Trinidad and Tobago sprinter Leah Bertrand faces the starter in the fifth World Athletics U20 Championship Women’s 100 Metres first round heat at 3.07 this morning in Nairobi, Kenya. Bertrand has been drawn in lane eight.

Of the seven athletes in heat five, Bertrand has the second fastest personal best (PB), 11.52 seconds. With the top four in each heat qualifying automatically for the semi-final round, the 19-year-old Simplex sprinter is expected to progress. The first semi is scheduled for 9.10am today.

Serbia’s Ivana Ilic is the fastest of the heat five entrants at 11.38 seconds. Ilic is joint third fastest overall with Namibia’s Beatrice Masilingi, who competes in heat three. Jamaican Tina Clayton, the fastest of the 36 entrants with an 11.17 run, is tipped to win heat four. Bahamian Camille Rutherford, second fastest at 11.32, will be on show in heat one.

Jamaican Kerrica Hill and Nigeria’s Praise Ofoku clash in heat two. Hill is fifth fastest with her 11.43 seconds PB, while Ofoku is eighth on the list at 11.50. And in heat three, Switzerland’s Melissa Gutschmidt takes on Nigerian Tima Godbless. Gutschmidt and Godbless are sixth and seventh fastest, respectively, at 11.47 and 11.48.

Bertrand, ninth on the performance list with her 11.52 PB, is expected to challenge for a lane in the championship race–scheduled for 10.30 tomorrow morning. Bertrand produced the 11.52 run in winning the Women’s 100m dash at the first Olympic trial meet on June 21.

Dillon Leacock and Shakeem McKay will also represent T&T at the World U20 Championships. Tomorrow morning, Leacock competes in the Men’s 400m Hurdles heats. And on Friday, McKay sees action in the Men’s 200m.