June 22, 2005

LAS VEGAS - Christine Spence, who wrapped up her collegiate career at UNLV by earning two All-America honors, will run in the 2005 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Carson, Calif., at the Home Depot Center.

Spence will run in the 400 meter hurdles at the championships, an event she twice earned All-America honors as a Rebel, most recently at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships, when she finished seventh with a time of 57.01.

The opening round of the 400 meter hurdles is Thursday at 7:35 p.m. (PDT) with three heats of five participants and she must finish in the top 12 to advance to Friday's semifinals, which are scheduled to be run at 4:50 p.m. If she runs one of the top-nine times in the semifinals then Spence moves to Saturday's finals, which will be run at 1:50 p.m. Sheena Johnson has the fastest qualifying time in the event with a 52.96 while Spence's best mark is 56.12, which is the ninth-fastest in the field.

Spence earned two All-America honors at year's NCAA Outdoor Championships to become the first UNLV track and field athlete to earn the honor four times in single events. Trevaia Williams and Crystal Irving each earned All-America accolades four times as well for the Rebels, but they both earned the distinction running on relays teams as well as competing in individual events. Spence is a two-time All-American in the 400 meter hurdles and an All-American in the high jump and heptathlon.

Fans can follow the USATF Championships on the internet by clicking here.