July 14, 2000

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - UNLV's Michele Davis made a fine showing in her first appearance at the U.S. Olympic Trials, finishing 17th overall in the prelims of the 400 meters with a mark of 52.87 at Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium on Friday.

Davis, who finished seventh in the 400 at last May's NCAA Championships, just missed reaching the semifinals, which includes the top 16 finishers by time in the preliminaries. She missed a qualifying time by 0.37 seconds.

Davis will remain in Sacramento and make another attempt to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in the 200 meters. As the nation's fourth-best collegian this spring, she will face a nationally-respected field in the preliminaries on Saturday, July 22.

Davis is trying to become the Rebel track and field program's third athlete to reach the 2000 Summer Olympic Games and the first from the U.S. Former Rebels Ayanna Hutchinson and Alicia Tyson will represent their home country of Trinidad and Tobago in Sydney.