BERLIN, Germany — Former Lady Tiger national champion Nickiesha Wilson kicked off her World Championships run on Monday afternoon by earning a spot in the semifinal round of the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.37 seconds in her qualifying heat.
Wilson, who just missed a spot on the medal stand with a fourth-place finish in the final of the 400-meter hurdles at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan, two years ago, won her first-round race to advance to Tuesday’s semifinal scheduled to run at 1:15 p.m. CT.
Wilson set her personal best of 53.97 in the World Championships semifinal in Osaka while running for Jamaica, which remains the LSU school record in the event.
Two former Lady Tigers saw their run in the 100-meter dash come to an end in the semifinal round with a pair of fifth-place finishes in their respective heats. Kelly Baptiste of Trinidad & Tobago just missed a spot in the final with a fifth-place finish in the first of two semifinal heats with a time of 11.07. Muna Lee of the United States followed with a fifth-place finish in the second heat while clocking a time of 11.18.
Both athletes will return to the track on Wednesday for the first-round of qualifying in the 200-meter dash and will also run as part of their country’s 4×100-meter relay on Saturday.
Middle distance runner Marian Burnett of Guyana also saw her World Championships run come to an end during Monday’s competition in the semifinal round of the 800-meter run. After qualifying for the semifinal with a time of 2 minutes, 3.89 seconds, Burnett finished eighth in her semifinal heat in 2:02.75.