Abington's Nugent - competing for Jamaica - advances to 400 hurdles final

IT'S BEEN A hectic couple of days at the Rio Olympics for Abington High product Leah Nugent - and now she is in the final of the 400-meter hurdles on Thursday night.

First, Nugent - who is competing for Jamaica - finished Monday's heat in 55.66 seconds, but was disqualified, apparently because of her trail leg when the went over the hurdles.

However, she and the Jamaican delegation won their protest of the ruling and made into the semifinals Tuesday night.

She qualified for Thursday's final with a time of 54.98, the third-best time in her heat.

Nugent, who competes for the University of Kentucky, was the 2011 Gatorate Southeastern Pennsylvania high school girls track and field athlete of the year. Her father and many other family members are from Jamaica, and she chose to compete for the nation of her relatives instead of the United States.