UKTF’s Camacho-Quinn, Harrison, McLaughlin Qualify for Olympic Semifinals
TOKYO — University of Kentucky track & field alumni Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Team Puerto Rico, and Keni Harrison and Sydney McLaughlin of Team USA qualified for Olympic semifinals in the 100 meter hurdles (Camacho-Quinn, Harrison) and 400m hurdles (McLaughlin) in day two of athletics track & field.
Volunteer Assistant Coach Devynne Charlton of Team Bahamas also qualified for semifinals in the 100m hurdles.
Camacho-Quinn finished the heats with the top time of the field (12.41). She also made semifinals in the same race at Rio 2016 while she was a current member of the UK track & field team.
McLaughlin, the world record-holder in the 400m hurdles, finished with the fourth-fastest time in the heats (54.65) and will run in semifinals in that same event. She broke the world record with a 51.90 run in this year’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
Another Wildcat with a world record is Harrison in the 100m hurdles, who had the eighth-fastest time in the heats, finishing in 12.74 seconds, will compete in semifinals.
Charlton qualified in the 100m hurdles with the 12th-fastest time (12.84). She has been a volunteer assistant coach training under Coach Lonnie Greene since 2018 when she graduated from Purdue University.
Wildcat Leah Nugent of Team Jamaica ran in the 400m hurdles heats with a semifinals-qualifying time but was disqualified on a lane violation. The disqualification is pending protest.
Javianne Oliver of Team USA also ran in day two, with a 13th-place finish in the 100m dash semifinals (11.08).
Camacho-Quinn trained with UK track & field for three years until becoming a professional runner following the 2017-18 season.
The 2017-18 season was also the final season for Sydney McLaughlin, who ran for UK for her only season of collegiate competition. In that one year with UK track & field, McLaughlin became the NCAA Champion in the 400 hurdles and a Bowerman award finalist.
Harrison ran for UK during her junior and senior years of college, along with an extra season as a volunteer assistant coach in the 2015-16 season. She was the NCAA Champion in the 60m and 100m hurdles in 2015 and joining McLaughlin in becoming a Bowerman award finalist.
Semifinals for the 100m hurdles begin at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday, August 1, while 400m hurdles semifinals begin at 7:35 a.m. on Monday, August 2, (all in eastern time).
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