TORONTO – Texas A&M sophomore Shamier Little posted the top qualifying time in the semifinals of the 400 hurdles at the Pan American Games while Aggie senior Shavez Hart advanced to the semifinal of the 100 meters during the first day of track and field events at York University.
Amid a windy morning session Little, the U.S. champion and current world leader, ran a controlled race in producing a time of 56.08 seconds to win the second semifinal over a 56.77 from Sarah Wells of Canada and a 56.82 by Cuba’s Zurian Hechavarria as they collected the three automatic advancement places for the final.
The pair of time qualifiers advancing to the final also came from the second heat with Deborah Rodriquez of Uruguay (56.86) and Jessica Gilbert of Haiti (57.58).
The first semifinal of the 400 hurdles was won in 56.56 by Sparkle McKnight of Trinidad & Tobago, who competed for Arkansas, while American Kori Carter did not start. The other pair of automatic qualifiers to the final included Mexico’s Zudikey Rodriguez (57.64) and Sharolyn Scott of Costa Rica (57.76).
In the prelims of the 100 meters Shavez Hart of the Bahamas posted a windy 10.13 (2.8 wind) to finish third in his heat and earn an automatic advancement to Wednesday’s semifinal. Trinidad’s Keston Bledman won the third heat of the 100 in 9.95 over a 9.99 from Remontay McClain of the United States while Levi Cadogan of Barbados earned the fourth automatic spot in 10.18.
Other heat winners in the 100 prelims included Canada’s Andre DeGrasse with a 10.06 (1.9 wind) and American Bee Jay Lee in a wind-aided 9.99 (3.3 wind).
Little will contest the 400 hurdle final at 6:15 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday. The semifinal of the 100 for Hart starts at 5:50 p.m. with the final scheduled for 7:50 p.m. Coverage will be available on ESPN2.
At the European Junior Championships held in Eskilstuna, Sweden, this past weekend Aggie freshman Ioannis Kyriazis placed fourth in the javelin with a mark of 252-9 (77.05). The series for Kyriazis included throws of 229-5 (69.94), 252-9 (77.05), foul, 242-6 (73.93), 232-7 (70.89) and 252-5 (76.95).
It was the third best mark for Kyriazis this season following his career best of 257-3 (78.41) to win the SEC title on his final throw of the competition and the 254-10 (77.67) he threw during the NCAA West preliminary rounds in Austin.
Aggies in action during Wednesday’s morning session at the Pan Am Games include Lindon Victor(Grenada) in the decathlon, Janielle Bellille (Trinidad & Tobago) in the women’s 400 and Bralon Taplin(Grenada) in the men’s 400.
The decathlon begins with the 100 meters at 9:10 a.m. (CT) while the semifinals of the women’s 400 starts at 9:30 a.m. with the men’s 400 semifinals at 10 a.m. Coverage is available online with ESPN3.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics