May 28, 2004

LAS VEGAS - UNLV's Christine Spence and Halima Decree both advanced to Saturday's finals, as did the Rebels' 4x100 meter relay as they competed in the first day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Regionals on Friday at the Cal State Northridge Track & Field Complex. The top nine finishes in the premliminaries in the running events advance to the finals, with the top five finishers in the finals moving on to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas.

DeCree, a junior, turned in a time of 24.03 in the 200m dash to place fourth. The MWC champion in the 100m dash, she automatically advanced to Saturday's finals in that event as just nine runners had qualified for the regional.

Spence, also a junior, finished in sixth in the 400m hurdles with a time of 58.89. Also running today was Kiyota Reed, who placed 11th in the 100m hurdles in 13.80, missing a spot in the finals by just .13 seconds. Miesha McClendon also ran in the 100m hurdles, placing 18th in 14.37.

UNLV's relay team of Spence, DeCree, McClendon, and Reed were eighth in the 4x100m relay, finishing in 45.66.

In addition to Saturday's finals in the running events, Spence will also compete in the high jump competition, while Tiffany Smith will participate in the triple jump.

2004 NCAA West RegionalsCal State Northridge Track & Field Complex
Preliminaries (Top nine advance to Saturday's finals)
100 METER DASH - Halima Decree automically qualifiesfor Saturday's finals200 METER DASH - 4. Halima Decree (24.03).100 METER HURDLES - 11. Kiyota Reed (13.80),18. Miesha McClendon (14.37).400 METER HURDLES - 5. Christine Spence (58.89).4x100 METER RELAY - 8. UNLV (Spence, DeCree, McClendon, Reed) (45.66).