DES MOINES, Iowa – Donavan Brazier sprinted away from the 800m field over the last quarter of the race to produce a winning time of 1:45.62 at the USA Track & Field Championships held at Drake Stadium on Sunday.
Other Aggie alums competing on the final day of the meet included Ameer Webb, third in the 200m; Shamier Little, fourth in the 400m hurdles; Annie Kunz, fourth in the heptathlon; and Sammy Watson, sixth in the women’s 800m.
After Brazier covered the first lap of the 800m in 55.00 seconds, stationed in third place, he split 50.62 on the second circuit to separate from the field. Runner-up in the race was Clayton Murphy with a 1:46.01 while Bryce Hoppel grabbed third place in 1:46.31 over Isaiah Harris (1:46.49).
“I had a good week leading up to the final,” Brazier said. “In the prelim and semi each race was slow and I had to kick fast. I expected the same in the final. My plan was to sit and sit and then pass on the backstretch. Then I was prepared to match anyone that tried to pass me.
“Nobody really challenged me in the last 200m, so I was able to bring it home nice and smooth. In the final 100m I was relaxed and composed. When I crossed the finish line I was excited. I had a lot of family and friends from Michigan out here this weekend. I really wanted to make it worth their trip.”
Webb, racing in lane 8, earned third place in the 200m with a time of 20.45 to finish ahead of Jamiel Trimble (20.46) and Kyree King (20.49). Noah Lyles won the race in 19.78 with Christian Coleman runner-up at 20.02.
Little ran 53.91 in the 400m hurdles after a strong first half of the race. Dalilah Muhammad claimed the victory in 52.20 to break the world record of 52.34 set in 2003 by Russian Yulia Pechonkina. Runner-up in 52.88 was Sydney McLaughlin while Ashley Spencer secured third place at 53.11 after passing Little off the final hurdle.
Kunz finished fourth in the heptathlon with a career best score of 6,153 points. Her previous best was 6,098 from earlier this season. Erica Bougard won the U.S. title with a score of 6,663 points while Kendall Williams finished second at 6,610. Claiming the third position with 6,230 points was Chari Hawkins.
Kunz moved into third place following the long jump as she produced a windy best of 20-9 ¾ (6.34) for 956 points. A javelin toss of 128-9 (39.24) added 653 points to her tally, but she slipped back into fourth place. Wrapping up with a 2:20.40 in the 800m, Kunz earned 818 points to complete her score.
Watson ran 2:01.70 for sixth in the 800m final as the top three positions went to Ajee Wilson (1:57.72), Hanna Green (1:58.19) and Raevyn Rogers (1:58.84). A mark of 24-11 (7.59) placed Will Williams 17th in the long jump.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics