TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Cherry eliminated in semifinals

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 20, 2009

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

Cherry, who attended Leto High and the University of South Florida, was one of the strong favorites to reach the 100 hurdles final.

But after winning her first-round race Tuesday comfortably in 12.71, Cherry appeared to struggle in Wednesday's semifinal. Despite not hitting any of the 10 barriers, she took a distant third place in 12.76 behind Jamaica's Brigitte Foster-Hylton (12.54) and Canada's Perdita Felicien (12.58).

Only the top two finishers in the three semifinal heats - plus the two other fastest finishers - advanced to the final. Cherry's 12.76 was just .03 away from qualifying for the title race. The fastest qualifier was American Dawn Harper, the 2008 Olympic champion who went 12.48.

Bill Ward

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT