Hayes Qualifies for Semis of 110-Meter Hurdles

June 12, 2009

Results Get Acrobat Reader

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Keith Hayes earned a spot in Friday’s 110-meter hurdles semi-finals, and Nickesha Anderson advanced to the semis in the 200 meters before falling .005 seconds short of a berth in the finals to lead Kansas on day two of the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Thursday at John McDonnell Field.

Hayes finished fourth in heat one of the 110-meter hurdles prelims to take the 15th spot in the semi-finals. The freshman from Wichita, Kan., recorded a time of 14.08 to move on.

“It was just another race,” Hayes said. “I went out there and did what I had to do to get to this next round. Now I’m going to do what I have to do to get to the final.”

Anderson had a solid run in the prelims, placing second in heat two with a time of 23.76 to automatically qualify for the semis. The senior from Hanover, Jamaica, improved upon that time just over an hour later, clocking in at 23.27. Nine athletes make the finals of the 200 meters, and Anderson tied for the ninth-best semi-final time. However, upon further review Anderson lost the tiebreaker as her time was revealed to be 23.270 while Miami’s Kristy Whyte recorded 23.265.

Lauren Bonds placed ninth in heat one of the 1,500 meters (26th overall) with a time of 4:26.73, not enough to advance the junior from Hutchinson, Kan., to the finals.

Zlata Tarasova will compete in the finals of the hammer throw Friday at 11 a.m. CDT, while Hayes will run in the 110-meter hurdles semi-finals at 7:05 p.m.

“It all comes down to execution now,” Hayes explained. “My goal is to get to the final. Whether it be 14.5 or 13.1, whatever it takes to get to the final.”

Live stats and results can be found at http://www.flashresults.com/2009_Meets/outdoor/NCAA/. A live webcast can be viewed at http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=ncaa&media=129516. Full results can be found at www.kuathletics.com as well as http://www.ncaa.com/loc/ncaa-c-otrack-loc.html upon completion of each day’s events.