EUGENE, Ore. — LaShawn Merritt and Sanya Richards made their 400-meter races look like strolls around the track Saturday, each cruising to titles at the U.S. championships.
With no Jeremy Wariner in the field, Merritt was missing his only real rival and quickly pulled away from the field. The Olympic gold medalist, who beat Wariner in Beijing, won in 44.50 seconds, tying his world-best time for 2009.
The real competition was for second, where Gil Roberts held off Kerron Clement.
Richards, wearing hot pink shoes and matching top, only got stronger as the race went along. She finished in 50.05. Debbie Dunn took second and Jessica Beard was third.
Dwight Phillips drew the biggest ovation of the night from the crowd when he leaped 28 feet, 1 1/2 inches on his second attempt to win the long jump.
Lashinda Demus (400 hurdles), Brad Walker (pole vault), Shannon Rowbury (1,500) Kara Patterson (javelin), A.G. Kruger (hammer), Tim Seaman (20K walk), David Payne (110 hurdles) and Josh McAdams (steeplechase) also won titles.
Fever defeats Liberty in WNBA
INDIANAPOLIS — Ebony Hoffman scored 14 points and Tamika Catchings added 13 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Indiana Fever to a 63-54 victory over the New York Liberty.
• Asjha Jones had season highs with 24 points and 12 rebounds as the host Connecticut Sun defeated the Atlanta Dream 82-68.
• Candice Wiggins and Roneeka Hodges scored 22 points each, leading the Minnesota Lynx to a 109-80 victory over the visiting Phoenix Mercury.
• Candice Dupree scored 23 points, and Sylvia Fowles had five of her 13 down the stretch as the host Chicago Sky beat the Washington Mystics 68-63.
Maidana pounds Ortiz
LOS ANGELES — Marcos Maidana stopped Victor Ortiz early in the sixth round of an action-packed fight, using a punishing right hand to upset one of boxing’s top prospects.
Ortiz (24-2-1) was the most promising youngster in Golden Boy Promotions’ stable of up-and-coming fighters, but the Kansas native couldn’t maintain his aggressive early pace and took far too many big shots from Maidana (26-1, 25 KOs), a 140-pound Argentine who fights mostly in Germany.
• Undefeated Arthur Abraham successfully defended his IBF middleweight title with a technical knockout of fellow German Mahir Oral in the 10th round in Berlin.
Abraham improved to 30-0 with his 10th consecutive defense, though none have been against top-level challengers since he won the title in December 2005.
Footnotes.
Real Madrid has completed the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo, a 24-year-old Portuguese winger, from Manchester United. The move is worth a record $131 million.
• Former Duke basketball player Elliot Williams said he’ll transfer to the University of Memphis.
The Associated Press
