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Tampa's Damu Cherry out at world track championships

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By BILL WARD | TBO.com

Published: August 19, 2009

After a less-than-perfect race in her semifinals heat, Tampa's Damu Cherry has been eliminated from the women's 100-meter hurdles at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships on Wednesday afternoon in Berlin.

Cherry, who attended Leto High School and the University of South Florida, was one of the strong favorites to reach the final tonight. She entered the championships with a season-best time of 12.53 seconds and a lifetime best of 12.44. She also had won two Golden League meets in Europe this summer and had been running injury-free.

But after winning her first-round race Tuesday comfortably in 12.71, Cherry appeared to struggle in the semifinal and, despite not hitting any of the 10 barriers, took a distant third place in 12.76.

The heat winner was Jamaica's Brigitte Foster-Hylton, who ran a season-best 12.54. Perdita Felicien of Canada was second in 12.58.

In addition to the top two in the three semifinals, the two other fastest finishers advance to the final. Cherry's semifinal time was 0.03 away from qualifying. The fastest qualifier was American Dawn Harper, the 2008 Olympic champion, who finished in 12.48.

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