Morrison breaks Philippines shot put record

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ Willie Morrison waited just two months to rearrange the men’s national shot put record which he established in the 30th Southeast Asian Games in Capas, Tarlac.

Morrison heaved a distance of 20.21 meters to rule the Meyo Invitational in Notre Dame, Indiana over the weekend while eclipsing the 18.38m he threw on his way to shattering both the Philippine and SEAG marks last December.

But the Indiana University standout fell short of making the cut to this July’s Tokyo Olympics pegged at 21.10m.

Morrison lived up to expectations as one of the three mentioned by Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Philip Ella Juico with a strong chance of joining pole-vaulter EJ Obiena to Tokyo.

The other two are sprinters Kristina Knott and Eric Cray, both SEAG gold medalists like Morrison.

Morrison blew away the field in the SEAG in destroying both the then Philippine mark of 17.88m previously owned by Caleb Stuart and the 17.74m SEAG record of Thai Chatchawal Polyiam, which stood for eight years before the former entered the fray and erased it.