Cherry Advances To Semifinals

Posted Aug 17, 2008 by Bill Ward

Updated Aug 17, 2008 at 11:49 AM

She wasn’t among the automatic qualifiers, but Tampa Leto High and University of South Florida product Damu Cherry still managed to advance to the semifinals of the women’s 100-meter hurdles at the Beijing Olympics in China.

Running in her first race since the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials more than a month ago, the 30-year-old Cherry opened her Olympic competition Sunday evening in the opening round of her hurdles event at the National Stadium in Beijing. Cherry finished third in the second of five qualifying heats with a time of 12.92 seconds. The top two in each heat automatically qualified for the semifinals, as well as the next six fastest times.

Cherry’s 12.92 was the fastest non-automatic qualifier. The top time turned in for the opening round was 12.68, run by both Josephine Nnkiruka Onyia of Spain and Susanna Kallur of Sweden. Cherry’s U.S. teammates, Lolo Jones and Dawn Harper, were among the automatic qualifiers for the semifinals. Jones won her heat in 12.71 and Harper finished second in hers at 12.73.

Cherry said afterward she is feeling the effects of a flu bug but hopes to shake it off for Monday’s semifinals.

“I got off really slow. I had the flu last night and just didn’t react,” Cherry said. “I had to play catch up. We’ll see what happens. I felt flat today. There’s no excuse. It is what it is.”

The semifinals are slated for Monday at 7:40 p.m. in Beijing, 7:40 a.m. Tampa time Monday morning.