Hurdlers Shine in Rio in First Olympics

NORMAN - A pair of former Sooner hurdlers, Ronnie Ash and Eric Cray, recorded impressive times in the first round and both advanced to the semifinals in those events on Monday at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Ash, an NCAA national champion hurdler his days at Bethune-Cookman, won his heat in the 110 meter hurdles while Cray, a 2009 Bethune-Cookman graduate running for the Philippines, finished third in his 400 meter hurldles heat with a time of 49.05 seconds, slightly off his personal best of 48.98.

Another former Sooner, Laverne Jones-Ferrett, who was running in her fourth consecutive Olympics for the Virgin Islands, did not advance in the 200. She finished sixth in her heat with a 23.35.

The first two runners in each heat and the next six fastest times advanced to Tuesday's semifinals in the 200. A total of 72 runners started the event and Jones-Ferrett finished 46th. She got a good start and was second through the turn before falling behind.

Cray got the day started for the former Sooner hurdlers and he made his first race in the Olympics a special one. Competing for the Phillipines, Cray earned an automatic qualifier spot with his third-place finish. The first three in each of six heats and the next six fastest earned a trip to the semifinals. Cray's time was the 14th best in the first round.

There will be three heats in Tuesday's 400 hurdle semifinal which is scheduled to start at 9:35 p.m. local time. The top two from each heat and the next two fastest will advance to the final on Thursday. That race is set for noon local time.

Cray came into the Olympics as a two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist with that personal best time shattering the Philippines national record he previously held.

Ronnie Ash Ash's performance was even more impressive. Competing in the fifth and final heat, he finished with a 13.31. That time tied for the second best out of the 32 competitors. Ash's timeplaced him behind Omar McLeod of Jamaica (13.27).

His time of 13.31 in the heat put him ahead of France's Pascal Martinot-Lagarde (13.36) and Great Britain's Lawrence Clark (13.55). His victory came while overcoming both rainy conditions and hitting some hurdles.

“I felt myself accelerating a little bit and I tried to see where my placement was. It kind of got away from me and I looked out my peripheral vision and I crashed the hurdle,” Ash said. “It happens, I shouldn't have done it, my coach told me not to. (My coach said) to run straight through, look dead down the center of your lane, but you want to conserve some when you're in a race to set yourself up for tomorrow.”

The semifinal is set for Tuesday at 8:40 pm and the final for the 110-meter hurdles will be later Tuesday at 10:45 pm.

Will Claye, who competed for two years for the Sooners before transferring, recorded the second-best jump in his specialty, the triple jump, on Monday. He was one of three automatic qualifiers, recording a 55-11.25 on his final jump of the first round.The final in the triple jump is scheduled for 9:50 Tuesday morning. This is Claye's second Olympic competition as he also competed in London in 2012.

The final former Sooner to compete will be Brittany Borman whose qualifying is set for Tuesday night. There are two sessions and Borman will be the eighth competitor out of 16 in the first group. Any competitor who recods a 206-8.50 or is one of the top 12 performers will advance to Thursday's 9:10 p.m. final.

Borman finished fourth in the U.S. Olympic Trials with a 185-8 but was added to the US team as one of the finishers ahead of her had not met the qualifying standard.

For Borman, this is her second experience in the Olympics. She competed in London in 2012.

Watch the live stream of track and field and get updated results at IAAF.org. A recap of each day will be posted to SoonerSports.com.