Simms earns berth in hurdles at nationals
Advertiser Staff
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Simms has earned a berth in this weekend's USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
She was prevented from running in the NCAA Mid-East Regional 400-meter hurdle final on May 31 after University of Michigan women's head coach Henry James improperly withdrew the Wolverines' 4x100-meter relay team, including Simms, because one of the runners was injured.
Simms instead went to the Southern California USA Track and Field Championships in Los Angeles on June 8 and ran a personal best of 58.15 seconds to finish second in the 400-meter hurdles.
Yesterday, USA Track and Field announced Simms had qualified 18th to run in this week's national championships at Stanford, Calif.
"Everything happens for a reason," Simms said of this month's events.
The first round of the hurdles is Thursday, semifinals on Friday and the finals on Saturday.
Simms is believed to be the first woman born and raised in Hawai'i to qualify for the national championships.
Bryan Clay of Honolulu is the No. 2 qualifier in the decathlon at the USA Championships. He has a best this year of 8,225 points, second in the nation and fourth in the world; he finished second in this meet last year.
