Clark, Price are 800 winners at the national meet

The women’s 800 meters Sunday at the U.S. track and field championships had a Knoxville feel to it.

Hazel Clark-Riley, the sister of UT track director J.J. Clark who lives here and is trained by her brother, won the main event in Eugene, Ore., covering the distance in 2 minutes, .79 seconds. Tennessee Lady Vols junior Phoebe Wright finished third in 2:01.12.

In the junior 800, Lady Vols freshman Chanelle Price finished first in 2:06.79.

In other results, Lady Vols freshman Ellen Wortham, the former Maryville High standout, finished fifth in the junior 400 hurdles in 59.19.

Former Lady Vol Tianna Madison finished 14th in the long jump (19-2 3/4), and Lady Vols senior Celriece Law bowed out in the 100 hurdles semifinals.

Better Feeling: Shawn Crawford doesn’t have to feel bad about this medal.

The sprinter who was awarded an Olympic medal he felt he didn’t deserve last year won a national title he most certainly does, blowing away the field in the 200-meter finals at the championships in a wind-aided time of 19.73 seconds.

Crawford blew away Charles Clark by .27 seconds to win his fourth national title, dating back to 2001. Wallace Spearmon finished third to nab the final spot on the U.S. team heading to worlds later this summer.

Former Tennessee Vol Rubin Williams finished seventh in 20.34.

Crawford was awarded the silver medal at the Beijing Games after two runners who finished ahead of him were disqualified for running outside their lanes.

He never felt right about that, so he delivered the medal back to Churandy Martina — a burden off Crawford’s back, even though leaders in the sport refused to remove him from the record book.

A Low Moment: Olympian Jennifer Barringer easily won the 3,000-meter steeplechase title, two days after qualifying for the event was marred by the barrier being set too high.

In the preliminary round Friday night at Hayward Field, Nicole Bush took a spill after hurdling the water barrier and fractured her right foot.

It was later determined the barrier was set as many as six inches too high, perhaps at the men’s level. The barrier is at 36 inches for the men and 30 inches for the women.

“It’s disappointing what happened,” USA Track & Field CEO Doug Logan said. “It’s human error. I won’t go any further than that. I don’t throw people under buses ... I’m embarrassed by it.”