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DyeStat 2001 Indoor
February 2, 2001 at Madison Square Garden, New York
95th Millrose Games
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PixPages
Boys Mile - Girls Mile - Other Prep - Elite
Sara Bei and Nick Schneider
win thrilling miles
by John Dye
NEW YORK 2/2/01 -- The high school miles gave the big Madison Square Garden crowd all they could ask for Friday night in the Millrose Games.
Each race had lead changes, take charge moves, and stunning reversals at the tape. All the turning on the short Garden oval kept times on the slow side, but the tactics and the finishes were as entertaining as it gets.
Girls: Sara
Bei CA caught Erin Donohue NJ in the last hundredth of a 
second,
repeating her December come from behind victory in the Foot Locker Cross
Country nationals in Orlando. The finish left Finish Lynx operator
Giles Norton shaking his head and showing bystanders the picture; Norton
somehow separated the two, 4:57.10 to 4:57.12. Stretch running
Bei was impatient with a slow 2:34 first half by Theresa Fath and took the
lead with 3 laps to go. Donohue immediately made her own charge to
the top and it was a 2-girl race from there on. Donohue
seemed the winner on the bell lap, but Bei crept up to her heels down the
backstretch, rallied on the turn, and moved alongside at the head of the
short stretch. Both girls lunged at the finish, and Bei not only won
the race but edged Donohue for the fastest HS girls mile in the US this
season. The rest of the field: Theresa Fath NY 5:01.29,
Melissa Donais MA 5:03.63, Julia Pudlin PA 5:03.68, Chelsea Lenge CT
5:04.71, Megan O'Shea NY 5:19.37, and Raquel Barrientos CA 5:28.40.
Boys:
It was Nick Schneider MN catching Bobby Lockhart VA in this
one, 
4:17.88
to 4:18.02. Lockhart set most of the pace (2:07 half) and did not
seem to realize Schneider, winner of the LA Invitational 2 weeks ago, was
closing on him in the last turn. Each runner had to overcome
roughhouse tactics by Said Ahmed MA, who pushed and elbowed repeatedly on
the tight turns.
The rest of the field: Said Ahmed MA 4:19.18, Brian Boyett NJ 4:20.02, Brian McGovern CT 4:21.27, David Vidal MT 4:21.99, Justin Romaniuk NY 4:23.33, Shane Stroup MD 4:24.18, and Alex Bloom CT 4:32.36.
Preps in field events, facing Olympic champions and stratospheric opening heights, had to chalk up the evening to experience.
Men's High Jump: Dan Olson NY cleared opening height of 7-0.25 but went out at 7-2.25 and watched 1996 Olympic champion Charles Austin wait until 7-5.25 to come in and win with his first jump.
Women's Pole Vault: Molly Lederman and Samantha Shepard, training mates in Jeff Robbins' Air Time club in Massachusetts, have taken turns holding the girls indoor record over the past year, with Lederman the current record holder at 13-1. Opening height was 3.80 meters (12-5.5), which meant that the second height of 4 meters (13-1.5) would be a new HS indoor record if either could make it. Lederman went out at opening height, leaving the door open for Shepard. Jumping in her 4th straight Millrose Games, Shepard seemingly cleared 4 meters on her first attempt, but the bar fell off after she landed. Her next two attempts were not as good, despite rhythmic clapping inspired by the announcer.
The men's 3000 was won by Leonard Mucheru, 21, of Kenya, who was the winner of the New Balance Games mile 2 weeks ago when Alan Webb produced his high school record sub-4. Mucheru held off fellow Kenyan Paul Bitok in 7:50.01 to 7:50.06, with American Bob Kennedy third in 7:54.34.
This venerable event, which unabashedly calls itself "the world's greatest indoor track event," goes back to the days when the Wanamaker Mile was a bigger attraction at the Garden in winter than the Knicks. Prep runners are featured on the same bill with Olympians. The high school mile is a premium, invitation-only event featuring the best in the nation. The 4x400 relay teams engage in furious battles on the tight, high banked turns that sometimes offer a roller derby flair.
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HS Mile entries with past performances- Sixteen invitations were accepted Sunday 2/21 for the prestigious HS boys and girls miles. In addition, Albany NY sr Dan Olson, who high jumped 7-4 in December, will compete against men at Millrose. He needs one more inch to tie the all-time indoor HS record set in 1978 by another Olson, Gail Olson, Sycamore IL.
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2000 Millrose Games on DyeStat - HS mile winners: Tristan Colangelo, Gloucester MA 4:18.76, and Shalane Flanagan, Marblehead, MA 4:54.84
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1999 Millrose Games on DyeStat - HS mile winners: Dylan Welsh, Saratoga Springs, NY 4:13.30, and Katie Hotchkiss, Mission San Jose, Fremont CA 4:59.69
