March 13, 2009
Men's 60-Meter Hurdles Preliminary Results 
Women's 60-Meter Hurdles Preliminary Results
COLLEGE STATION, Tex. - Purdue sophomore Josh Hembrough locked up a spot in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday, hosted by Texas A&M University at the McFerrin Athletics Center. One of two national qualifiers for the Boilermakers, Hembrough is set to become the 44th NCAA All-American in Purdue's history tomorrow.
Running in the second of three heats in the preliminaries, Hembrough locked up his spot in the top-eight with an official time of 7.81. He was one of three athletes to mark that time in the prelims, coming in as the No. 7 qualifier when taken to 1/1,000th of a second (7.804). There was only 0.09 seconds between Hembrough and the top qualifier as Texas Tech's Omo Osaghae notched the top preliminary time at 7.72 and won Hembrough's heat.
Senior teammate Ranay Harvey nearly joined Hembrough in tomorrow's championship races, but fell just shy in the women's 60-meter hurdles as she placed 10th in the prelims with a time of 8.36. Her time was just 0.03 off the final qualifying spot, turned in by Iowa's Karessa Farley in the third of three heats. Harvey finished third in her heat, trailing finals qualifier Jackie Coward of Central Florida and the ninth-place overall finisher, Ronnetta Alexander of South Carolina. This was Harvey's first NCAA Championship qualification for the Boilermakers and looks to follow it up with a trip to the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships as she's been a Mideast Regional qualifier in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles in each of the past two seasons.
Hembrough will see how many points he can score for the Old Gold and Black tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. (CST).