Dawn Harper-Nelson advances into 100 meter hurdle semifinals at Olympic Trials

Dawn Harper-Nelson’s quest for a third straight berth on the United States Olympic Track and Field Team remained right on course on Thursday at Heyward Field in Eugene, Ore.

An East St. Louis native and gold medal winner in the 100 meter hurdles at the 2008 Olympics, Harper-Nelson posted the ninth best first round time — 12.85 seconds — to advance into the semifinals on Friday afternoon in the 2016 trials which are being held on the campus of the University of Oregon.

Competing in the first of seven heats on Thursday, Harper finished behind only Keni Harrison, whose time of 12.57 seconds was second behind only Brianna Rollins, A Nike teammate of Harper-Nelson, Rollins, running in heat five, finished with a time of 12.56 seconds.

In all 27 of the top 100 meter hurdle runners in the nation advanced into the semifinals which will be held on Friday beginning at 5:58 p.m. The top nine athletes will then advance into the finals at 7:54 p.m. with the top three placewinners advancing to represent the United States in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Olympics will be held Aug. 5-21.

In addition to winning the gold medal in the ‘08 Beijing Olympics, Harper won the Olympic silver medal in 2012 in London.

Harper, 32, is a 2002 graduate of East St. Louis High School where she won six state championships — three each in both the 100 and 300 meter hurdles.

Dean Criddle: 618-239-2661, @CriddleDean

This story was originally published July 7, 2016 at 8:42 PM with the headline "Dawn Harper-Nelson advances into 100 meter hurdle semifinals at Olympic Trials."