June 10, 2005

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Halima Decree finished ninth in the 100 meters Friday to finish just one spot short of All-America status at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships being held at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.

DeCree clocked a time of 11.60 in the race, seven hundreds of a second behind eighth-place finisher Tremedia Brice of Texas Southern, who ran a time of 11.53. The top eight finishers in each event at the championships earn All-America honors. Marshevet Hooker of Texas won the 100 meters with a time of 11.16.

Christine Spence kept her All-America hopes alive by qualifying for the finals of the 400 meter hurdles Friday night, running a 57.23 in the race to finish with the seventh-fastest time heading into Saturday's finals. The finals in the 400 meter hurdles are at 6:55 p.m. (PT) and Melanie Walker of Texas has the fastest time heading into Saturday with a 55.32.

Spence has also qualified for the finals in the high jump after she cleared 5'-10.75" on Thursday to move into Saturday's finals, which start at 7:00 p.m.

Spence is a two-time All-American for the Rebels, having earned her first such honor at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships, finishing seventh in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 57.20. This past indoor season she earned All-America honors for a second time after she finished eighth in the pentathlon with 4,036 points at the NCAA Indoor Championships.