EUGENE – Texas A&M's Shamier Little advanced to the final of the 400 hurdles at the IAAF World Junior Championships Friday evening as she claimed her semifinal heat in 57.18 seconds while Aggie incoming freshman Ioánnis Kiriazis of Greece qualified for the final of the men's javelin.
Running the final heat of three in the semifinal of the 400 hurdles Little cruised to victory and posted the second fastest time in the round with her 57.18 clocking. Little will contest the final of the 400 hurdles on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. (CT). Coverage of the World Juniors is available on NBC Universal Sports as well as online at universalsports.com.
“I just made the right decisions and tried my best not to stutter-step,” said Little. “As far as technique, I think it was one of my better races. I just need to trust in my training and myself. It gives me more push to stay in the race and run faster when I have someone on the inside and outside of me to go for the win.”
The runner-up time in Little's semifinal heat was 58.47 while the top qualifying time for the final was a 57.08. The other American in the field, Jade Miller of Harvard, advanced to the final with a 57.28.
Kiriazis placed fifth in his group of javelin throwers, and was sixth overall among the 12 who qualified for Sunday's final, which starts at 5:25 p.m. The best mark from Kiriazis came on his third throw, which measured 227-0 (69.19). He opened with a 224-4 (68.39) and had a 213-10 (65.18) toss in the second round.
The top qualifying mark among the 31 entrants in the javelin was 244-3 (74.46). Kiriazis entered the World Juniors with a career best of 241-8 (73.66) set on July 6.