Top stars of younger-generation milers had it out on the hallowed Madison Square Garden 11-laps-to-the-mile saucer and produced a pair of rousing, crowd-pleasing races Friday night, before 9,611 enthused track and field fans.

NEWYORK -- With alumni from as far back as 1972 watching in seats at the Madison Square Garden arena, St. John the Baptist's made its school proud Friday night.

NEW YORK – Nyanka Moise-Joseph knew her job when she looked across from her and saw Cardozo’s Chamique Francis next to her on the starting line.

  NEW YORK – Twice Bernard Lagat tried to make a surge to extend his run at history. Twice Ethophia’s Deresse Mekonnen slammed the door on the greatest miler in Millrose Games history.

Chad Noelle, NY (pictured far left), rolled to the win with a time of 4:16.71 over Matt Jablonski (pictured center), MD, 4:16.88.  Photo by Don Rich, PennTrackXC.com.

NEW YORK -- When Bernard Lagat won his eighth Wanamaker Mile – the most ever – he alluded to the thought that he had finished with the Millrose Games.

NEW YORK – While surrounded by reporters, Bryan Clay toyed with the idea of making the decathlon a reality show. He was right. There is enough drama and unexpected turns, just without the parties or relationship drama.

Millrose Games week is in full tilt starting today at the Armory where Brazilian pole vaulter Fabiana Murer, ranked No. 1 in the world, and homegrown star Natasha Hastings were on hand for the Track Writer’s Luncheon at the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Natasha Hastings took a step Saturday, winning the elite women’s 400 at the New Balance Games in 52.26 seconds. She is back training with Curtis Fyre, who coached her at South Carolina and is now managed by her mother, Joanne Hastings. The night before at the Great Dane Classic, Hastings clocked won the 60 in a personal best 7.28.

Najee Glass stood around just as stunned as anyone else when he heard the words “national record.”

New York’s own Natasha Hastings will return to the New Balance Track and Field Center to defend her crown Saturday in the Elite Women’s 400 meters at the New Balance Games. Hastings, an A.P. Randolph graduate, won the event last year.

Arlington senior Jordan Yamoah and North Shore junior Samantha Nadel have earned this week’s Armory Athletes of the Week, presented by AT&T for their respective performances over the weekend.

Claudia Francis has plenty going on. The Cardozo senior competed in three track meets in five days ending Monday at the MLK Relays. She has a final exam tomorrow in science class and she still needs to make a decision on where she will compete in college next year.

            Four collegians long-jumped more than 26 feet over the weekend – two for the first time in their young careers – and all four will be in the field for this year’s New Balance Collegiate Invitational, to be held at the Armory Feb. 4-5.

With Chamique Francis on the leadoff leg and Claudia Francis on the anchor, Cardozo can threaten the national sprint medley relay record of 3:53.17 set by Long Beach Wilson (Calif.) in 2001.

North Shore coach Neil Levy said Samantha Nadel ran the best race of her entire life Thursday night at the Millrose Trials. Nadel proved Saturday that was only the beginning.

When Jordan Yamoah finished the pole vault, a small crowd gathered around to ask for autographs and photos. But when he met with Steve Arnett, his Arlington coach, Arnett made sure Yamoah still had something to shoot for.

  Chamique Francis paced back and forth, letting the adrenaline subside. “Not two consecutive times,” the Cardozo senior said. “We can take turns beating each other. But not twice in a row.”

It’s no secret that when Westbury’s Owen Skeete is in the race that he’s going to be leading after the first lap. And more often than not the field, knowing Skeete’s habit, will let him go and wait until he fades back into the crowd. But there are times Skeete doesn’t come back and the chase pack, pretending that the leader isn’t really the leader, then goes scrambling to get back into the race the way that Warwick’s Tim Luthin and Mike Mazzaccaro of CBA (N.J.) were forced to go scurrying behind Skeete as he attempted to pull off one of the biggest upsets of the season.

After sitting out much of the 2010 season with a stress reaction injury, Jen Barringer, now Jen Simpson, will make her indoor season debut at the New Balance Games Saturday, Jan. 22.

Myasia Jacobs of Paramus Catholic (N.J.) and Ronald Darby of Potomac (Md.) have been honored in this season’s third installment of Armory Athletes of the Week, presented by AT &T.

BOSTON – Organizers announced Monday that the Boston Indoor Games will return to Boston’s Reggie Lewis Track & Athletics Center on Saturday, February 5th.  Well, sort of.  The 16th annual track and field meet, one of the best events of its kind in the United States, will have a new name – the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.  Tickets for the event are on sale now at http://ticketalternative.com  or by calling 1-877-TIX-TRAC.

ArmoryTrack.com will broadcast the entire Millrose Trials Night for free starting at 4pm with the youth relays and covering all events on the track.

Queen Harrison will compete in the 60 meters at the 104th Millrose Games. She spoke via Skype at the Track Writers' Luncheon at the National Track and Field Hall of Fame Tuesday.

NEW YORK – Two of the most exciting young talents in U.S. track and field will be among those providing star power at Madison Square Garden for the 104th Millrose Games.

If there is a perfect way to earn a name for yourself, there couldn’t be one better than taking down on of the best quarter-milers in the country in a matchup that includes the biggest rivalry in New York City track and field. Sandrae Farquharson did both.

After the 4x200 trials at the Hispanic Games, Suitland (Md.) knew its relay needed to make a small but major adjustment to they way they raced. “Everybody needed to get out faster,” said anchor leg Levern Jacobs.

Drive phase. Transition. Finish. Potomac (Md.) junior Ronald Darby made it sound that simple when he broke the 55-meter meet record at the Hispanic Games Saturday.

 

NEW YORK – A new event at the 104th Millrose Games will bring three generations of U.S. decathletes – all medal threats for the 2012 Olympic Games in London – to Madison Square Garden for a unique competition. photo by PhotoRun.net

NEW YORK - Returning for its 104th edition, the Millrose Games in 2011 will give one of its greatest stars his biggest challenge and will feature the most heated national sprint rivalry in the world. The 104th Millrose Games will be contested Friday, January 28, 2011 at Madison Square Garden. The first event of USA Track & Field's Visa Championship Series, the Millrose Games will be televised live from 8-10 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN2.

There’s never been a PSAL athlete to clear 50 feet in the triple jump indoors. Only two jumpers in the country did it last year and just one in 2009.

Erasmus Hall’s Shane Green and Kimberly Bailey of Taft, both PSAL schools, have been named Armory Athletes of the Week, presented by AT&T.

After a training session Sanya Richards-Ross was kind enough to talk with Christopher Hunt about her goals for this year and the possibility of her competing this indoor season.

Things changed so quickly for Francis Lewis senior Chukwuebuka Enekwechi that he barely had a chance to digest it all. Every time he threw a shot put that sailed over 60 feet he felt like a kid on Christmas morning – lulled into a trance by his first bike.