Question

____ means something that comes before something else. if you want to run in the race, you have to place in the top third of the __ round. it can also mean \early\—the ____ results are in, and youve won!
spell the word:

Explanation:

The word "preliminary" means something that comes before something else. In the context of a race, the "preliminary round" is an initial round. And "preliminary results" can mean early results.

Answer:

preliminary