NEW ORLEANS – Ryan Crouser was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Male Athlete of the Week for his performance during Saturday’s New Mexico Collegiate Classic.
Crouser, the 2013 NCAA outdoor shot put champion, shattered the indoor school record in that event in a meet that featured athletes from 24 other schools, as well as post-collegians.
Kaitlin Petrillose was an honorable mention choice for national female athlete of the week after setting the UT indoor pole vault record at the same meet with one of the top marks in collegiate history at 14 feet, 7 1/4 inches (4.45m).
Crouser cemented his status as the favorite for the 2014 national indoor title for the 18th-ranked Texas men with one of the top performances in the world this year. The sophomore beat the 19-man shot put field by nearly four feet and the UT record my more than two feet with his winning toss of 69 feet, 8 inches (21.23m)
Crouser’s winning mark ranks No. 4 on the 2014 world performers list and missed the top 10 of all-time collegiate indoor performers list by 1/4 inch. Sorem Tolheim of BYU ranks 10th with his toss of 69-8 1/4 inches (21.14m) at the 1985 NCAA Indoor Championships.
The sophomore, who sat out the 2013 indoor season while recovering from injury, entered the meet with the second-best mark in the nation at 67 feet (20.42m), which he posted two weeks ago in the Cherry and Silver Collegiate, also at the Albuquerque Convention Center, site of next month’s NCAA Championships.
Crouser broke Jacob Thormaehlen’s indoor school record of 67-3 1/4 (20.50m) set at the 2012 NCAA Championships. Crouser moved to No. 1 on the 2014 collegiate performers list with Stephen Mozia of Cornell now a distant second at 67-4 (20.52m).
Crouser’s record toss, on his sixth attempt, is the best at a collegiate indoor event in nearly four years. Ryan Whiting (formerly of Arizona State) won the 2010 NCAA title with a toss of 70-7 1/4 (21.52m). In addition, Crouser’s winning mark is also the best shot put mark at any collegiate meet since Whiting’s toss of 72-1 (21.97m) at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Petrillose’s performance was just as impressive for the second-ranked Longhorn women. She easily passed her previous indoor school record of 14-2 1/4 set in winning the title at the 2013 Big 12 Championships in Ames, Iowa. Petrillose also moved to the top of the 2014 NCAA leaderboard with a mark that ranks tied for eighth on the all-time collegiate indoor performers list. Only 11 other collegiate women have cleared a bar that high indoors.
Dezerea Bryant of Kentucky was named the USTFCCCA National Female Athlete of the Week after posting a world-leading time of 22.82 seconds in the 200 meters Saturday at Virginia Tech.
