us prior to the start of the season at the semester, so she'll make an immediate impact."
 
The class is comprised of two sprinters, Agnese Mulatero and Emily Costello, a thrower with Gaia Osborne and three distance runners in Tabatha Walford, Alexis Melendrez and Mikayla Shults.
 
Mulatero comes to the United States from Italy as a hurdler. She boasts personal records of 13.85 seconds in the 100 meter hurdles and 8.71 in the 60m hurdles. Such times would rank eighth and seventh in program history, respectively. The Italian native won the U18 and U20 championships in the events. She'll look to make an immediate impact come January and the start of the indoor season. (Story continued below)
 
 
She'll be joined in the shorter races by Costello, a soon-to-be freshman from Folsom, Calif. She holds personal records of 12.32 seconds in the 100m dash, 24.49 in the 200m dash and 55.61 in the 400m dash. Her longer two races are her strongest, tied for eighth and falling fifth in program history. Costello also boasts several league and division championships. (Story continued below)
 
 
Osborne is a thrower from England who will help out with what has traditionally been a strong part of the field program. She specializes in shot put and javelin, having won national honors in both events. Osborne's personal record of 44 feet and 9 inches (13.64m) sits just outside of the program's top 10. She has a best of 136 feet and 1 inch (41.48m) in the javelin. (Story continued below)
 
 
The first of the long runners is Walford, coming from across the pond and Northamptonshire, England. She qualified for the English National Championships in 2016 for the 3000m. She holds a personal record of 10:07 in the event. She also has personal bests of 4:36 in the 1500m and 2:16 in the 800m. Walford will look poised to make her impact on the school's record books as all three times lie just outside the program's top 10.
 
Melendrez is a local product from Spanish Springs High School, joining sophomore Lauryn Massic as SSHS alums now competing for Nevada. Melendrez is a Nevada state champion in the 3200m, winning the event with a time of 11:03.08 in 2017. (Story continued below)
 
 
Last but not least is another local product in Mikayla Shults. Shults has a varied resume, but really excels in the mid distances. She took fourth at the 2017 Nevada Northern Regionals in the 1600m with a time of 5:19.77. Shults has earned many all-region awards in her career in both cross country and on the track. (Story continued below)
 
The Nevada track & field team is coming off its best outdoor finish in the Mountain West Championships, falling just half a point short of third. The Pack's season gets underway on Jan. 12 at the Ed Jacoby Invitational, hosted by Boise State.