21.   Gaining the trust of the musicians was the first hurdle, but once a few names signed on, others began asking to come on board.

22.   Getting access to top-quality fish is the first great hurdle for a sushi restaurant.

23.   He stumbled over the first hurdle of the obstacle course and crashed to the dirt.

24.   Her suit passed its first hurdle when the state Equal Rights division found probable cause to proceed to court.

25.   If the odds generally are stacked against expansion teams for immediate success, today the Thrashers have a chance to overcome their first hurdle.

26.   It cleared its first major hurdle last week when it passed a House subcommittee.

27.   It should also help him shore up his chances of retaining the party leadership at a convention in February, the first hurdle to any re-election effort.

28.   It was the first major hurdle he has successfully jumped.

29.   Ivax Corp. and NaPro BioTherapeutics Inc. today cleared the first major hurdle in their bid to win U.S. regulatory approval of their version of a blockbuster cancer drug.

30.   Legislation allowing mothers to anonymously abandon newborn babies at hospital emergency rooms without fear of criminal prosecution easily cleared its first hurdles at the California Capitol Tuesday.