At the USA Track and Field Championships this past weekend, an Icon veteran turned in one of the most stunning performances of his career, while one of the agency's young phenoms continued to blaze a trail into the annals of athletics stardom.

Shawn on his way to an incredible win.

Thirty-one year-old Shawn Crawford, who took the Olympic 200m gold medal in 2004, showed signs of resurgent youth Sunday, blazing to victory in a wind-aided 19.73 seconds. It was the fastest 200m time ever recorded at Eugene, Oregon's Hayward Field, and people -- including the New York Times -- took note:

It takes something pretty special these days to surprise Shawn Crawford, a veteran with a load of hardware back home and even more memories in his head.

Something like, say, winning a national championship in 2009.

Crawford blew away his younger opponents in the 200-meter final Sunday to win his fourth United States title, the first of which came in 2001, when Tyson Gay was in high school.

“Before this race, I thought I was done,” Crawford said. “After this, maybe I got a little bit more in me than I thought.”

He finished in a wind-aided 19.73 seconds to beat the 21-year-old newcomer Charles Clark by 0.27 of a second and the 24-year-old Wallace Spearmon, whom he considers his protégé, by 0.30 of a second.

LASHAWN CRUISES TO TITLE
For LaShawn Merritt, the U.S. Championships capped off a perfect 23rd birthday Saturday. The Olympic 400m champion continued what has been a season of total dominance in his trademark race, hurtling to an uncontested victory in 44.50 seconds -- the fastest time in the world this season.

As related by OregonLive.com:

Merritt seemed to execute his game plan perfectly, taking control at the final curve and winning in 44.50 seconds. Merritt, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the event, had finished second in the 400 at the 2006 and 2007 U.S. outdoor meet.

This sets the stage for the 400 showdown between Merritt and Jeremy Wariner at the world championships in Berlin. Wariner opted not to run the 400 in Eugene because he had already earned a bye.

Gil Roberts placed second in 44.93, followed by Kerron Clement (45.14) and Lionel Larry (45.40).

OTHERS BOUND FOR BERLIN
Terrence Trammell and David Payne raced to a 13.12 photo finish in the 110m hurdles, with Payne edging Terrence by three thousands of a second...Keith Moffatt took second in the high jump...Angelo Taylor finished third (48.30) in the 400m hurdles...Damu Cherry (12.58) finished third in the 100m hurdles.

RELATED STORIES
Crawford Wins Fourth 200-Meter U.S. Championship (NY Times, June 28, 2009)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/sports/29track.html?ref=sports
Merritt wins 400 title (OregonLive.com, June 27, 2009)
http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2009/06/merritt_wins_4...
 

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