Hampton University’s Terry Thornton qualified for the semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles on Wednesday at the NCAA Championships at Drake Stadium. Thornton finished sixth in the preliminaries.

Thornton’s time of 50.17 was good enough for second in his preliminary heat, which Washington State’s Jeshua Anderson won. When all the heat times were combined, Thornton’s time was sixth-fastest. Anderson’s 49.90 was the quickest of the preliminary times.

Though Thornton would’ve qualified for the semifinals based solely on his time, his top-two finish in the heat was enough for the senior to advance.

The semifinals will be held Thursday at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University. The top three finishers of each semifinal, as well as the next two best times, will advance to Friday’s championship finals.

Thornton will also compete in Thursday’s preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles.

The Pirates’ 4x100-meter relay team finished with the 10th-best time in the preliminaries, with Thornton, Kevin Teel, Aaron Anderson and Predist Walker combining for a time of 39.88. LSU won the preliminary round with a qualifying time of 39.11.

The top eight relay teams advanced to Thursday’s semifinal round, eliminating Hampton.