Bernard Lagat en route to sixth career Millrose Games win in 2008 (© Kirby Lee)
Bernard Lagat will be looking for a record-equalling seventh Wanamaker Mile win in the 102nd Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden, New York on Friday 30 January.
The Millrose Games is the first of ten IAAF Indoor Permit Meetings in 2009.
A victory would tie Lagat with Irishman Eammon Coghlan, the ‘Chairman of the Boards’ for most Wanamaker Mile wins.
In 2005, Lagat clocked 3:52.87 to eclipse Coghlan’s meet record of 3:53.0 set in 1981 on the tightly banked 160-yard oval. Lagat has won the last four Wanamakers as well as wins in 2001 and 2003.
The Wanamaker field will also include Nick Willis (NZL), winner of the Beijing Olympic 1500m bronze medal that ended New Zealand’s 32-year-old medal drought in the event, and Americans Steve Scherer and Chris Lukezic and Pablo Solares (MEX). Willis finished third to Lagat and Craig Motram (AUS) in the 2008 Wanamaker but out-duelled Lagat to win the Fifth Avenue Mile in September in their last meeting in New York.
The Wanamaker Mile is the traditional concluding event of the Millrose Games which is the first stop on the USA Track & Field Visa Championships Indoor Circuit that will culminate with the USATF Indoor Championships in Boston on 28 Feb - 1 Mar.
Hoffa, Cantwell and Nelson in the Shot Put
It’s anybody’s guess who will come out on top in the Shot Put with Reese Hoffa, Christian Cantwell and Adam Nelson. Hoffa, Cantwell and Nelson have traded victories in the last four Millrose Games with meet-record efforts.
Hoffa won at 21.62m in 2005 and 21.65m at 2006. Cantwell was victorious at 21.88m in 2007. Nelson unleashed a 22.07m effort last year using a borrowed implement to earn the Fred Schmertz Waterford Crystal trophy as the meet’s top performer. The Shot Put field also includes Dan Taylor and Jon Kalnas.
Hooker and Stuczynski head Pole Vault fields
Beijing medallists Steven Hooker (AUS) and Jenn Stuczynski head the men’s and women’s Pole Vault fields.
Hooker, who set an Olympic record of 5.96m in Beijing, will be challenged by reigning U.S. Olympic Trials champion Derek Miles, Mexican record holder Giovanni Lanaro, 2009 Pole Vault summit winner Darren Niedermeyer and Paul Burgess (AUS).
Stuczynski, who won silver medals in the 2008 World Indoor and Beijing Olympics, is the first American to clear 16 feet in the Pole Vault and ranks No. 2 on the all-time list with a 4.92m clearance to win the U.S. Olympic Trials. Stuczynski will face former American record holder and 2000 Olympic champion Stacy Dragila, who is coming off a victory in the Run for the Dream Invitational.
The women’s High Jump will feature 2008 U.S. Olympians Chaunte Howard, Amy Acuff and Sharon Day.
Howard finished sixth in the Beijing Olympics in her first year after taking a year off to give birth to her daughter Jasmine on 30 July 2007, while Acuff, 33, a four-time Olympian and Millrose winner who is married to former U.S. Pole Vaulter Tye Harvey, has indicated that the 2009 season may be her final season of competition.
Day and Acuff finished first and second in the Run for the Dream Indoor Invitational in Fresno (19 Jan) with Day setting an indoor PB and U.S. yearly leading 1.93m to kick off her first full season as a professional.
Crawford making bid for fourth Millrose 60m title
Shawn Crawford, the 2004 Olympic gold medallist and 2008 silver medallist in the 200m, will be seeking his fourth Millrose win in the 60m after victories in 2002, 2006 and 2007. He will be challenged by Travis Padgett, the fourth-place finisher in the 100m in the U.S. Olympic Trials who relinquished his final season of collegiate eligibility at Clemson to turn professional.
The start list also includes reigning U.S. Indoor 60m champion Michael Rodgers and Dabryan Blanton, the 2008 Millrose runner-up and U.S. Junior 100m record holder.
The women’s 60m is highlighted by 2006 World Indoor Champion Me’Lisa Barber, 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials 100m champion Muna Lee and 2007 World Championships bronze medallist and defending Millrose champion Carmelita Jeter. Bianca Knight, the 2008 NCAA Indoor 200m champion, Sheri-Ann Brooks (JAM) and Michele Lewis round out the field.
Goucher, Hicks and Lopes-Schliep looking to defend
Distance runner Kara Goucher and hurdlers Antwon Hicks and Priscilla Lopes-Schliep are other defending Millrose champions.
Goucher who will run in the women’s Mile, hopes to continue her good fortune in her birthplace of New York City. Last year, Goucher won the Millrose Mile and finished third in the New York City Marathon in 2:25:53 for the fastest debut by American woman. The 2008 Millrose Games marked Goucher’s first race on an indoor banked track since 1999.The women’s Mile start list also includes Marina Muncan (SRB), Barbara Parker (GBR) and Korene Hinds (JAM).
In the 60m Hurdles, Hicks will face 2004 and 2008 Olympic silver medallist Terrence Trammell, 2007 Millrose champion Aries Merritt, two-time NCAA Outdoor champion Ron Bramlett and 2008 Outdoor NCAA champion Jason Richardson. Trammell will also run in the 60m.
The women’s 60m Hurdles pits the silver and bronze medallists from Beijing with Sally McLellan (AUS) and Lopes-Schliep (CAN). They are joined by 2008 World Indoor silver medallist Candice Davis and Vonette Dixon (JAM) and 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials 400m Hurdles championTiffany Ross-Williams.
By the numbers
The Millrose Games began in 1908 at a local Armory along with the Millrose Athletic Association that was formed as a recreational club by the employees of the John Wanamaker Department Store. "Millrose" was the name of the country home of Rodman Wanamaker.
The event was moved to Madison Square Garden in 1914 and is the longest continuing sporting event at the venue. There have been 122 Millrose Games winners who have won Olympic gold medals.
Among the benchmarks in the meet’s storied history are the first indoor 15-foot Pole Vault by Cornelius Warmerdam in 1942 and 16-foot clearance by John Uelses in 1962. John Thomas became the first to clear seven feet indoors in the High Jump in 1959.
Mary Slaney and Carl Lewis set World records at Millrose. Slaney clocked 4:00.8 in the 1500m in 1980. In 1984, Carl Lewis sailed 8.79m to shatter his own global Long Jump standard by nearly a quarter of metre to win the event on his final attempt.
Kirby Lee for the IAAF
