DAEGU, South Korea -- Texas A&M sprinter Jessica Beard placed fourth in the semifinals of the IAAF World Championships with a time of 51.27 seconds, placing 11th overall amid the field of 24 athletes attempting to make the eight-person final on Sunday.
Beard, stationed in lane eight of the third heat of the semifinal, had a good start and carried it through to the halfway point of the race. Through the curve Amantle Montsho of Botswana and Anastasiya Kapachinskaya of Russia established first and second place while Jamaica's Rosemarie Whyte moved into third.
In the homestretch Beard challenged for third, but wasn't able to pass Whyte, who ran 50.90. Montsho won the heat in the top qualifying time of 50.13 as Kapachinskaya clocked 50.41 in second place.
"I knew I had to get out because I had some amazing girls behind me," said Beard. "I was in lane eight and I couldn't see anybody. So, I had to get out and at least put myself in a good position to finish with them because they're very strong finishers. My last 100 is the part of my race I really need to work on."
The three other Americans advanced to the final as Allyson Felix (50.36) and Francena McCorory (50.24) each won a semifinal heat. Defending world champion Sanya Richards-Ross, placed third (50.66) in the second heat and qualified on time for the final.
"Anyone who made the final can win it," noted Beard. "I don't think you can ever count anyone out. I'll be here cheering on Team USA, that is who I want to win. It could be all USA on the awards podium."
Beard will be part of the Team USA 4 x 400 relay with the prelims contested on Friday, Sept. 2 (Thursday at 10:10 p.m. local time) with the finals scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 3 (Saturday morning 6:40 a.m. local time).
A pair of Aggie sprinters will compete in the men's 400 semifinals on Monday (6 a.m. local time) as Tabarie Henry represents the U.S. Virgin Islands and Demetrius Pinder is one of three Bahamas sprinters to run in the semis.
Henry, who placed fourth in the 2009 World Championship final, will start in lane seven in the second semifinal heat, where the top two finishers and the next two fastest times advance to the eight-person final. Joining Henry in that heat is Grenada's Kirani James, who won the NCAA Outdoor title competing for Alabama, along with former World Indoor champion Chris Brown of the Bahamas.
Pinder, meanwhile, will be stationed in lane one of the third semifinal heat which includes Rondell Bartholomew of Grenada and Jamaica's Jermaine Gonzales.
Aries Merritt, who trains in College Station, drew the same semifinal heat of the 110 hurdles (5 a.m. local time) as world record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba and former world record holder Xiang Liu of China. There are just two semifinal heats, advancing the top three finishers in each heat plus the next two fastest times to the final (7:25 a.m. local time).
"I would like to throw a monkey wrench in the finals," said Merritt. "All it takes is for one person to mess up, because there are 10 barriers and everyone has to clear them perfectly to get that medal."