April 28, 2001

Box Score

IRVINE, Calif. - On the strength of just two events, the UNLV track and field team is tied for fourth place after the first day of competition at the Cal-Nevada Championships at Anteater Stadium on Saturday.

The Rebels racked up 15 points on a second-place finish by Jenni Lopez in the 3,000 meters and fifth- and sixth-place respective finishes by Tianika Sharrieff and Christine Spence in the high jump.

Lopez finished less than four seconds behind UC Santa Barbara's Cosette Smith, clocking 10:00.02 in the 3,000 to score eight of UNLV's first-day total.

Sharrieff and Spence both cleared 5-05.75 in the high jump, as did three other competitors. However, by virtue of clearing the mark in fewer jumps, the other three athletes tied for second, Sharrieff fell to fifth and Spence placed sixth.

Spence advanced to the finals in two events on Sunday. She won her preliminary heat in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:01.40 and anchored the 4X400-meter relay team that clocked 3:47.03 to advance.

Also earning tickets to Sunday's finals were Nickeisha Charles and Katie Barto. Charles took second in her 400-meter heat, clocking 56.72. Barto won her heat in the 1,500 meters and has the third-best qualifying time with 4:34.77.

Also scheduled to compete on Sunday are Charlotte Covington in the pole vault, Jennifer Gardner in the javelin, and Belisa Suarez and Tiffany Smith in the triple jump.