Hempfield’s Williams, Latrobe’s Green advance at U.S. Olympic trials

By: Paul Schofield
Thursday, June 24, 2021 | 9:33 PM

Bridget (Guy) Williams is headed to the U.S. Olympic trials women’s pole vault finals after clearing 14 feet, 9 inches during qualifying Thursday in Eugene, Ore.

Latrobe’s Hanna Green, meanwhile, advanced to the semifinals in the 800-meter run.

Williams, a Hempfield grad, needed to finish in the Top 12 to advance to the finals Saturday. She’ll need to finish Top 3 to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo, Japan.

Williams, who was seeded fifth coming into the trials, is tied for seventh. Five competitors cleared 14-9 without a miss. One other vaulter cleared it with one miss but one fewer attempt. Ten of the 12 qualifiers cleared 14-9.

She's in the finals!@bridget_guy advances to Saturday's final in the pole vault at the Olympic Trials. Top clearance in qualifying round of 4.50m (14' 9") puts her in 7th place. #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/WTj3stLOnS

— Virginia Track & Field and Cross Country (@UVATFCC) June 25, 2021

Green finished second in her heat with a time of 2:00.79. The top two finishers in each of five heats and the next six fastest qualifiers moved on to Friday’s semifinals. The top three finishers in each semifinal and the next two fastest times will make Sunday’s final.

Williams’ Hempfield teammate and longtime friend Maddie (Holmberg) Nickal is scheduled to compete in the pentathlon, which consists of seven events, Saturday and Sunday.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Hempfield