New Westminster sprinter Raquel Tjernagel placed seventh in her semifinal heat at the Pan Am Games in Toronto last Thursday.
Tjernagel qualified for the women’s 200 metres earlier in the day, following a fifth-place finish in her opening heat in a time of 23.63.
The top-four finishers in each heat and the next four fastest times moved on to the semifinals.
The 17-year-old New Westminster Secondary senior qualified for the semis along with Nercely Soto of Venezuela, Sheniqua Ferguson of Bahamas and Kanika Beckles of Grenada, who all posted faster times in the heats.
Tjernagel, who ran a personal-best 23.34 in the 200m at the Brian Clay International meet in California in April, outpaced Sharolyn Josephs for the final berth in the semifinals despite a personal-best time of 23.70 by the Costa Rican runner.
Kimberly Hyacinthe of Canada qualified for the women’s final in the other semifinal heat with a time of 22.81.
In the women’s 200m final, Kaylin Whitney of the U.S. edged American teammate Kyra Jefferson for the gold in a winning time of 22.65. Hyacinthe placed sixth with a time of 23.28.
Evelyn Ashford of the United States holds the Pan Am Games record with a time of 22.45 recorded in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1979.
The world and Olympic record for the women’s 200m is held by American Florence Griffith-Joyner with a time of 21.34 recorded at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea.
