Millrose Games 2009

New York, NY

Coverage

Millrose Games Photos Jan 31, 2009

MileSplit US has plenty of great photos from the high school events at Friday night's Millrose Games as well as the Wanamaker Mile in which Bernard Lagat (pictured above) won a record tying seventh title . Millrose Games Photo Gallery by Tim Fulton - 799 total photos  

Fordham Prep does it Again Jan 30, 2009

NEW YORK – When Michael Jennings split the tape at the finish line at Madison Square Garden he cemented his team in history at Fordham Prep. The history is built on tradition, a tradition that had the Garden sounding like a college basketball game during the CHSAA 4x800 relay.

Albemarle boys roll at Madison Square Garden to 7:54 victory Jan 30, 2009

Photo by Tim Fulton of ArmoryTrack.com The 4x800 meter relay squad from Albemarle High School made quite a statement Friday night at the Millrose Games as they humbled the current US leaders in the event from Morris Hills High School in New Jersey. An expected close showdown between the fastest two 4x800's in the nation this indoor season never came to be. Coach Buz Male's quartet killed any thoughts of late race drama by taking charge from the opening leg and continuing to gap the New Jersey school en route to an 8 second margin of victory with their final time of 7:54.59. In a very strategic high school boys' mile race which came down to a kicker's race, Tyler Stutzman and Bobby Peavey finished in the middle of the pack in fourth (4:21.11) and sixth (4:21.54) places respectively.

Millrose Games: NJ sweeps miles, US #1 in 60, Albemarle boys win 4x800 battle of titans Jan 30, 2009

An exciting night of high school action took place at the 102nd Millrose Games in New York. It was a big night in particular for the state of New Jersey as the two mile winners both came from the state with Jillian Smith of Southern Regional successfully defending her title from a year ago in 4:51.88, while Manalapan High's Robby Andrew dropped the hammer on the boys' field with a sub 60 second last for a 4:17.43 victory. The clash between the nation's top two 4x800 meter relays never materialized or at least there was not as much drama at the end as the Albemarle boys from Virginia took charge from the opening leg and never looked back as they scored an 8 second victory on the US leaders from Morris Hills in New Jersey (8:03.31) in a near meet record time of 7:54.59, which is an incredible performance on the short track at MSG. New Jersey prep Clayton Parros held his own against the professional runners in the men's 600 yard dash to finish third at 1:12.64. National leading performances are usually not expected at the Millrose Games, but the short track does not hurt the short straightaway races as shown by Devon Smith from Westlake High School in Maryland blazing a US #1 6.65 clocking in the 60 meter dash to win the junior race division.

Millrose Games on TV: Friday (1/30) - ESPN2 7:00-8:30 PM Jan 29, 2009

The 102nd Millrose Games will be shown live on ESPN2 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM on Friday night with the high school mile races expected to be shown. The mile races are always the premier high school events in the meet, but this year will have other events gaining attention including a showdown between the nation's fastest two 4x800 meter relays in the Morris Hills boys of New Jersey (US #1 7:46) and Albemarle (US #2 7:49) of Virginia. Another event to look forward to is the mens' 600 yard dash which will feature current US 400 leader Clayton Parros competing against older professional athletes. Preview forthcoming.

Athlete Spotlight: Clayton Parros Jan 28, 2009

(Photo by wingedfootphotos.com) Seton Hall Prep (NJ) senior Clayton Parros entered the current indoor season as the nation's fastest returning 400 meter sprinter from last winter. Parros also set himself up to be looked upon as one of the nation's best coming back for 2009 after his 47.20 clocking to make the finals of the 400 meter dash at the USATF Junior Nationals last June. With a recent US #1 performance of 47.58 at the New Balance Games, the UNC recruit Parros appears to be on the right path of reaching some of his big goals this year including breaking the New Jersey state record and qualifying for the World Juniors team in the 400 meter dash. While the Millrose Games will have some exciting high school races, the 12th grader Parros will be competing on the banked track at Madison Square Garden this weekend against professional athletes in the rarely contested 600 yard race. MileSplit US interviewed the nation's top ranked high school athlete at 400 meters prior to his first race against pro competition.

Athlete Spotlight: Tyler Stutzman Jan 26, 2009

It was not the best of times for Western Albemarle senior Tyler Stutzman in late November for the Foot Locker South in Charlotte, North Carolina. He had given his all in a quest to make it to the Foot Locker Nationals, but his body shut down on him. In top 10 position with less than 400 meters to go, a dehydrated and energy depleted Stutzman bonked and was unable to finish the race. Meanwhile, his teammate Kyle Satterwhite and familar rival Alex Ott went by him at that time to move onto the Foot Locker Finals in San Diego. It was not Stutzman's day, but this indoor season has proven to be very fruitful for him and he has rarely come up empty handed. Between punching his ticket to Millrose with an incredible negative split and 2:02 last half mile in a victory at the Montgomery Invitational mile earlier this month as well as most recently running the nation's fastest 3200 meter time at 9:05 in a great duel against Bobby Peavey at Virginia Tech, Stutzman has made up for that missed opportunity in November. His redemption from not making it to San Diego may come this weekend on the big stage in the high school mile at the Millrose Games, which will be televised to a national audience on ESPN. With one of the fastest mile times currently in the nation and fresh off his big PR 3200 performance at Tech, the senior from Crozet, VA has an excellent chance to make history in becoming only the third Millrose Games high school mile champion from Virginia. Read more...

Millrose Games HS Boys 4x800 will feature nation's fastest 2 relays Jan 25, 2009

The Millrose Games this upcoming weekend at the Madison Square Garden will feature the nation's fastest two high school boys' 4x800 meter relays. The mile races are typically the highlight of the high school portion of the Millrose Games, but this year's 4x800 meter relay could trump the individual races with a highly anticipated matchup between US #1 Morris Hills of New Jersey and US #2 Albemarle of Virginia.

Athlete Spotlight: Bobby Peavey Jan 19, 2009

Kellam's Bobby Peavey (pictured right by John Herzog) will be one of three Virginians competing at the Millrose Games next weekend in New York City. He was estatic when learning of the news he had been selected albeit at a crazy late hour. "I had a feeling I might get invited after Montgomery, but it didn't hit me until my coach texted me at 3 AM that I was actually going to Milrose. It feels amazing." The senior Peavey earned his trip to New York based off two swift times posted this past month in the one mile race at the Montgomery Invitational and most recently in a 1600 meter race at the Eastern Challenge held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He certainly has asserted himself early on in the indoor season as shown with a US #1 9:08 3200 meter performance in the December at CNU. Read more...

Stutzman, Peavey, and now Degfae are all Millrose Mile bound! Jan 19, 2009

Due to a decline by one of the nine original selections for the high school boys' mile at the Millrose Games, Thomas Edison senior and Foot Locker All-American Leoule Degfae will now be joining original selections and fellow Virginians Tyler Stutzman of Western Albemarle and Bobby Peavey of Kellam in the prestigous race. The state of Virginia will represent a third of the total field with the top three finishers from the Montgomery Invitational mile race two weeks ago. Stutzman won the race in Landover, Maryland to virtually cement his spot in the Millrose field in a US #4 time of 4:14.91, while Peavey and Degfae had to sweat out their selections as they had to wait to see how others on the East Coast ran on faster banked tracks up north.  Peavey followed up his runner-up finish to Stutzman by posting another swift time this past weekend in the 1600 meter run at the Eastern Challenge with a 4:14.84 win. Peavey and Degfae also have the nation's #1 and #2 fastest times for 3200 meters at 9:08 and 9:13 respectively this season. The mile at Montgomery was Stutzman's only race thus far this season compared to Peavey and Degfae who have already competed in several invitationals, but he will competing at Virginia Tech this weekend as he tunes up for the big race in the Big Apple. He'll be running the 3200 in Blacksburg to see if he can post similar season best times to Peavey and Degfae. The Millrose Games high school boys' mile race will be held Friday, January 30th on the 11 laps to a mile banked track at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.

2009 Millrose Games HS Girls Mile Field Jan 19, 2009

Duke bound Juliet Bottorff, of Tatnall, DE, who clocked 4:59.60 to win the mile at the Yale Track Classic over the weekend, is one of nine girls named to the prestigious high school mile field for the upcoming Millrose Games. Jillian Smith (NJ) returns to defend her crown.