DES MOINES, IA -- Cal State LA's Khallifah Rosser got off to a sensational start Thursday in his first-round heat at the 2018 USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships.

Rosser, the 2016 NCAA Division II champion in the 400 hurdles, blazed to a first-place finish in the second of four heats with a time of 49.55. The meet is being held at Drake Stadium at Drake University in Iowa. Rosser, who graduated with a double major from Cal State LA last month, had the third-fastest time of the day on Thursday as he was one of 16 hurdlers to advance to Friday's semi-finals. The top four finishers in each semi-final will advance to the finals on Saturday.

"Today was a good race for me. I ran a clean race that led to a first-round victory," Rosser said. "There are a few small things I need to fix heading into the second round on Friday. But the number one priority was to advance to the next round and I'm happy I was able to do that. Tomorrow is going to be a good race and I'm excited for it."

It was an outstanding bounce back for Rosser, who fell over a hurdle at the 2018 NCAA Division II Championships and finished eighth. Rosser had the fastest qualifying time with a mark of 49.23 and was favored to win his second national title.

He shares the Cal State LA program record at 49.04 with Sam Turner and he holds the 400 record with a time of 45.74.

This is the second time Rosser has won an opening-round meet at a major U.S. meet. In 2016, he won his first-round heat at the Olympic Trials to reach the semi-finals and then narrowly missed qualifying for the finals. His first-round time in 2016 was 49.89.

He won his heat on Thursday comfortably. Craig Allen was second in 50.24 and Michael Stigler was third in 50.33.

"Khallifah's first round went, for the most part, the way it should have," Cal State LA assistant coach Orentheus Hutcherson said. "His backstretch (hurdles 2-5) was really good. His steps were off in a few places, but he handled it well. I didn't want to push him the whole race, so I told him to get to hurdle nine and assess the situation. He did that and ran a good first-round race. He can run a better race tomorrow by cleaning those missteps.

TJ Holmes had the fastest qualifying time on Thursday with a mark of 49.10 and Taylor McLaughlin was second in 49.26. Holmes, McLaughlin and Rosser were the only three hurdlers under 50 seconds in the first round of heats. Bershawn Jackson, who also won a Division II national title in 2004 at St. Augustine's, had the fourth-fastest time at 50.07. Jackson edged Rosser for the fourth and final spot in the finals in a semi-final heat at the 2016 Olympic Trials.

Rosser captured the Frank J. Candida Award as Cal State LA's top male athlete last month for the second time.

Friday's semi-finals are set to start at 3:10 p.m. PST.