Hannah Cunliffe advances to semis in 200m at world youth championships...



DONETSK, Ukraine--Seattle Speed Track Club's Hannah Cunliffe (left/photo by Kirby Lee, Image of Sport) easily won her heat of the girls' 200 meters at the IAAF World Youth Championships Friday morning.

The native of Federal Way, who ran against open competition this spring instead of competing for a high school team, looked very relaxed in her win, cruising through the line at 23.80, the seventh fastest time of the seven heats.

Afterwards, Cunliffe told USA Track & Field's Katie Branham, "I felt really great. I felt smooth. I felt like my mechanics were good. I didn’t push it too hard, and slowed up at the line. I’m really excited for the next round.”

Cunliffe advances to Saturday's semis, which will be contested at 7:10 am in Seattle (5:10 pm in Donetsk).  She'll run in the third semifinal.

Also competing Saturday is Camas' Alexa Efraimson in the finals of the girls' 1500 at 9:20 am, pacific time (7:20 pm in Donetsk).



NOTE:  USA Track & Field contributed to this report.

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