The wife of Lions quarterback David Blough on Saturday morning in Tokyo qualified for the women’s 400 hurdles semifinals and set a personal record by finishing second in Heat 1 with a time of 0:55.32.
She’ll look to earn a trip to the event final in semifinal 3 on Monday morning at 7:55.
Gonzalez wasn’t the only competitor with local ties to compete in hte games on Friday.
Buchanan, Mich. native Hannah Roberts finished first in BMX Freestyle seeding with an average score of 87.70. She’ll compete in the final on Sunday.
Ypsilanti’s Cindy Sember and Tiffany Porter both advanced in the 100-meter hurdles on Friday night, both finishing fourth in their respective heats to punch a ticket to the event’s semifinals.
Sember in Heat 1 ran a 13.00, edging fifth place Jiamin Chen (China) by 0.09 seconds. Porter completed the hurdles in 12.85 seconds to defeat fifth-place Asuka Terada (Japan) by 0.1 seconds.
Former Michigan State Spartan Tori Franklin wasn’t able to make the women’s triple jump final, finishing 13th out of 17 competitors in Group B.
East Lansing’s Taylor Manson helped the Americans to a win in Heat 1 of the 4×400 mixed relay, although it appeared for a moment that they wouldn’t be headed to the final. The U.S. finished the race in 3:11.39, but was initially disqualified when it was ruled that an illegal exchange of the baton had been made.
USA Track & Field later appealed the ruling and the disqualification was overturne