Posted: February 4, 2006

Athletics: In Wanamaker Showdown, Lagat Prevails Over Bekele

From David Monti

© 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

NEW YORK (03-Feb) -- Kenenisa Bekele, the world record holder in the 5000m and the 10,000m, certainly got a warm reception from the crowd at Madison Square Garden tonight as he was introduced for the meet's signature event, the Wanamaker Mile. But just a few minutes later, Bernard Lagat of Tucson, Ariz., had thrown a bucket of cold water on the compact Ethiopian, routing him by some five seconds and winning this prestigious event for the fourth time.

Following the pace set by Elkanah Angwenyi of Kenya, Lagat ran in second position through the half-way mark (1:53.7) with Bekele trailing in third. Through the first four laps, Bekele was close behind Lagat, but with six laps to go in the 11-lap race, a gap started to open. The 56-second first quarter had set Bekele back on his heels.

"The beginning was very fast," Bekele said after the race.

Lagat, sticking with his pre-race plan, ran right behind Angwenyi until the Kenyan dropped out with four laps to go, falling to the track. Then, like last year, Lagat was racing against the clock.

"Today's race was a tough one," said the former Kenyan who became a father for the first time on Jan. 12. "I missed a few days of training. I have to be in shape to be here."

Lagat ran the last four laps alone, cruising to victory in 3:56.85, well off of his own meet record of 3:52.87 which he set here last year. Bekele had to push hard the last lap to close off a late race challenge by Olympic and World Championships bronze medalist, Rui Silva of Portugal. Bekele was just able to hold of Silva in the final meters, 4:01.57 to 4:01.79.

"It was a great race," said Bekele. "You know this race is my first race at short distance. I never raced under 3000 meters."

Although he didn't break four minutes on the Garden's quirky 145.5m Mondo track, he seemed satisfied with his first attempt at the mile. "I'm not disappointed," he said. He smiled when a reporter asked if he would like to race Lagat again over a longer distance, perhaps 3000m or 5000m.

Because of difficulties reassembling the track after the banked curves were taken down for the sprint races which go straight through the infield, the mile was severely delayed. The Garden's maintenance staff had to crawl under the track and secure a section which had drifted leaving an exposed seam in the running surface. They had to use two large "C" clamps, and meet director, Dave Katz, got on his hands and knees (despite wearing a tuxedo) to tape the seam with white duct tape. The mile was scheduled to start at 10:15, but the starter's gun did not sound until 11:12.

In the Fred Lebow women's mile, Canadian Carmen Douma-Hussar survived a late-race scare when her spikes got tangled momentarily with compatriot's Malindi Elmore. Douma-Hussar, the former Villanova University star, stumbled with about 160m to go, but kept her balance and rallied back to get the victory. She passed Malindi Elmore in turn 3 to win in 4:35.64. Courtney Babcock, also a Canadian, finished second in 4:36.00 and Elmore came in third 28/100ths behind Babcock to complete a Canadian sweep of the podium.

"On this track you're on top of each other," said the always pleasant Douma-Hussar. "You dish some, you get some. Nothing on purpose."

About the stumble she said: "It kind of came at a bad moment. When something like that happens you try to recover as soon as you can and get back in the game."

It was Douma-Hussar's third consecutive mile or 1500m victory at the Millrose Games.

The girls and boys hight school miles provided high drama. On the girl's side, Saragoga's Lindsey Ferguson led most of the race with Dennis-Yarmount's Colleen Wetherbee right on her heels. With two laps to go, it looked like either Ferguson or Wetherbee would take the title, but Danielle Tauro of Southern Regional and defending champion Aislinn Ryan of Warwick Valley were busy battling each other and actually closing in on the leaders.

"Going into the last lap it was just me and Aislinn pushing each other," Tauro recalled.

Ferguson and Wetherbee were clearly tiring. Tauro broke free of Ryan on the backstraight of the last lap, and running through turn 3 got past both of the leaders to get an upset victory in 4:51.89. Wetherbee hung on for second (4:52.78) and Ferguson finished third (4:54.74) with Ryan fourth (4:55.60). According to Tauro's coach, Brian Zatorski, Tauro closed the race in 70.4 seconds for the final 440y.

"I don't believe it just happened," said Tauro of her victory.

On the boys' side, Dan McManamon of Shenendehowa ran in third position most of the race, but ended up the winner with a strong final 50 meters. He clocked 4:17.18, ahead of Mark Amirault of Xaverian Brothers (4:18.10) and Greg Kiley of Saratoga (4:18.42).

Khadevis Robinson won the men's 800m from the front in 1:49.98, holding off David Krummenacker. Kenia Sinclair won the women's 800m in 2:05.62. Hazel Clark did not compete as the organizers had planned.

Next year's Millrose Games will be the 100th edition.

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