Cross advances at World Juniors

FAYETTEVILLE – Soon-to-be sophomore Caleb Cross, a hurdler on the Arkansas Razorback men’s track and field team, competed in the opening round of competition at the 13th IAAF World Junior Championships on Friday. The event is being held Tues.-Sun., July 19-25 at the Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium, in Moncton, Canada.

In the Friday morning prelims of the 110-meter hurdles, Cross won heat four with a junior-hurdle height personal-best time of 13.56. He was one of two Americans to advance to the semifinals and he clocked the third-fastest time of the prelims.

"This race felt good," Cross said. "This is kind of a fun hurdle height for me because I’m used to the college height. I wanted to come out and get a clean race and, hopefully, get a personal best at this lower height. My start is usually my strongest part of my race. I didn’t stay as clean as I wanted to but it feels great to advance."

"I’ve been sitting around all week – I got here Friday – so I just wanted to get out there and race," Cross said. "My goal is to make it to the finals. I just need to stay clean, have a good start, and I’m going to make it."

Cross, a native of Newport, Ark., advanced to the World Junior Championships after winning the 110-meter hurdle title at the USA Junior Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, in June. He holds a season-best of 13.90 at senior-hurdle height and a best of 13.56 at junior-hurdle height.

Cross will run the semifinals of the 110-meter hurdles on Saturday.