Before UC Riverside's two-time All-American
Brenda Martinez (pictured) closes the book on her 2009 campaign, she has one more chapter to finish - a chapter that ends at the
2009 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championship in Eugene, Oregon from June 25-28.
Tonight's events are being streamed live at flotrack.com while ESPN and NBC will share television coverage of the final three days of the championship.
The Rancho Cucamonga junior is competing in the 800m which begins Thursday, June 25. First round heats start at 5:15 pm PT. ESPN has live coverage on Friday, June 26, and the 800m semifinals are set for 5;55 that evening. NBC picks up the coverage on Sunday, June 28, with the 800m finals scheduled for 1:44 pm.
Joining her at the championship is sophomore
Chad Hall who is running in the 1500m. His first round race is set for Thursday at 7:05 pm with the finals slated for Saturday at 2:31 pm.
This will be the first competitive 800m for Martinez since the Big West Championship back on May 15 when she won the conference title with a time of 2:03.05 (
watch the race). She also won the Big West 1,500m (
watch the race) on her way to being named Big West Female Track Athlete of the Year.
Martinez ran the 1,500m at both the NCAA West Regional at the end of May (
watch the race) and the NCAA Championship in the second week of June finishing second in the nation in the event and picking up her second All-America honor in the process. Martinez earned her first All-America accolade after finishing seventh in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship earlier this year.
Her 800m time at the Big West Championship was just off her school record mark of 2:02.34 set back on June 7, 2008 at the Jim Bush Classic (
watch the race). Martinez also competed in the 800m in last summer's Olympic Trials just missing out on a trip to the finals finishing sixth in her heat and 10th overall with a time of 2:05.10.
Hall ran his fastest qualifying mark in the 1,500m on May 30 at the NCAA West Regional with a time of 3:44.12 (
watch the race). The Big Bear native won the Big West Conference Championship in the 5,000m (
watch final two laps) and finished second in the conference in the 1,500m (
watch the race).