EUGENE, Ore. -- Washington State junior CJ Allen finished 12th in the men's 400m hurdles semifinals Wednesday at the NCAA Championships at Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene.
Allen, from Allyn, Wash., ran a time of 50.94 seconds, well off his lifetime-best time of 50.16 seconds run earlier this season. Running in lane two of the second of three semifinal heats, Allen had a good start and made steady progress through the turns. He was one of the top two racers at the tenth hurdle but slipped back to third place just before the finish line. The second heat was the slowest heat of the three semifinals. The top two finishers in each heat plus the next two fastest times advanced to the Friday night final.
Allen was the 2016 and the 2014 Pac-12 intermediate hurdles champion. He finished second in a time of 50.77 seconds at the NCAA West Region quarterfinal after a one-day weather delay eliminated the preliminary heats in Lawrence, Kan.
“CJ ran great through eight hurdles and was leading. He got caught in between steps going into hurdle nine and again into hurdle ten, which ended up being the difference between getting that automatic qualifier and finishing third,” WSU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Wayne Phipps said. “He had an awesome season and has overcome a lot of adversity over the past year. Great experience for him, which will certainly pay dividends for next year.”
WSU does not have any competitors Thursday but Liz Harper (junior, Missoula, Mont.) begins her heptathlon events Friday morning. The meet is being broadcast live for several hours each evening the next three days on ESPN.