Georganne Moline places fifth in 400 hurdles finals with personal best time

Arizona Wildcats hurdler Georganne Moline placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles finals of the 2012 Olympics today with a personal record time of 53.92.

The Thunderbird High School graduate bettered her previous PR by 0.39 seconds, a large jump. She set that in the preliminary race earlier this week, and while she ran a slower time in the semi-finals two days ago, her second-place finish in Monday's race set her up for the finals on Wednesday.

And it's not surprising for Moline to show well today. The speed of the field likely helped her reach a new personal best, and her fifth-place finish was just about where should could've expected to place, if not better.

For perspective, the three finishes behind Moline failed to run the 400 meters in less than 55 seconds.

The 22-year-old hurdler, who went undefeated this past season until she fell in a race during the NCAA Championships, was the second American to cross the finish line behind Lashida Demus, who earned the silver medal.

Russia's Natalya Antyukh won the event with a time of 52.70.

Moline redshirted a year in college due to injury, and she has one year of eligibility left for coach Fred Harvey, who was in London with his star hurdler.

And she'll return to Tucson with a bit of momentum, and likely, a bit of confidence. She told The Arizona Republic's Jeff Metcalfe earlier this week that she'd need to break 54 seconds in the 400 to have a shot at a medal. Likely, she'll be happy with her time, but her mantra will probably remain.

"No matter what my time, I'm never content," Moline told Metcalfe last week. "I've got to break 54 now. My goal is to medal and now just go for the experience."