Demus wins 400 hurdles

Having just turned 2, Lashinda Demus’ twin boys are big enough to chase their mother around the track while she trains.

“But they kind of cry because they can’t catch me,” Demus said.

They aren’t the only ones.

No one could catch Demus on Saturday as she won a third U.S. title in the 400-meter hurdles with a 2009 world-leading time of 53.78 seconds.

Olympic silver medalist Sheena Tosta of UCLA was second in 54.45.

Both flat 400s had similarly lopsided finishes, as the runners fought a strong wind on the backstretch.

Olympic bronze medalist Sanya Richards easily won a fourth national title in 50.05 seconds.

Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt equaled his season world-leading time of 44.50 to cruise home in a race minus world record-holder Jeremy Wariner, who has a bye to worlds as reigning 400 champion.

Demus, the world’s top-ranked hurdler in 2006, gave birth June 5, 2007, to Dontay and Duaine and immediately started getting back into shape for a shot at the 2008 Olympics.

She led most of the way at the U.S. OIympic trials but wound up fourth, missing one of the three spots on the team by 0.14 seconds.

“I should have been happy with that, but I wasn’t,” said Demus, a 2004 Olympian and 2005 world silver medalist. “It was frustrating.”

Demus decided it was time for a big change and returned from South Carolina, where she had lived since entering the University of South Carolina in 2001, to her roots in California.

Demus, who went to Long Beach Wilson, and her husband-agent, Jamel Mayrant, moved in with her mother, Yolanda, in Palmdale.

And, just as she had done when her daughter was young, Yolanda Demus -- a 1977 national team member in the 400 -- became Lashinda’s coach.

At 26, Demus has been the dominant hurdler in the world this season. She has the year’s two fastest times, and no one else has broken 54 seconds.

“I have been the girl that didn’t make the team and the girl that made the team and didn’t win,” Demus said. “I have learned how not to make mistakes.”

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phersh@tribune.com