Williams Runs to 100-Meter Semifinal in Beijing

Aug. 16, 2008

BEIJING, China – The University of Miami had two former track stars in action on Saturday in the Beijing Olympics. Lauryn Williams finished second in both her first and second round heats in the 100-meters, while Ginou Etienne failed to move on after a sixth place finish in the 400-meter opening round.

Williams, representing the United States, placed second in her first round heat, with a time of 11.38, a hundredth of a second behind France’s Christine Arron. In the second round, she also finished second, this time behind Kerron Stewart of Jamaica, with a time of 11.07.

This is Williams’ second Olympic appearance. She won a silver medal in Athens in 2004 in the 100-meters. Earlier in 2004, Williams won the National Championship in the 100-meters as a member of the Hurricanes. In her three years as an UM student-athlete from 2002-04, Williams earned nine All-American honors.

Etienne, representing Haiti in her first Olympic Games, ran the 400-meters in 53.94 seconds, for a sixth place finish. The top three qualified for the next round, as Russia’s Anastasia Kapachinskaya won the heat with a time of 51.32.

Etienne attended the University of Miami from 2003-07 where she earned a total of six All-American honors, two coming in the 400-meters.

Williams will next run in the semifinals on Sunday. The top four finishers in each heat plus the next top time will move on to the finals later in the day.