Smith to compete at NCAA Championships semifinals on Wednesday night

SAN ANTONIO — Joshua Smith will begin his quest for All-America honors on Wednesday night when he runs in NCAA Championships 400-meter hurdles semifinals at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Smith will race in the second of three heats at 8:15 p.m. (CT).

The junior from Flower Mound is coming off a pair of third-place finishes in his sections from May 23-24 at the NCAA Championships Preliminary Rounds in Austin. In fact, Smith recorded the third-fastest performance in program history in the national quarterfinals two weeks ago.

Competing three hours later than scheduled due to inclement weather, he came out and circled the Mike A. Myers Stadium oval in a career-best 50.74 en route to a third-place finish in the second of three heats.

However, it did not come without drama.

In fourth place entering the homestretch, Smith began to make up ground and he leaned past Boise State's Jordin Andrade at the finish line to secure an automatic berth in the national semifinals by a mere hundredth of a second.

It marked his second personal record in his last three outings, as he clocked a 51.09 in a runner-up performance at last month's Western Athletic Conference Championships.

Smith has not finished worse than third in his last eight races dating back to late March.

He will be looking to become the 11th All-American in school annals and the 10th under the direction of head coach Aaron Fox.

The top two finishers in each heat and the next two fastest times will advance to Friday's national final, which is slated for 6:40 p.m. (CT).