SEVILLE, Spain – Former LSU All-American Debbie Parris advanced to the final of the women’s 400-meter hurdles at the World Championships of Track and Field in Seville, Spain with a fourth place finish in the semifinal round on Monday.
The 1993 and 1994 NCAA intermediate hurdle champion ran just off her season-best time with a 54.81 second effort in a heat that produced the two fastest times of the day and three of the four fastest qualifying times.
Parris now advances to Wednesday night’s final. The Jamaican finished fifth at the 1997 World Championships after just missing a Bronze medal in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 with a fourth place finish.
Current LSU All-American Claudine Williams’ quest in the 400 meter dash came to an end on Monday afternoon as she finished fifth in her quarterfinal heat, just missing out on one of the four automatic spots into the semifinal.
Williams’ time of 51.40 was the second-fastest of her career, just off her personal record time of 51.30. It was the fastest time in the field not to qualify for the semifinal and was a season-best for the Jamaican, who will now concentrate on the 4×400 meter relay this weekend.
In other news, one former Tiger and NCAA 200 meter champion replaced another on the American squad. 1998 NCAA 200 meter champion Curtis Perry replaced an ailing Rohsaan Griffin, the 1996 NCAA 200 meter champion while at LSU and the American indoor record-holder in the deuce.
Perry won Silver in the 200 meter dash at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada last month and has a season-best legal time of 20.58, although he ran a windy 20.29 to finish fifth at the USA Track and Field Championships in June.
Griffin finished second in the 200 at the USA Track and Field Championships behind World 100 meter champion Maurice Greene, thus earning the automatic bid to the World Championships for finishing in the top three. John Capel, the 1999 NCAA 200 meter champion from Florida, finished fourth, however, he is currently in football camp preparing for the upcoming season with the Gators, thus making Perry the next selection.
Perry opens his quest for the 200 tomorrow evening competing in the seventh of 10 preliminary heats.