Sincere Rhea advanced to the quarterfinals in the 110-meter hurdles Wednesday at the NCAA Championships East preliminary meet in Jacksonville.
Rhea, a St. Augustine graduate and Miami junior, ran 13.70, the 2nd-fastest time of his life, at Hodges Stadium on the North Florida campus.
The first three finishers in each of six heats and the next six-fastest hurdlers advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals.
Rhea was 4th in the 3rd heat – which also had the lowest tailwind at 2.4 meters per second – and his 13.70 got him safely through to Friday. The cutoff wound up at 13.76.
His time was the 3rd-fastest small-Q qualifier after his race and nobody in the last three heats who wasn’t 1st, 2nd or 3rd ran faster, so he wound up with the 3rd-fastest small-Q qualifier.
Rhea, who grew up in Maurice River Township, Cumberland County, PR’d with a wind-legal 13.48 in the prelims of the ACC Championships at Raleigh, N.C., two weeks ago and placed 4th in the final. That’s No. 2 in Miami history, No. 35 in the world and No. 12 among Americans this year.
The quarterfinals are scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Friday. Twelve hurdles will advance from Friday to the NCAA Champions June 7-10 in Austin – the top three in each heat and the next-three fastest.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 