This Day in Track & Field-February 11, The Millrose Games moved to the Armory (2012), compiled and edited by Walt Murphy

Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com)

This Day in Track & Field-February 11

(Millrose Moves Uptown, Tom Farrell, Coe, Lagat, ’17 Millrose, ’23 Millrose/Born On This Day-Candace Hill, Doubell/R.I.P.-George Woods)

2012–The Millrose Games moves to the Armory.

Here is what I wrote in Eastern Track at the time about the controversial decision to move the Millrose Games, considered the crown jewel of the U.S. indoor season for decades, from the showcase of Madison Square Garden uptown to the Armory.

The Queen is Dead, Long Live the Queen

by Walt Murphy —

To paraphrase the old Royal Family line, “Millrose is dead, long live Millrose.”

When the late Dr. Norb Sander, the President of the Armory Foundation, first suggested that the Millrose Games should move uptown from Madison Square Garden to the Armory in Washington Heights, I was one of many who tried to convince him it was a bad idea.

Since the Foundation owned the rights to the Millrose name, they were certainly entitled to do whatever they wanted with the meet, but I felt it would be another blow to the image of the sport.

As someone who has been to more than 50 Millrose Games, and who enjoyed the glory days when 18,000+ fans packed the Garden, I felt that the meet would lose prestige if it moved to the Armory, even if attendance at MSG had been lean in recent years. (And no one loves the Armory more than I do.)

But as Ray Flynn, the veteran of six Wanamaker Miles at Millrose, and now the meet director, pointed out, “Those days are gone. It’s time to move on.”

I was still skeptical as recently as early January, but I began to come around as the fields for the meet started coming together. And the buzz at early-season meets at the Armory continued to grow as the meet drew nearer. I finally jumped on the bandwagon, convinced that this was indeed the right move.

But would the reality match the expectations? The answer is a resounding yes!

While there was a handful of old-timers who remained unconvinced, the vast majority of the people who were in attendance, including Millrose legends Eamonn Coghlan and long-time meet director Howard Schmertz, had nothing but rave reviews for the meet. The enthusiastic crowd of close to 5,000 packed the Armory, some of them making their way uptown on the A Train, and created a deafening roar during many of the races. And the atmosphere at the post-meet celebration at Coogan’s was electric, with smiles all around. Even the Empire State Building was lit up in blue and white in honor of the meet.

Here are some of the highlights from a meet that has found a new home.

The Men’s 5,000 meters was promoted as an attempt by Bernard Lagat to regain the American Record, and he delivered in a big way. Returning to the track where he set an American Record for two-miles a year ago, Lagat, the winner of a record eight Wanamaker Miles at previous Millrose Games, was on record pace as he followed rabbits Ben Bruce and Bolota Asmerom through the first 2,000m. He then got help with the tempo the rest of the way from his training partners in Tucson, University of Arizona teammates Lawi Lalang, the 2011 NCAA X-Country Champion, and Stephen Sambu. Iona College’s Leonard Korir, the fourth Kenyan-born runner at the front, was right behind the first three until he trailed off shortly after they passed 3,000m in 7:55.

Lagat moved past Lalang with 5 1/2 laps to go, with Sambu still close in third. The three leaders then lapped the fifth native of Kenya, New Jersey prep Edward Cheserek, with a little more than 800m to go. Sambu started to fade, but Lalang stayed right on Lagat’s heels, leading some to think he might actually win the race.

But, with the crowd of 5,000 on its feet and roaring its approval, the 37-year old Lagat started pulling away at the bell, stretching his lead until he crossed the finish line in 13:07.15, breaking Galen Rupp’s year-old AR of 13:11.44 by more than four seconds.

Lalang finished well in 13:08.28 to smash Rupp’s collegiate record of 13:18.12. His time was also faster than the Outdoor CR of 13:08.4, which was set by the great Henry Rono in 1978. A rash of personal bests followed —Sambu in 13:13.74, Korir in 13:19.54 (an Eastern Collegiate Record), Stanford’s Chris Derrick in 13:19.58, Great Britain’s Andy Baddeley in 13:22.44, Mexico’s Juan Luis Barrios in 13:23.61, and Cheserek ran 13:57.04 to break Lukas Verzbicas’s year-old high school record of 14:06.78, which was set on this same track.

(While Lagat regained one record from Rupp, he lost another on the same night to his friendly rival, who ran 8:09.72 for two miles in Fayetteville, Ark.)

The women’s NYRR “Wanamaker Metric Mile” (1500) was run earlier in the night, and it showcased two of America’s best.

Jenny Simpson, who pulled off a shocker by winning the gold medal at last summer’s World Outdoor Championships, was coming off a sub-par effort in the 3,000 the previous week in Boston, and Shannon Rowbury, the bronze medalist in the 1,500 at the 2009 Worlds, was coming off a 2011 season that saw her battling Achilles problems.

Marina Muncan was the pace-setter, but the pack, led by Simpson, didn’t go with her, choosing to stay about five meters back. After Muncan dropped out, Simpson held the lead until Rowbury edged ahead of her at the bell, but not enough to cut inside. Simpson held Rowbury off around the penultimate turn, and maintained a slight advantage all the way to the finish line, winning in the personal best time of 4:07.27, the fastest time in the world this year. Rowbury also got a PR with her time of 4:07.66 as the two Olympic hopefuls moved to the 4-5 positions on the all-time U.S. indoor list. Finishing seventh was Stony Brook’s Lucy Van Dalen, who ran 4:11.78, just short of her goal of breaking the collegiate record of 4:10.20.

It was quite a two-week span for Sanya Richards-Ross and her parents, Archie and Sharon. The previous week, they were in Indianapolis to watch Aaron Ross, Sanya’s husband, and his N.Y. Giants teammates win the Super Bowl. And now they were back at The Armory, where Sanya won the 200 and 400 (setting National Records in both) 10 years earlier at the National Scholastics.

Richards-Ross, who had struggled since winning the gold medal in the 400 at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, showed a return to top form as she fought off local hero Natasha Hastings to win the 400 here in 50.89, the fastest time in the world this year, and just short of her indoor best of 50.82.

Cornell grad Morgan Uceny won the women’s 800 over a strong field, but the big news was the stretch drive of high school senior Ajee’ Wilson, who finished fourth with a personal best of 2:04.13. Her time broke Joetta Clark’s 32-year old New Jersey State Record of 2:06.0. Only Mary Decker (2:01.8) has run faster among U.S. preps. For Uceny, it was her first win at the Armory since 2007, when she took the Heps’ 800 title.

The men’s 60-meter hurdles saw a blanket finish, with David Oliver (7.51) beating Terrence Trammell (7.52) and Aries Merritt (7.53).

Jesse Williams, the 2011 World Champion, was the star of the field events as he won the John Thomas High Jump (named after the six-time winner of the event) with a clearance of 7-7 ¼ (2.31), which tied The Armory record set by Nathan Leeper at the 2002 U.S. National Championships. Penn sophomore Maalik Reynolds finished third with an indoor personal best of 7-3 ¾ (2.22). Jenn Suhr, a week after setting an American Indoor Record of 16-0 (4.87) in Boston, won the women’s pole vault (15-1/4 [4.57]) and Russia’s Olga Kucherenko, the silver medalist at last year’s World Championships, won the women’s long jump (22-1 ¾ [6.75]).

The Byron Dyce College Men’s Distance Medley, named after the former NYU star (he was in attendance) had a strong Millrose connection. After the first three legs, it was a two-team race between Ireland’s Dublin City University, which was being anchored by John Coghlan, whose dad Eamonn had won seven Wanamaker Miles at Millrose, and Villanova, whose coach Marcus O’Sullivan was himself a six-time Wanamaker Mile winner. (Both Coghlan and O’Sullivan were Villanova grads).

The younger Coghlan, who had run in the Millrose H.S. mile a few years ago, extended his team’s lead with a quick first quarter-mile, but Villanova anchor Sam McEntee, a sophomore from Australia, soon started to catch up. He eventually passed Coghlan and led Villanova to victory over the Irish visitors (9:38.02-9:39.68).

The final event of the night, fittingly, was the Wanamaker Mile. With IAAF Senior Vice President Bob Hersh, the PA voice of Millrose for many years, coming out of retirement to make the dramatic announcement, “Ladies and gentlemen, The Wanamaker Mile,” a field of pros and outstanding collegians went to the starting line.

Matthew Centrowitz, whose dad Matt starred at the Armory during his high school career at Power Memorial four decades ago, pulled away on the last lap to win in 3:53.93. Finishing strong over the last half-mile, Brigham Young’s Miles Batty ran 3:54.54 to break the collegiate record and erase any confusion as to what the previous record was. North Carolina’s Tony Waldrop ran a hand-timed 3:55.0 in 1974, while Oklahoma State’s German Fernandez ran an auto-timed 3:55.02 in 2009.

Ironically, Centrowitz, who was the surprise bronze medalist in the 1,500-meters at last year’s World Outdoor Championships, still attends the University of Oregon, but he gave up his final year of collegiate eligibility to become a professional.

Batty’s BYU teammates and coach (Ed Eyestone) watched his record run on two laptops in a hotel room in Seattle, where the Cougar distance runners were competing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OVmbrkcnQU

It was a fitting climax to a memorable night. (The festive mood was carried around the corner to Coogan’s, where the post-meet celebration continued into the wee hours of the morning).

As I was walking out of The Armory, I ran into Dan Doherty, the Pearl River High coach, who had said all along that the meet would be a success. I said with a smile, “You were right and I was wrong”.

And Norb Sander said all night long, “Fantastic, just fantastic”. He added later, “And you know what? We can do a lot better next year, and we will do a lot better next year”. And I won’t be second-guessing him next time around!

Results: https://millrosegames.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?do=info&year=2012&event_id=574

FloTrack Videos: http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/247790-105th-Millrose-Games-2012/videos

Men’s 500: https://www.mysportsresults.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=88&do=videos&video_id=58860

NBC Pre-Meet Interview w/Norb Sander and Ray Flynn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=IHUmGsLuERg

A New Era: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/sports/millrose-games-move-into-new-era.html

1956 (updated)–Parry O’Brien threw 59-9 (18.21) at the New York Athletic Club meet at Madison Square Garden to break his own World Record in the Shot Put (59-5 ½ [18.12]}.

Charlie Jenkins ran 56.4 for 500-yards to breal Mal Whitfield’s WR of 56.6.

Both men would go on to win Olympic gold in Melbourne later in the year, O’Brien in his specialty (his 2^nd) and Jenkins in the 400 and 4×400 relay.

NY Times (for subscribers)

1965–Just 4 months after finishing 5th in the 1964 Olympic 800 final in Tokyo, St.John’s Tom Farrell used front-running tactics at the NYAC Games at Madison Square Garden to beat favored Bill Crothers in the 1/2-mile and set a World Record of 1:49.8. The previous mark of 1:49.9 was held by New Zealand’s Peter Snell, who won his 2nd 800 Olympic title in Tokyo. Farrell went on to win the bronze medal in the 800-meters at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City

1981–In a dual-meet between Great Britain and East Germany, Sebastian Coe, the 1980 Olympic gold medalist in the 1500 meters (silver in the 800), set a World Indoor Record of 1:46.0 for 800-meters on the 200-meter banked track in Cosford, England, the site of a Royal Air Force base.

Sitting in last place after the first lap, Coe worked his way past teammate Mike Whittingham to take the lead, then fought off a strong challenge from EG’s Andreas Busse (1:47.1), sprinting away on the last lap to win by more than a second.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C5C1mIIJPM

1989–Sergey Bubka jumped 19-10 ¼ (6.03) in Osaka, Japan, to break Rodion Gataullin’s week-old World Record of 19-9 (6.02) in the Pole Vault.

1990—France’s Christian Plaziat set a World Record of 6273 points in the Heptathlon in Nogent-sur-Oise, France

1993–Russia’s Irina Privalova set the current World Record of 6.92 for 60-meters in Madrid. She would match that time two years later on the same track.

2000–Stanford set an American record of 9:30.19 for the Men’s Distance Medley relay at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. However, the Cardinal would go on to break their own record later in the season when they ran 9:28.83 on the same track at the NCAA Div.I Indoor Championships (since broken). Stanford’s lineup on this day consisted of Gabe Jennings (2:53.0), Evan Kelty (49.0), Michael Stember (1:47.3) and Jonathon Riley(4:00.9)

2001—Russia’s Svetlana Feofanova set the 1^st of her 10 World Indoor Records by clearing 15-2 ¾ (4.64) in Dortmund, Germany. (Stacy Dragila had cleared 15-3 [4.65] in Pocatello on Feb.9, but the mark wasn’t ratified by the IAAF—Dragila competed as a “guest” in a college meet and drug-testing was not in place).

2005–Buoyed by his Millrose Record the week before, Bernard Lagat took aim at Hicham El Guerrouj’s World Record of 3:48.45 at the Tyson Inv. in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

With 400-hurdler Fred Sharpe and Laban Rotich, who had earlier beaten Lagat in Boston, providing excellent pacing, and the vocal Arkansas crowd lending its support, Lagat was ahead of El G’s pace through the ½ (1:52.0-1:53.7) and ¾ (2:50.0-2:50.7) splits.

Lagat tried to maintain the pace over the final two laps but could “only” manage a 59.9 final 1/4-mile to finish in 3:49.89, the 3rd fastest time in history at the time (now #5 performer/#6 performance). He joined El G and Eamonn Coghlan (3:49.78) as the only men to break 3:50 indoors. While the Kenyan-born Lagat didn’t get the record he was after, it was determined that he did break Steve Scott’s 14-year old American Record of 3:51.8, since he later revealed he had actually become a U.S. citizen in 2004. Lagat also got credit for the American Record in the 1500-meters, running 3:33.34 en-route to his mile time.

Almost overshadowed by Lagat’s great run was East Carolina freshman LaShawn Merritt, who took advantage of the friendly turns at the Tyson Center to set a Collegiate and World Junior Record of 44.93 in the Men’s 400-meters. Fans were salivating over the prospect of Merritt returning to Fayetteville for the NCAA Championships a month later, where it was hoped he would challenge Michael Johnson’s World Record of 44.63. But it was not to be, since Merritt ended one of the shortest collegiate careers ever by signing a professional contract soon after this race! He went on to win gold in the 400 at the 2008 Olympics and 2013 World Championships. (bronze in Rio in 2016).

Meet Results: http://www.flashresults.com/2005_Meets/indoor/Tyson/index.htm

2006–An American All-Star team of Kerron Clement (46.1), Wallace Spearmon (45.9), who had set a World Record in the 300 the day before, Darold Williamson (45.2), and Jeremy Wariner (44.8) ran 3:01.96 on the 2^ndday of the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to apparently break the World Record in the 4×400 relay. But the mark was never ratified by the IAAF, since the required testing for EPO had not been administered. Ironically, the mark was accepted by USATF as an American Record, while another U.S. team held on to the World Record of 3:02.83 (since broken).

“(My teammates) set me up with a great time,” Wariner said. “They gave me enough time to work with it. I just ran my usual race that I usually do. Coach (Clyde) Hart was telling me before the race to not try and force it and to run my own race. He said enjoy myself. I wasn’t trying to force the record. If it came it came. If it didn’t, oh well we are young we can do it another year. I was just out there to run my race and see what I could do right now.”

https://www.iaaf.org/news/news/world-indoor-4-x-400-record-by-us-squad-in-fa

https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/usa_4x400_relay_sets_world_record_236467/

2012–On the same night that Bernard Lagat regained his American Record for 5000-meters from Galen Rupp (at the Millrose Games-see above), he lost his 2-mile record (8:10.07) to his younger rival, who ran 8:09.72 at the U.S. Classic in Fayetteville.

Race Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEDxgI1XYQ8

Meet Results: https://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=7217&do=news&news_id=23227

2012—Sara Hall edged Molly Huddle (26:50.1 for both) to win the Women’s 8k title at the U.S. X-Country Championships in St.Louis. Bobby Mack won the Men’s race/

Results: https://www.flotrack.org/results/5995818-2012-usa-xc-cross-country-championships/2121

Molly Huddle and Sara Hall at the finish of the U.S. Cross Country Championships (Courtesy PhotoRun.net)

2017—The Women’s 800 eventually provided many storylines at the 110^thMillrose Games at NY’s Armory.

Ajee’ Wilson finished 1^stin 1:58.27, faster than the American Record of 1:58.71, which was set by Nicole Teter on the same track at the 2002 U.S. Indoor Championships. Finishing 2^ndin 1:58.64, also under Teter’s record, was Charlene Lipsey, Wilson’s training partner, and 6^thwas Sammy Watson, a senior at Rush-Henrietta(NY), who ran 2:01.78 to break Mary Slaney’s 43-year old High School and American Junior Records of 2:01.8, set in 1974!

Alas, Wilson’s status as American Record holder was short-lived, since it was later announced that she tested positive at the meet for a banned substance…she avoided a ban after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency determined she ingested the substance “without fault or negligence”. Since Lipsey wasn’t tested at the meet, a necessary requirement for record acceptance, Teter held on to the honor until Wilson “regained” the record when she ran 1:58.60 at the 2019 Millrose Games (She would lower it to 1:58.29 at the 2020 Millrose Games).

An American Record that did hold up was the 1:07.34 that former Texas star Courtney Okolo ran to win the Women’s 500-meters.

Competing in the H.S. Division of the Pole Vault, Mondo Duplantis (Lafayette,LA) improved his prep and American Junior Records to 18-10 ¼ (5.75).

Holland’s Sifan Hassan won the Women’s Wanamaker Mile in 4:19.89, breaking the Millrose Record of 4:21.45 that was set by Romania’s Doina Melinte in 1988. 2^ndwith a personal best of 4:22.93 was Kate Grace, followed by Shannon Rowbury (4:23.05). Winner of the Men’s Wanamaker Mile was Eric Jenkins (3:53.23).

Results:

www.armorytrack.com/gprofile.php?do=news&act=search&mgroup_id=45586&news_id=458017&year=2017&mgroup_event_id=574

Videos(Subscription Required) :https://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&mgroup_event_id=574&do=videos&folder_id=recent&year=2017

2022—It was a record-setting night at the David Hemery/Valentine Invitational, held on Boston University’s super-fast track.

Who needs a rabbit? Roisin Willis, the 17-year old senior at Stevens Point H.S. (WI), took the Women’s 800 field through quick splits of 28, 58, 1:29. After getting passed heading into the final turn, she soon regained the lead and went on to win in 2:00.06, smashing the U.S. High School Indoor Record of 2:01.78, set by Sammy Watson (Rush-Henrietta,NY) in 2017. Finishing 4^th, behind Canadian Madeleine Kelly (2:00.11) and France’s Cynthia Anais (2☺0.49) was 16-year old Junior Sophia Gorriaran (Brown,RI), who was also well under Watson’s mark with her time of 2:00.66. Only Mary Cain, who ran 1:59.51 outdoors in 2013, has ever run faster than the Stanford-bound Willis among U.S. preps.

Closing out the action on the first day of the meet was the Women’s 5000-Meters, where Nike Bowerman Track Club teammates Gabriela DeBues-Stafford and Elise Cranny worked together under the watchful eye of their coach, Shalane Flanagan.

After a slower than hoped for opening 3000 of 8:57, Cranny picked up the pace considerably, leading DeBues-Stafford by as much as 10 meters before succumbing to the Canadian’s late kick. DeBues-Stafford crossed the line in 14:31.38 to not only obliterate her own
“absolute” Canadian Record of 14:44.12, run outdoors in 2019, but also Flanagan’s 13-year old North American Indoor Record of 14:47.62! And Cranny ran 14:33.17 to take down Flanagan’s American Indoor Record! DeBues-Stafford covered her last 3000-meters in 8:30.83, faster than her Canadian Record of 8:33.92 that she had set just a week earlier at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix! Their BTC teammate, Steeplechase specialist Courtney Frerichs, finished 3^rd in 14:48.75 to moved to move into the #4 slot on the All-Time U.S. indoor list.

As Jonathan Gault wrote in his LetsRun coverage, the remarkable performances were “…a combination of a super track, super spikes, and no small amount of talent and hard work”.

Results: http://lancertiming.com/results/winter22/valentine/index.html

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2022/02/gabriela-debues-stafford-1431-elise-cranny-1433-blitz-national-5k-records-in-boston/

800 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCKNvJKeDhs

Post-Race Interview(Willis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C1VMdYtU6w

Choosing Stanford: https://www.dyestat.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=627447

Flanagan Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKCH0btzjhg

DyeStat Report(800)

https://runningmagazine.ca/sections/runs-races/canadas-gabriela-debues-stafford-breaks-north-american-5000m-record/

Women’s 5000 All-Time Indoors (at the time)

14:18.86 Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) 2015

14:24.37 Meseret Defar (Ethiopia) 2009

14:24.79 Defar 2010 2010

14:27.42 Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) 2007

14:30.79 Konstanze Klosterhalfen (Germany) 2020

14:31.38 Gabriela DeBues-Stafford (Canada) 2022

14:32.93 T. Dibaba 2005

14:33.17 Elise Cranny (USA) 2022

14:35.46 T. Dibaba 2006

14:39.29 Berhane Adere (Ethiopia) 2004

14:39.89 Kim Smith (New Zealand) 2009

14:44.53 T. Dibaba 2010

14:46.80 Sentayehu Ejigu (Ethiopia) 2010

14:47.35 Gabriela Szabo (Romania) 1999

14:47.62 Shalane Flanagan (USA) 2009

(11 performers)

2022-While Bernard Lagat’s American Record of 3:49.89 remained intact, there was still some fast miling at the Windy City Invitational in Chicago. Former Oregon teammates Cooper Teare and Cole Hocker improved their personal bests to 3:50.17 and 3:50.35, respectively, while the surprisng Morgan Beadlescomb, who was challenging for the lead with a lap to go, broke 4 minutes for the first time in a big way with his time of 3:52.03.

Race Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBrNByGyNbg

2023–115^th Millrose Games—Armory,NY

Meet Director Ray Flynn said it best a day after this year’s meet: “Yesterday’s Millrose Games were the most memorable in all my years since 1981 as an athlete and 2012 as Meeting Director”.

And who could argue with his assessment after the meet produced 4 American Records and great competition from beginning to end.

Abby Steiner (300m/35.54) and Alicia Monson (3000m/8:25.05) took care of the first two ARs, and then the meet ended on the highest of high notes when Yared Nuguse (3:33.32/3:47.38) broke Bernard Lagat’s records in the 1500m and the Mile while winning his first Rudin Men’s Wanamaker Mile.

Results: https://ny.milesplit.com/meet=s/497887-millrose-games-2023/results/873857/raw

https://trackandfieldnews.com/millrose-games-men-1500-mile-ars-for-nuguse/

Citius Mag’s Post Meet Show (lots of interviews): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjzgzmT_kjE

Additional Videos (for subscribers): https://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?do=videos&mgroup_event_id=574&mgroup_id=45365&year=2023

Here are the highlights (w/video links)

Women’s Pole Vault—Katie Nageotte-Moon, the reigning Olympic and world Champion, cleared 15-9 ¼ (4.81) to gain her first win at Millrose.

Women’s Shot Put—2022 World Champion Chase Ealey set a Meet Record of 65-8 ¾ (20.03), the 3^rd longest indoor mark ever for an American (trailing only the American Record of 66-3 ¾ [2021] she shares with Michelle Carter).

Men’s Shot Put—Experimenting with a new technique, 2-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser won for the 3^rd time at Millrose with a Meet Record toss of 74-1 (22.58). Joe Kovacs opened with a mark of 70-1/4 (21.34), but then fouled on his next 5 throws!

Women’s 60m-Hurdles-The Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton (7.91) beat Americans Tonea Marshall (7.94), Sharika Nelvis (7.96), and Nia Ali (7.97); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaadEEYQr8Y

Womens’s 60—Aleia Hobbs 7.04…fastest Millrose winner since Gwen Torrence ran 7.02 in 1996…5^th in 7.16 was Shawnti Jackson, who broke her own National H.S. Record of 7.18 that was set in last year’s race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuwOsfSOwHs

Men’s 60—Christian Coleman 6.47…Armory Record—surprising 2^nd was U.Albany’s Travis Williams (6.59)..Noah Lyles (6.53) DQ…6’-5”, 225 Nyckoles Harbor 7^th (6.70).

It took awhile for the race to finally get underway. First, the runners were called up after the imposing Harbor raised his hand. Next, Noah Lyles was disqualified for a false start as the crowd voiced its displeasure. They finally got to see one of the meet’s key matchups after Lyles was allowed to compete “under protest”. Coleman was a clear winner over Lyles, whose DQ was then upheld!

https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/coleman-wins-mens-60m-lyles-dqd

Women’s 3000—Karissa Schwiezer lost two records in this race. Winner Alicia Monson ran 8:25.05 to take away the American Record (also faster than the Outdoor AR), and North Carolina State’s Katelyn Tuohy, an Armory veteran, finished 3^rd in 8:35.20 to take away Schweizer’s Collegiate Record. Whittni Orton-Morgan finished 2^nd in 8:30.13 to move to #5 on the All-Time U.S. Indoor list.

Men’s 3000—Great Britain’s (and Scotland’s) Josh Kerr, better known as a miler, was the winner in 7:33.47 in a race where the first 8 finishers were under the previous Meet Record of 7:38.82….2.Luis Grijalva (7:33.86), 3.Joe Klecker (7:34.14), 4.Cooper Teare (7:34.70), 5.Jonas Raess (SUI/7:35.24), 6.Geordie Beamish (NZL/7:36.22 ), 7.Dylan Jacobs (Tennessee/7:36.89-just missing the Collegiate Record of 7:36.42).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPa8WtJvxGw

Women’s 300— Brittany Brown had a slight lead coming off the final turn, but Abby Steiner powered away down the homestretch to finish off her American Record of 35.54, falling just short of the World Record of 35.45. Quanera Hayes set the previous AR of 35.71 in 2017

https://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&mgroup_event_id=574&year=2023&do=videos&video_id=348873

Women’s 600—Shamier Little(1:26.16), paying the price for setting a fast pace over the first two laps (25.57, 54.25), had no response when Ajee’ Wilson went past her heading into the final turn. Wilson went on to win in 1:24.85, her 8^th victory at Millrose (1-600, 6-800, 1-4×800). She also extended her “undefeated” streak at the Armory to 20 races dating back to 2014. (she finished 1^st in the 800 at the 2017 Millrose Games, but her “win” was voided due to a minor doping infraction).

https://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&mgroup_event_id=574&year=2023&do=videos&video_id=348872

Women’s Wanamaker Mile—Five months after winning the 5^th-Avenue Mile, Great Britain’s Laura Muir had a successful return to New York, winning her first Wanamaker Mile (4:20.15) in her Armory debut. Josette Norris-Andrews(4:20.88) and Canada’s Lucia Stafford(4^th-4:22.72) had gone past Muir with ¼-mile to go, but the native of Scotland didn’t panic and confidently retook the lead before heading into the final turn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNG9k9OWZs4

Rudin Men’s Wanamaker Mile—18 years to the day after Bernard Lagat set the American Record of 3:49.89 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Notre Dame grad Yared Nuguse took over as the new Record holder with his winning time of 3:47.38.

With Erik Sowinski doing his usual excellent job of pacing, taking the field through the first ½-mile in 1:53, it was apparent this was going to be a fast race. With 2 laps to go, Nuguse took the lead from training partner Ollie Hoare, last year’s winner from Australia, with Scotland’s Neil Gourley and Spain’s Mario Garcia Romo, the 3^rd member of Dathan Ritzenhein’s On Athletic Club training group(w/Nuguse and Hoare), in hot pursuit.

With a lap to go, Nuguse, who had set an AR in the 3000m the week before in Boston, took off, sprinting away from his challengers down the backstretch and continuing on to win going away. He not only smashed Lagat’s AR with his winning time of 3:47.38, he also put a scare into Yomif Kajelcha’s World Record of 3:47.01! Nuguse also broke Lagat’s AR for 1500-meters(3:33.44) with his en-route time of 3:33.22. Gourley finished 2^nd with a personal best of 3:49.46, while Hoare was 3^rd in 3:50.83, the same time that he ran while winning at last year’s Millrose Games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Lqa36sQhmg

This was the deepest indoor mile in history, with best-marks-for-place set for 2^nd and 3^rd and 5^th through 11^th!

1.Yared Nuguse-USA 3:47.38

2.Neil Gourley-GBR 3:49.46

3.Ollie Hoare-AUS 3:50.83

4.Sam Tanner-NZL 3:51.70 (Henry Wynne ran 3:51.26 for 4^th place in Boston in 2019)

5.Mario Garcia Romo-ESP 3:51.79

6.Johnny Gregorek-USA 3:51.82

7.Josh Thompson-USA 3:52.49

8.Luke McCann-IRL 3:53.55

9.Sam Prakel-USA 3:54.32

10.Drew Hunter-USA 3:55.52

11.Eric Holt-USA 3:58.64

2023—Oregon’s Jorinde van Klinken set a Collegiate Indoor Record of 64-2 ½ (19.57) in Albuquerque. The previous mark of 64-2 ¼ (19.56) was set by Ole Miss’s Raven Saunders in 2017.

Report

2024–It was another glorious Millrose Games, with 2 World and 3 American Indoor records being set. And despite being scheduled on the same day as the Super Bowl, the meet enjoyed its earliest sell-out since it moved from Madison Square Garden to the Armory in 2012!

Kudos to Meet Director Ray Flynn and the Armory Foundation for once again putting on a great show.

Here is an event-by-event recap

Women’s 60m-hurdles—After more than 4 hours of Youth, H.S., College, and Open events, the elite portion of the meet got underway in spectacular fashion as the Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton won in 7.67, breaking the World Record of 7.68 that was set by Sweden’s Susanna Kallur in 2008. Next across the line were Jamaica’s Danielle Williams (7.79), the reigining World Outdoor Champion, American Tia Jones (7.79), and Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent (7.80). No woman has ever run faster than those 3 at Millrose except Gail Devers, who set the previous Meet Record of 7.76 in 2004. She also ran 7.78 while winning in 2003.

While most fans were caught off-guard by her performance, Charlton, an All-American at Purdue, was confident that she was ready to make history. Which is why she made sure her parents were at the Armory to witness her record-breaking performance! 4^th in the 100m-hurdles at last year’s World Outdoor Championships, Charlton is an assistant coach at Kentucky, where she’s trained by Lonnie Green, who was her coach at Purdue.

Men’s 60m-hurdles—There were no records here, but the outcome was just as surprising, with unheralded Dylan Beard (7.44), running out of lane 1, soundly defeating world-class hurdlers Daniel Roberts (7.51), Trey Cunningham (7.52), and Cordell Tinch (7.52). Beard, who came into the meet with a best of 7.54, was coached at Howard University by David Oliver, a former American Record holder in the 110m-hurdles, and a Millrose winner in 2012. (He began his collegiate career at Wagner College (2017-2018) before transferring to Hampton (2019-2020) and then to Howard (2022-2023).

Women’s 60-meters—This was not a good day for Gail Devers. After losing one Meet Record in the hurdles, she lost another one here after St.Lucia’s Julien Alfred won in 6.99, .01s faster than her 30-year old mark of 7.00 (1994). Alfred, the winner of 7 NCAA sprint titles while at Texas (60, 100, 200, 4×100), was the winner of The Boweman, T&F’s answer to the Heisman Trophy, in 2023, and won Olympic gold in the 100-meters in Paris in 2024.

Men’s 60-meters—Christian Coleman (6.51) won for the 3^rd year in a row, becoming the first man to accomplish the three-peat since Maurice Greene (1998-2000).

Men’s 800-meters—Bryce Hoppel (1:45.54), the winner in 2022, overtook Kenya’s Noah Kibet (1:46.09) to win at Millrose for the 2^nd time.

Women’s 2-mile—Great Britain’s (and Scotland’s) Laura Muir was the winner in 9:04.84, the 2^nd-fastest time in history (behind Ethiopia’s

Genzebe Dibaba’s World Record of 9:00.84). More importantly for Muir, she passed the 3000-meter split in 8:31.45, which gave her the qualifying mark she needed to gain entry into next month’s World Indoor Championships in her hometown of Glasgow, Scotland. (It was why she made a last-minute switch from the Wanamaker Mile).

Finishing 3^rd in 9:09.70 was Alicia Monson, who broke Elle St. Pierre’s 3-year old American Record of 9:10.28. Moving up in distance, Nikki Hiltz finished a respectable 4^th in 9:15.80 (#4 All-Time U.S.)

Muir actually finished the race behind Ethiopian Medina Eisa, who was disqualified for cutting in too soon at the start of the race. The 19-year old was on the inside of the group of runners who would run on the outside of the track around one turn before breaking to the inside. Eisa, racing indoors for only the 2^nd time, had to be reminded to move inside the demarcation line, but crossed over as soon as the starter’s gun was fired!

(For Subscribers): httpwww.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&mgroup_event_id=574&year=2024&do=videos&video_id=381660

Women’s 300-meters—With mom Joetta Clark cheering her on, Talitha Diggs (36.21) beat Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke (36.42), her former collegiate rival. Both were finalists in the 400 at last year’s World Outdoor Championships, Adeleke finishing 4^th, with Diggs placing 8^th.

It was the 12^th Millrose win for the Clark-Diggs family, the first 11 coming in the Women’s 800: Joetta (7), Hazel (3), Jearl Miles-Clark (1).

Men’s 2-mile—Back in November, Great Britain’s Josh Kerr, the 2023 World Champion at 1500-meters, spoke about challenging Mo Farah’s World Record of 8:03.40 at the Millrose Games as part of his preparation for this summer’s Olympics in Paris.

A lot could have happened in 3 months alter the Scotsman’s plans, but he proved to be a man of his word, running 8:00.67 to take almost 3 seconds off Farah’s 9-year old mark. Grant Fisher, who pushed the pace after the rabbits dropped out, held the lead until Kerr took off with about a lap-and-a-half to go, finishing 2^nd in 8:03.62. He broke Galen Rupp’s 10-year old American Record of 8:07.41 and now has the 3^rd fastest indoor time in history.

3^rd in 8:05.70 was Cole Hocker, who was also under Rupp’s AR, and 4^th with a National Record of 8:05.73 was New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish. They are now #6 & #7 on the All-Time Indoor list.

Getting excellent pacing from Hazem Miawad (2:02.37) and AJ Ernst (4:03.27), Fisher and Kerr went through the 1^st mile in 4:03.37 and 4:03.63, respectively, with Kerr running his 2^nd mile in 3:57.04!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHZbj-lssjw

Women’s 800-meters—Allie Wilson (2:01.61) worked her way out of a box on the final homestretch to pass Olivia Baker (2:01.91) and capture her 1^st Millrose title.

Women’s Wanamaker Mile—Elle St. Pierre, back in top form after giving birth to her son Ivan in 2023, won her 3^rd Wanamaker Mile and ran 4:16.41 to better her own American Indoor Record of 4:16.85. 2^nd with an Australian Record of 4:19.03 was Jess Hull, who had beaten St.Pierre at 3000-meters the previous week at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. 8^th in 4:24.83 was Harvard’s Maia Ramsden, a senior from New Zealand. The 2023 NCAA Champion at 1500-meters just missed the Collegiate Record of 4:24.26, which was set by NC State’s Katelyn Tuohy in 2023.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVSuh0nMJ7o

Best Marks For Place: 5-11

1 USA Elle St. Pierre 4:16.41 NR

2 AUS Jessica Hull 4:19.03 NR

3 KEN Susan Ejore 4:20.61 NR

4 SWE Yolanda Ngarambe 4:23.68 NR

5 USA Dani Jones 4:23.80

6 ESP Marta Perez 4:23.88

7 CAN Simone Plourde 4:24.67

8 NZL Maia Ramsden Harvard 4:24.83

9 CAN Lucia Stafford 4:24.92

10 USA Josette Andrews 4:25.86

11 USA Anna Camp-Bennett 4:26.95

Men’s Wanamaker Mile—Just like Josh Kerr did in the 2-mile, Yared Nuguse spoke early about attacking the World Record of 3:47.01. And why not? After all, he set the American Record of 3:47.36 while winning last year’s Wanamaker Mile, set an Outdoor AR of 3:43.97, and claimed recently that he was in “better mile shape” than he was last year.

With Erik Sowinski, the rabbit for the last two Wanamaker Miles, now retired, pacing duties fell to Derek Holdsworth, who took Nuguse and the rest of the deep field through the first half of the race with quick splits of 55.64 and perhaps a too-fast 1:52.28.

The torrid pace slowed during the next ¼-mile, but Nuguse (who ran 59.38) was still on record pace as he went through the

¾-mile split in 2:51.87, but he wasn’t alone! Following closely were 20-years old Hobbs Kessler (2:51.93) and the British pair of George Mills (2:52.17) and Adam Fogg (2:52.40), who had earned his way into the race with his win at the Dr.Sander Inv. at the Armory two weeks earlier.

The sold-out Armory crowd, already pumped up after witnessing a great afternoon of racing, rose in anticipation of seeing one more record as Nuguse started pulling away from his challengers, but he fell short of his goal with his winning time of 3:47.83. There was a brief sense of disappointment among some fans (myself included), but that quickly went away with the realization that Nuguse had just run the 3^rd-fastest indoor time in history, and three others behind him had broken 3:50(!), with Kessler (3:48.66) leading Mills (3:48.93) and Fogg (3:49.62) across the finish line. No more than 2 runners had ever broken 3:50 indoors in the same race.

Other finishers:

(Just like the 2023 race, this was a deep field, with best marks-for-place being set for 2-4, 8-12)

5.Casey Comber USA 3:51.92

6.Adam Spencer Australia 3:52.70

7.Charles Philibert-Thiboutot Canada 3:53.12

8.Cooper Teare USA 3:53.41

9.Liam Murphy USA/Villanova 3:53.96

10.Mario Garcia Romo Spain 3:54.15

11.Sam Prakel USA 3:55.09

12.Andrew Coscoran Ireland 4:01.69

Race/Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpIRw-sSQaY

Women’s High Jump—Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the reigning World Outdoor Champion, won with a clearance of 6-6 ¾ (2.00/3^rd attempt), with Vashti Cunningham finishing 2^nd with a jump of 6-5 ½ (1.97).

Men’s Pole Vault: In a battle of American Record holders, Chris Nilsen (Indoor) beat KC Lightfoot (Outdoor) on misses as both cleared 19-1 (5.82). They both missed their 3 attempts at 19-5 (5.92).

New Best Marks for place after this race (*)

1.Yared Nuguse-USA 3:47.38

2.Neil Gourley-GBR 3:48.66*

3.Ollie Hoare-AUS 3:48.93*

4.Sam Tanner-NZL 3:49.62*

5.Mario Garcia Romo-ESP 3:51.79

6.Johnny Gregorek-USA 3:51.82

7.Josh Thompson-USA 3:52.49

8.Luke McCann-IRL 3:53.41*

9.Sam Prakel-USA 3:53.96*

10.Drew Hunter-USA 3:54.15*

11.Eric Holt-USA 3:55.09*