SEA Games: 6th athletics gold for PH as Morrison sets new shot put record

NEW CLARK CITY — William Edward Morrison III on Sunday heaved a moderate effort in shot put that was enough to rewrite the Southeast Asian Games and win the sixth gold for the Philippines in athletics.

The 23-year-old Morrison, who hails from Leavenworth, Kansas, threw the metal ball 18.38 meters to capture the title.

It was closer than his personal best of 20.40 meters set last June in Bloomington, Indiana.

Yet it was way farther than the 17.74m mark of Chatchawol Polyiam of Thailand during the 2011 SEA Games in Palembang.

Morrison, who competed for Indiana University in the US NCAA, also narrowly failed to breach the Olympic qualifying standard of 18.50m.

Malaysian Muhammad Zolkefli settled for silver with 17.03m, while Promrob Juntima took bronze with 16.40m.