University of Texas recruit Ryan Crouser has been coming on like a tidal wave during the indoor track season and he reached the zenith today when he not only broke a national record once but twice during the prestigious 33rd Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho.
Ryan Crouser
Photo by Dean Crouser
The 6-foot-7, 235-pounder from
Barlow (Gresham, Ore.) fired the shot put 75 feet, 3½ inches for a national record, but then surpassed his own mark with a magnificent toss of 77-2¾. After he had twice set a record, he fired the iron ball 75-11 on his sixth throw.
The previous national standard of 74-11 was set in 1990 by Brent Noon of Fallbrook, Calif.
“I was throwing really good in practice and thought I had a good shot at it (the record), but I wasn’t really expecting it," Crouser said.
He said he would have been happy with his second throw (first record), but when he broke his own record on his fifth throw, even he was amazed.
“It was great,” he said of his new record. “The crowd (between 3,000 and 4,000) really got into it. It got pretty loud. They all went crazy (when he broke his own record).”
His improvement has been partly due to dropping basketball for his senior year. That has allowed him more time to strengthen his upper body and put on some weight during his recovery from last spring’s broken foot.
Crouser, who says he prefers to sleep in until 11 a.m. on meet days, actually started the event at 9 a.m.
In breaking Noon's 21-year-old record, Crouser is
believed to be only the second U.S. high school athlete to throw the
12-pound shot put more than 77 feet. The other is national outdoor
record holder Michael Carter, who holds that seemingly untouchable mark at 81-3½ in 1979.
"I can compete well early, but I just prefer sleeping in late,
especially on the day of big meets," said Crouser, the cousin of Sam
Crouser, now a freshman at the University of Oregon and national prep
holder in the javelin (255-4).
Crouser said he had
one goal in mind for his final indoor track meet of the season: break
Noon's indoor record. Two days before the meet, Crouser said he felt confident the record would fall in Pocatello.
"I've been training hard and putting in a lot of time on my technique
and it feels like things are coming together," Crouser said. "It's my last indoor meet of
the season and I want the indoor record. It's one of my two major goals
this year."
The other? Carter's outdoor mark.
Earlier this year, in a meet held at Boise State, Crouser shattered the
U.S. prep indoor record by throwing a 16-pound shot 63-11. The previous
record of 60-7¼ set in 1984 by Arnold Campbell of Bossier City,
La. It was Crouser's first meet - indoor or outdoor - since breaking
his foot in May.
*On the first day, senior Shelby Ashe of St. Pius X (Atlanta, Ga.) broke the meet record in the shot put with an outstanding effort of 64-9¾ inches. She also held the previous record of 60-5.
MaxPreps Oregon correspondent Tom Mauldin contributed to this report. Look for Mauldin's profile on Crouser next week.
