One of the most iconic meets of the
indoor season is the Millrose games and for mid-distance runners the Wanamaker
mile is one of the premiere races of the season. However, the fact that it’s
one of the premiere races of the indoor season means you have to be really fast
to get into it, which leaves some pretty solid runners wondering if they’ll
ever get their chance to run in the Millrose games. Well, those guys are in
luck, because this year there is an additional invite mile as well as the
Wanamaker Mile, and it looks pretty darn good.
The name that will probably attract
the most attention is Drew Hunter, who returns to the Armory after running an
extremely impressive 3:58 there a couple weeks ago. However, there’s a lot of
other big names worth noting in the race. Tommy Awad will be racing as an
individual for just the second time this season, and I would expect he’ll be
shooting for an NCAA qualifying time. Graham Crawford and Blake Haney will join
Awad as the other NCAA runners in the race, and like Awad, I would think they
will be looking to set or improve on their NCAA marks. Blake Haney has been
looking really good so far this season, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him
drop a big time here, maybe even something in the 3:56 range. There will be a solid
NJ-NY TC contingent on hand too, as Travis Mahoney, Jake Hurysz, Michael
Atchoo, and Ford Palmer are all entered. Travis Mahoney is mainly a steeple guy
who is coming off a strong outdoor season last year that saw him run 8:27. I’d
guess he’s gearing up to push for an Olympic spot this summer. He boasts a
solid 3:58 pr, so don’t count him out this weekend by any means. Jake Hurysz
and Michael Atchoo are both relatively new professionals coming off of stellar
college careers. I would expect they are anxious to prove they belong in the
professional ranks, so don’t be surprised if at least one of them runs a pretty
fast race this weekend. Finally, the man I’m most excited to see from the NJ-NY
group is Ford Palmer. He had a really good outdoor season last year,
culminating in a 5th place finish at USA’s. He has to think he has a
pretty decent shot at making the team for Rio, so I’m excited to see what kind
of a tone he sets for the rest of his season this weekend. The Irish will also
be well represented by John Travers and John Coghlan. If Coghlan’s last name
sounds familiar, it’s probably because his father was a 3 time Olympian and at
one point held the World Record for the mile indoors at 3:49.78. John isn’t
quite that quick yet, but he has run 3:59, and this should be the perfect race
for a pr. Travers is probably Ireland’s best bet at a win as he comes in with
the fastest time in the field, 3:55. I think he’s also looking towards Rio this
summer, so it should be fun to see how he starts his year off. Rounding out the
field we have Kirubel Erassa, Joe Stilin, Will Geoghegan, and Julian Matthews.
Erassa and Geoghegan are two more young pro’s trying to prove they belong,
although Geoghegan has done pretty well for himself already. Joe Stilin is
almost definitely the smartest man in the field. He graduated from Princeton
with degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace engineering, and went on to get his
masters in Aerospace engineering at Texas. Oh, and he’s quick too. He set the
Texas school record in the mile with a 3:58 in the one season he spent there.
Finally, the Kiwi Julian Matthews also brings a pretty good resume to the table
with pr’s of 3:57 and 3:37 for the mile and 1500 respectively.
What most excites me about this
field is the youth. I love that we have a bunch of young pro’s who want to
prove themselves, and a few college guys looking to get some NCAA marks. That’s
a recipe for a quick and very exciting race. With that being said, watch out
for the cagey old guys. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of them sit back and
steal the race in the last 200 or so. And, of course, I’m excited to see what
Hunter’s follow up act is. Any time there’s a talent like him in a race it’s
worth watching just because of what might happen. Imagine if he runs 3:56 this
weekend. Oh, and by the way, he’s going to break Alan Webb’s high school mile
record. It’s not a matter of if, but when.
If I had to predict what’s going to
happen, I guess I’d go with Hunter for the win. The kid is on a roll, and he
showed his closing speed when he ran 3:58. Now that he has the pressure of
breaking 4 off his chest I think he’ll feel free to take a chance with how he
races, and that’ll pay off in a big way. Behind him I think there will be a
whole bunch of guys coming in around the 3:56-57 range. Watch out for Ford
Palmer, Tommy Awad, and Will Geoghegan in particular to have big races.
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