Ginnie Powell easily advances in first round of 100 hurdles at world championships...

BERLIN, Germany--Rainier Beach High School graduate Ginnie Powell easily advanced to the semi-finals of the women's 100 meter hurdles Tuesday night at the Berlin Olympiastadion with a strong second place finish.

Running behind Olympic bronze medalist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (12.56), a former collegiate rival of Powell's, the two time USA national champion clocked 12.77 to capture the runner-up position in the third of four first-round heats.

After the race, Powell told USA Track & Field, "It was clean. I hit one hurdle. But it was a good race. I was looking to actually work on my trail leg. I hit a hurdle with it, probably because I slowed up a bit. You can’t do that in the hurdles. But it’s the first round and that’s why I slowed up."

On Wednesday, former Washington Husky Aretha Thurmond competes in the qualifying round of the women's discus throw at 10:10 am Berlin time (1:10 am in Seattle).

Powell runs the semi finals of the 100 hurdles at 6:45 pm local time (9:45 am in Seattle), with the finals one of the last events of the night at 9:15 pm local time (12:15 pm in Seattle).

Marysville-Pilchuck HS graduate Jarred Rome will compete in the finals of the men's discus throw at 8:15 pm local time (11:15 am in Seattle), while Washington State alum Bernard Lagat runs in the finals of the 1500 meter run at 8:25 pm (11:25 am in Seattle), with coverage available on Versus and online at universalsports.com.

For more information on the IAAF World Track & Field Championships, please visit http://berlin.iaaf.org.