UNLV roundup: Track team wins first league indoor title

Najia Hudspeth won the 400-meter run and anchored UNLV’s winning 1,600 relay Saturday, helping the Rebels win their first Mountain West indoor track and field title in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Hudspeth won the 400 in a personal-best 54.07 seconds, the fourth-best time in program history, and teamed with Naylia Hudspeth, Avi’Tal Perteete and Kaysha Love to win the relay in 3:38.65 — the third-fastest time in UNLV and league championship history.

Perteete was second in the 800 in a Rebels-record 2:04.71, and Love was second in the 200 in a personal-best 23.96 seconds and fourth in the 60 in 7.42 seconds.

Destiny Smth-Barnett was third in the 60 in 7.41 seconds, and Drea Austin was fifth in the 60 (7.46) and the 200 (24.21).

In the 60 hurdles, Jasmyne Graham was second in a personal-best 8.33 seconds, Jaela Williams fifth (8.50) and Amari Norris sixth (8.78).

MacKenna Howard was second in the shot put with a personal-best throw of 52 feet, 11.5 inches.

In all, UNLV had 13 top-eight finishes Saturday and finished 14 points ahead of runner-up Colorado State in the 11-team meet. Yvonne Wade was named the league’s coach of the year for the second straight indoor season.

The Rebels totaled 99 points, followed by Colorado State (85), Boise State (82), San Diego State (70), New Mexico (60.5), Fresno State (59.33), Air Force (48), Utah State (44.67), Wyoming (41), UNR (38.5) and San Jose State (34).

UNLV finished second last season, 3.5 points behind champion Colorado State.

MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

At Houston, Brad Gonzales won the 1,650-yard freestyle, and fellow freshman Mark Theall won the 100 freestyle and was part of the winning 400 freestyle relay, helping the Rebels finish second in the six-team Western Athletic Conference Championships.

Gonzales’ winning time of 14 minutes, 54.18 seconds was 30 seconds better than the runner-up. His seeded time of 14:46.31 is the fastest in program history.

Theall won the 100 freestyle in 43.56 seconds, with Forrest Beesley placing third (44.05), Or Sabatier fourth (44.30), Dylan Tarazona fifth (44.32) and Robert Gilchrist seventh (44.51).

Sabatier, Tarazona and Beesley joined Theall to win the 400 freestyle relay in a season-best 2:53.49.

Freshman Grant Norgan was fourth in the 200 backstroke in a personal-best 1:45.24, the third-best in program history, Francois VAn Wynsberge was fourth in the 200 breaststroke in 1:58.63, and Avi Cohen was sixth in the 200 butterfly in 1:47.84.

Wyoming won the team competition with 851 points, followed by UNLV (780), Grand Canyon (630), Air Force (447), Cal State Bakersfield (376) and Seattle (246).

BASEBALL

At Wilson Stadium, Kyle Isbel had two home runs and a double, driving in six runs and scoring three, in leading the Rebels to a 13-7 victory over Columbia in the first game of a doubleheader.

Trevor Horn held the Lions to three hits and struck out six over six innings in UNLV’s 11-0 rout in the second game.

Dillon Johnson and Bryson Stott had three hits apiece in the opener for the Rebels (6-1), who held a 16-13 edge in hits. Johnson scored three runs, and Stott had two doubles and an RBI.

Jack-Thomas Wold, Nick Ames and Max Smith homered for UNLV, with Wold totaling two hits, and Nick Rodriguez had a double and a single and two RBIs.

Liam McGill went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs for Columbia (0-3) in the opener.

In the second game, Ames had two doubles and four RBIs, and Smith had a home run, a single, two RBIs and two runs.

Stott and Rodriguez added two hits apiece, and Rodriguez and Johnson scored twice.

SOFTBALL

At Houston, Mia Trejo homered and scored twice to back Janine Petmecky (5-1), who pitched a three-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts and one walk, lifting the Rebels to a 3-0 win over Yale in the Houston Invitational.

In UNLV’s second game, Savannah Heebner pitched a four-hit shutout with no walks and five strikeouts to lift Houston past the Rebels 2-0.

Against the Bulldogs (0-4), Petmecky went 2-for-4 with a triple, and Brooke Stover went 2-for-4 with a two-run double for UNLV, which had an 8-3 edge in hits.

Sydney Grobman went 2-for-3 for Yale.

Against the Cougars (7-4), Charlie Masterson took a shutout into the sixth inning, when Kaylin Crumpton and Mariah Garcia hit solo home runs. Masterson ultimately allowed two runs on five hits and one walk and struck out three in six innings.

Jadelyn Yadao-Valdez went 2-for-3 for the Rebels, who were outhit 5-4.