Hurdles Rerun Has New Result: Bethel Qualifies

Dana Bethel took advantage of the Southern Section’s decision to rerun the girls’ 100-meter hurdles from the Masters meet a week earlier. Bethel, a Mission Viejo junior, qualified third in a wind-aided 14.23 seconds Friday and later advanced to today’s state finals.

Bethel, who finished second in state in the event last season, had been disqualified at the Masters after she pulled up and then pushed over the third hurdle.

It was later found that the third row of hurdles had been placed four feet farther than they should have been and the Southern Section decided Wednesday to rerun the event prior to the state preliminaries.

Kai Ivory of Pasadena Muir, a non-qualifier in the event at Masters, finished fifth and took the final qualifying spot. Atascadero’s Chelsea Johnson and Esperanza’s Julie Handy both qualified at Masters, but didn’t qualify in the rerun.

About four hours later, Bethel advanced to today’s finals at Cerritos, finishing second in one of three preliminary heats (14.52).