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Ryan Crouser launches big sixth round throw to win shot put - Sunday Recap - USATF Outdoor Championships

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DyeStat.com   Jun 26th 2017, 1:33am
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Crouser steps up with clutch sixth-round effort to win shot put

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

SACRAMENTO -- Joe Kovacs applied all of the tension that Ryan Crouser needed to spring loose the biggest shot put in the world in the last 14 years Sunday at the USATF Track and Field Championships.

With the second-to-last throw of the competition, Kovacs launched a monster put of 73 feet, 4 inches (22.35m) to take the lead and break the national championships meet record.

Then Crouser came up, let the shot go with a howl and watched it land at 74-3.75 (22.65m) to smash Kovacs' mark, claim the U.S. title, and move a little closer to the world record 75-10.25 (23.12m).

Crouser's mark was the eighth longest in history and 13 centimeters better than his Olympic Games record from last summer.

"It's one of the most difficult things in any sport when you're down and you know you have to do something big, that you've never done before, at that specific time," Crouser said. "So to be able to do that (feels great). It takes a lot of practice."

When Crouser was growing up, his father Mitch would set up games where Ryan had one attempt to try and beat a marker placed in the lawn that represented a leading throw by an imaginary rival at the Olympic Games.

The distance on his sixth attempt Sunday shows that he could be ready for an even bigger summer than 2016.

“The sport’s come a long ways and we’ve really cleaned it up a lot,” Crouser said. “It’s a huge throw for me and for the sport and it shows that we’re closing in on that 23-meter barrier.”

Crouser said he would study data from Sunday’s throw – the release velocity and the angle of the flight – in order to make adjustments that might send the sphere even farther in upcoming meets.

One of the early bombshells of Sunday’s session occurred in the semifinals of the 200 meters when Noah Lyles didn't show up in the starting blocks. It was later reported by Track and Field News that Lyles had suffered a slight hamstring injury and was unable to compete.

In the final, Ameer Webb took the title in 20.09, edging out Christian Coleman (20.10), who booked his second event for the World Championships. Elijah Hall-Thompson of Houston was third in 20.21.

Donavan Brazier, one year out from his freshman year at Texas A&M, achieved his best moment as a pro by winning the 800-meter title. He overtook early pace-setter Eric Sowinski and ran clear to take the tape in 1:44.14. Penn State's Isaiah Harris was second (1:44.53) and former NCAA Division II star Drew Windle roared up the home straight to nab third from Sowinski in 1:44.95.

Evan Jager won a hard-fought steeplechase final, his sixth consecutive title, as African-born runners Stanley Kebenei (8:18.54) and Hillary Bor (8:18.83) took second and third, respectively. And Andy Bayer was relegated to fourth -- for the fourth time in his last five tries -- in 8:18.90.

In the final race of the day, Aleec Harris won the 110-meter hurdles in 13.24 seconds, while Aries Merritt (13.31) and Devon Allen (13.34) placed second and third to earn spots on the U.S. team. Florida freshman Grant Holloway, who was instrumental in helping the Gators win the NCAA title two weeks ago, was fourth in a lifetime-best 13.39.

There was a youth movement in the long jump, where Jarrion Lawson won with 27-10.25 (8.49m) and was joined by Marquis Dendy, who overcame Achilles’ heel surgery last summer and took second with 27-6.50 (8.39m). Oregon's Damarcus Simpson was a surprising third. Simpson fouled three times at the NCAA West prelims and did not advance to nationals. On Sunday, after a fair opener and four consecutive fouls, he moved from sixth to third with a mark of 27-5.25 (8.36m) that was aided by a +5.0 m/s wind reading.

Olympic champion Jeff Henderson finished fifth at 27-2. Out of the 10 U.S. athletes who won Olympic gold medals in individual events in Rio last summer, only three won U.S. titles this weekend in Sacramento (Crouser, Dalilah Muhammad in the women’s 400 hurdles and Tianna Bartoletta in the women’s long jump). 

In the high jump, Bryan McBride edged Ricky Robertson, Jr by virtue of fewer misses after both made 7-6.50 (2.30m). Erik Kynard, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist, was third at 7-5.25 (2.27m).

Two members of the victorious Florida national championship team finished in the top three of the men’s 400-meter hurdles final. Eric Futch won the title with 48.18 and teammate T. J. Holmes was third with 48.44. Michael Stigler split the pair with 48.26.

Olympic champion Kerron Clement finished seventh in 48.91.

Emmanuel Corvera of NYAC won the men’s 20-kilometer racewalk by a scant six seconds in 1:26:43.04.



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