Rio champ Crouser wins shot put title at US Indoors

NEW YORK: Reigning Olympic shot put champion Ryan Crouser won a men’s title and new US 800-meter indoor record holders Donovan Brazier and Ajee Wilson led their events Saturday at the US Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Crouser won the shot put with an effort of 22.22m with 2015 world champion Joe Kovacs, who claimed Olympic silver in 2016 at Rio, taking second on 21.40 as both look to the World Championships in September at Doha.

On the track, Brazier and Wilson — who each set a national record two weeks ago at the Millrose Games — served notice they will be the ones to beat in their events as the US meet offered some unusual distances in a non-world indoors year.

Brazier led first-round runners in the 600 in 1:15.64 with Sam Ellison next on 1:15.97.“My body feels good. My mind feels like it is in the best place it has been in a while,” Brazier said. “It’s less pressure. It’s not my main event. I’m stepping down. It’s nice to get it over faster.”

Wilson led the women’s 1,000 first runs in 2:37.96, .20 ahead of Hanna Green.Brazier ran 1:44.41 to finish second in the Millrose 800 and break Johnny Gray’s 1992 US record of 1:45.00 while Wilson took the women’s 800 in 1:58.60 to lower the 2002 mark of Nicole Teter by .11 of a second.

Vashti Cunningham, the 2016 world indoor champion, cleared 1.96m to win her fourth consecutive US women’s high jump crown, the first woman in half a century with such a title run.The 21-year-old daughter of former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham is also the two-time defending US outdoor champion.

Dontavius Wright won the men’s 300 title in 32.81, defeating runner-up Marcus Chambers by .31 of a second with a solid run in the closing steps.“I put in a lot of straight (away) work,” Wright said. Reigning US men’s outdoor high jump champion Jeron Robinson won the indoor crown by clearing 2.24m.