Posted: January 23, 2004

Athletics: Johnny Gray Headlines 2004 Verizon Millrose Games Hall Of Fame Inductees

Joni Huntley, Billy Olson and Joie Ray also Selected

NEW YORK, N.Y., Jan. 23, 2004 -- Johnny Gray, a five-time Millrose Games 800m champion and four-time Olympian, headlines the Verizon Millrose Games Hall of Fame Class of 2004, to be inducted during the 97th running of the Verizon Millrose Games, Friday, Feb. 6. Gray will be joined by four-time Millrose high jump champion Joni Huntley, four-time Millrose pole vault champion Billy Olson, and seven-time Millrose Wanamaker 1 ½ Mile winner Joie Ray.

The Verizon Millrose Games Hall of Fame was instituted in 1999 to recognize the greatest performers in Millrose Games history who have retired from elite competition. Past inductees include Eamonn Coghlan, Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Mary Decker Slaney.

The class of 2004 is:

Johnny Gray,
A four-time U.S. Olympian and 800 meter bronze medallist at the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Johnny holds the current American Outdoor Record of 1:42.60 (1985), the American Indoor Record of 1:45.00 (1992), and the Millrose Games record of 1:47.18 (1986). During his unprecedented 15-year career as a world-class 800m runner, he won seven USA Outdoor Championships, one USA indoor crown, and five Millrose Games titles. In 2001, at age 40, he set a World Masters record of 1:50.70 in his last Millrose victory. He and his wife Judy have two sons.

Joni Huntley
Joni was a two-time U.S. Olympian in the Women's High Jump and the 1984 Olympic bronze medallist. Over an eight-year span she won four outdoor and four indoor national championships as America's premier female high jumper. At Madison Square Garden, she set new American records in 1980 (6'4 ¼") and 1981 (6'4 ¾") en route to winning four Millrose Games titles. Joni was the impetus behind the Millrose Games reinstating the Women's High Jump in 1976 (which she won) after a 46-year absence from the meet. She is married to John Rueter and has two daughters.

Billy Olson,
Billy was a 1988 Olympian who was the first person to vault 19-feet indoors, and also the first American to vault 19-feet outdoors. During his stellar career he won two USA Outdoor Championships, three USA Indoor Championships, four consecutive Millrose Games titles (1983-86), and set 11 world indoor records. In 1986, he became the first Millrose Games 19-foot pole vaulter during a memorable competition with Russia's Sergey Bubka. He and his wife Stephanie have one daughter.

Joie Ray, dec'd,
Joie was born in 1894 in Kankakee, Ill. At 5' 5" and 118 pounds, he became one of the most versatile runners of the 1920's, racing competitively at distances ranging from one mile to the marathon. He won 13 national titles during his career, including eight in the outdoor mile while representing the Illinois A.C. Joie was a superb indoor runner. From 1917-24 he won the Millrose Games' feature event-the Wanamaker 1½ Mile Run-seven times and broke the world record in three of those races. In 1925, Joie tied the world indoor mile record of 4:12.0. A member of three USA Olympic teams, he was eighth in the Olympic 1500m in 1920, a bronze medallist in the 3000m team race at the 1924 Games, and 14th in the 10,000m and fifth in the marathon at the 1928 Games. Joie later became known for running a one-mile time trial every year on his birthday. At age 67, he recorded a more-than-respectable clocking of 6:32.6.

About the Verizon Millrose Games
Held annually since 1908, the Verizon Millrose Games is the nation's longest running invitational track meet, the Garden's longest running sporting event, and a highlight of USA Track & Field's annual "Golden Spike Tour".