Hurdle crew all advance at World Championships

Three hurdlers with ties to the Arkansas program all advanced to the next round of the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles on Tuesday evening at the National Athletics Center amid a hot and humid environment.

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Three hurdlers with ties to the Arkansas program all advanced to the next round of the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles on Tuesday evening at the National Athletics Center amid a hot and humid environment.

Arkansas volunteer assistant Shamier Little posted the fastest time among the 400m hurdle semifinal field with a 52.81, which is her season best and third best in her career. It’s the second fastest semifinal time in the history of the World Championships, trailing only a 52.17 set by Sydney McLaughlin in the 2022 World Championships.

Razorback Ackera Nugent, representing Jamaica, raced first on the evening, winning the initial prelim heat of the 100m hurdles in 12.60 seconds with a 0.1 assisting wind. Recording the same time in second place was SEC rival in American Masai Russell from Kentucky. The difference in separating the pair was just 0.005 (.594 to .599).

Also racing in the 100m hurdles was Cindy Sember, who trains with Arkansas women’s head coach Chris Johnson. She finished fourth in the third prelim heat with a season best time of 12.83 to earn an automatic advancement to the semifinal, which will be held on Wednesday.

The top times posted in the opening round of the 100m hurdles included a 12.24 by American Kendra Harrison, a 12.44 for Bahamian Devynne Charlton and 12.48 by Nigerian Tobi Amusan.