Sutherland, Flanagan, Sember Close Out World Athletics Championships
8/28/2023 3:33:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
Budapest, HUNGARY-- University of Michigan women's trackster Savannah Sutherland, and alumni Ben Flanagan and Cindy (Ofili) Sember closed out the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday (Aug. 27).
Representing Canada, Sutherland marked her first trip to the World Athletics Championships with a strong series of performances. She earned an automatic qualification to the 400-meter hurdle semifinals after taking fourth in the first round with a time of 55.85. In the semifinals, Sutherland ran her second-best mark of the year with a time of 54.99 -- her best of 54.45 earned her an NCAA title. She finished sixteenth overall, closing out a strong world campaign before returning to Michigan to kick off the new school year. This closes out a remarkable season for Sutherland, with accolades including a Canadian National title, Big Ten title, NCAA title, and her first world championship berth.
Flanagan (2013-18) also represented Canada, as he made his first world championships appearance in the 5,000 meters. He marked the close of a career season by finishing eleventh in the first round (13:38.69), just two seconds short of making the world final. Other highlights of Flanagan's season include the Canadian National 5,000-meter title, and career bests in the 5,000 and 3,000 meters.
Sember represented Great Britain in the 100-meter hurdles at her fourth World Athletic Championships. The four-time UK Athletics champion earned a semifinal qualification after finishing fourth in her heat with a season best of 12.83. She continued on to the semifinal, where she finished eighteenth overall with a time of 12.97.
Players Mentioned
