Pleasantville’s Nia Ali matched her season-best time and advanced to the semifinals of the 100-meter hurdles Friday at the USATF Championships in Eugene.
Ali placed 2nd in the 2nd of three heats in 12.59, the 5th-fastest time overall at Hayward Field. The top four finishers in each of the three hearts plus the next four-fastest times qualified for the semifinals on Saturday evening.
Ali, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist, also ran 12.59 in a meet in Gainesville in April. She did not race outdoors in 2020 or at all in 2021 as she had a baby, so the 12.59 matches her fastest time since she ran a lifetime best 12.34 to win the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Ali races in the semifinal at 4:04 p.m. Saturday. The top three finishers in each of two heats plus the next two-fastest advance to the final, which follows at 5:41 p.m.
Ali will be in lane 6 in the first of the two semis. She had the 2nd-fastest time in the trials among the women in her semifinal. Alaysha Johnson, who ran 12.40 Friday, will be in lane 4.
Click here for live results: https://results.usatf.org/2022Outdoors/
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 