UT hurdlers reach finals in Canadian Championships
By Steve Lansdale
OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada — A pair of University of Texas sophomores raced into the finals of the 400-meter hurdles Saturday at the Canadian Championships in Ottawa in a field of athletes competing for spots on Team Canada at the IAAF World Championships. The top two finishers in the final of each event will earn spots on Team Canada if they have achieved the UAAF Qualifying Standard. The third spot on the team will be determined by the Canadian National Team Committee.
On the women’s side, Mariam Abdul-Rashid finished second in her heat to automatically advance to Sunday’s final, crossing the finish line in 59.98 seconds, trailing only NCAA champion (for the University of Arizona) and Olympian Sage Watson.
In the men’s event, Macharia did one better, winning his heat in the 400-meter hurdles to reach Sunday’s final. Macharia won the heat in 53.64 seconds, the third-fastest time turned in by any runner in the preliminary rounds.
The men’s final is scheduled to be run at 9:25 a.m. central time Sunday, with the women’s final scheduled at 9:55 a.m. A free stream will be available by AthleticsCanada.tv and live results are available online at Athletics.ca.
