Wannamaker? Yes, Please

by Evan Hatton

The prestigious Wanamaker Mile, the premier event of the annual Millrose Games.  Much like the 3K, this thing is stacked.  Last year, Matthew Centrowitz and Nick Willis dueled the whole way, with Centro ultimately edging out the Kiwi at the line, 3:51.35 to 3:51.46.  Centro has a really solid 3K under his belt from a couple weeks ago, holding off Hassan Mead to go 7:40.  Willis, on the other hand, has had a pretty solid outdoor campaign down in New Zealand this winter (summer for them).  This included a 1:49.8 800 and an 8:00 3K in apparently very rough conditions.  Not to mention his 3:53 this past weekend at the New Balance Grand Prix.  I would be absolutely shocked if these guys don’t go 1-2 again this year.  According to Willis’ Twitter, the pacer is going to bring them through 1200 at sub 3:50 pace.  Could Centro be trying to take a shot at Lagat’s 3:49.8 American record?  I’m excited.

Looking at the rest of the field, I can’t let myself count out Leo Manzano.  Manzano is aging a bit, at least by track and field standards, but he continues to be in contention in every race he runs.  His only mark this indoor season is an 800 at Texas A&M where he got the win in 1:50.1.  I don’t know if I can put him alongside Willis and Centro right now, but his closing speed is almost unmatched, if he is close with 200 to go he could surprise.

Behind these guys, I’ve taken notice to Chris O’Hare this year.  He dropped the hammer hard at the Armory a few weeks ago to go 3:54 in the same race Andrew Hunter went 3:58.  Before that, he held off a hard charging Justyn Knight to go 3:56 at BU.  He’s having himself quite the indoor season so far and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him hang with the big dogs for the majority of this race.  Robby Andrews is another one to watch.  The World Championship qualifier has one mark this indoor season, a 1:48.4 for the win at the Armory Track Invitational.  Andrews is one of the guys who, every time I think is out of contention, shows up big time and drops a 12.x last 100 to qualify for Worlds.  The last guy I want to look at a little closer is Garrett Heath.  Heath is without a doubt one of the most versatile runners in America.  Over the summer, he dropped a 3:34.1 to run the third fastest 1500 by an American in 2015 and then came back a few months later to win USA Cross Country Championships and World Cross Country Championships, taking down none other than Mo Farah in the process.  He’s an incredibly strong runner and can muscle his way through just about anything that is thrown at him.  

Overall, I expect Willis and Centro to make this the race to watch over the weekend.  These guys are having great seasons already and if the pace is as hot as I’ve heard it will be, we could see an American record go down at Millrose.

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