SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- On a cool evening at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex, University of Texas rising sophomore Marshevet Hooker (San Antonio, Texas/Southwest) clocked 11.41 in the quarterfinals in the 100 meters Friday evening at the U.S. Olympic Track Trials to advance to Saturday's semifinal round. Three former Longhorns standouts are moving on as well after the opening day of competition at the 10-day meet, with Raasin McIntosh (Houston, Texas) qualifying in the 400-meter hurdles, Jason Ward (Paducah, Ky.) in the long jump and Lakeisha Backus (Long Beach, Calif.) in the 100m.
Hooker, who was in the same heat as NCAA champion Lauryn Williams of Miami, finished third running into a headwind measured at 0.8 meters-per-second behind Williams and former LSU All-American Muna Lee in the fourth of four heats to automatically advance to Saturday's semifinals. Williams posted the fastest qualifying time with a mark of 11.13, followed by Inger Miller (11.28) and Latasha Colander (11.35). Backus finished with a time of 11.53 to advance.
In the opening round of the 400m hurdles, McIntosh finished second in the first of four heats at 55.25 to qualify for Saturday's semifinal. McIntosh's time is her fastest this season and ranks as the fifth-best mark among all qualifiers. Former Longhorn Alyssa Aiken (Chantilly, Va.) failed to qualify as she did not finish her race.
Ward recorded a personal-best in the long jump with a mark of 25-8.25 (7.83m) with a tailwind measured at 2.3 meters-per-second at his back to qualify seventh overall for the finals, which begin on Sunday, July 11. In other action on the men's side, former All-American Brian Rue (Katy, Texas) failed to qualify in a very competitive 800 meters with a time of 1:49.29.
The semifinals in the women's 100 meters on Saturday, July 10, is set for 5:30 p.m. (CST), followed by the finals at 7:50 p.m. (CST), which can be seen live on NBC. NBC's live coverage on Saturday is from 7-8 p.m. (CST). Texas Ex Erin Aldrich opens qualifying in the high jump at 7 p.m. (CST), while McIntosh competes in the semifinals in the 400m hurdles at 6:30 p.m. (CST).
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