Baddeley and Donohue Win New Balance Games Miles
By Peter Gambaccini
(c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
NEW YORK (23-Jan) -- With the challenge of the Wanamaker Mile at the
Millrose Games looming just six days ahead, Britain's Andy Baddeley
showed impressive early season form as his 3:55.64 win at the New
Balance Games here came close to erasing Mark Carroll's Armory Track
& Field Center record of 3:54.98. Erin Donohue was a virtual
wire-to-wire winner with her 4:28.92 mile, though she did get a late
challenge from an unexpected source. Both athletes set indoor personal
bests.
After pacemakers Chris Spooner and Rob Novak peeled off, Baddeley, who
won the Continental Airlnes Fifth Avenue Mile here last September, went
through three-quarters in 2:58. His triumph was never really in doubt.
He did glance back several times "just to see how close they were,"
but he left the impression that he could have run faster if
circumstances required it. Ricky Stevenson (3:56.31) and Mark Draper
(3:56.80) made the race a 1-2-3 British sweep. They also ran career
best indoor times.
"I'd like to think I did have gears left," Baddeley said of his
performance. "I think I can go a bit quicker." He's been forced to do
more treadmill training than he'd like during an unusually rough
English winter (he's based in Twickenham) but notes that his treadmill
is "not too bouncy so it's a bit more realistic."
Baddeley will soon be on his way to altitude training in Australia,
followed-up by a 5000-meter race in Melbourne. But first he has that
Wanamaker Mile, and New Yorkers may spy the buzzcut Briton training in
Central Park this week. It will be his first venture on an
11-lap-to-the-mile track. If he could upset Bernard Lagat and deny him
a record eighth Wanamaker triumph "I might tell him I feel guilty, but
I think I'd be pretty excited," quipped Baddeley.
Donohue, a 2008 U.S. 1500-meter Olympian from Haddonfield, N.J., led
her mile after taking over from pacesetter Lesley Higgins of the New
York Athletic Club. After a 3:25 three-quarter split, Megan Wright,
who as Megan Metcalfe, won an NCAA 5000-meter title for West Virginia,
seemed ready to pounce and possibly poach a victory. But the Canadian
Olympian came mysteriously unglued (she faded to tenth, and later
smirked "something jumped on me"). Another Canadian, Nicole Edwards,
who competed for the University of Michigan, mounted a serious
challenge with a move into second place with 300 meters left. But
Donohue held on for the victory in 4:28.92, with Edwards a close second
in a personal best 4:29.42 and Sarah Bowman, the former University of
Tennessee star who is now a New Balance-sponsored professional, third
in 4:32.14.
"Fortunately, the speed was still there at the end," observed Donohue,
who said her goals for this mile were "to be strong enough and to be
able to respond to anyone at the end." She accomplished that. Next,
she'll run at 800-meters at the B.U. Terrier Classic in Boston next
Friday "to be 100 percent ready to go for the 1000" at the Reebok
Boston Indoor Games on Feb. 6.
The Varsity Boys Invitational Mile was a virtual one man show; Chris
FitzSimons of Hamden, Conn., seized the lead with 500 meters remaining
and staged a runaway, clocking a 4:17.33 to runner-up Miles Schroeder's
4:21.77. Heavily favored Emily Lipari of Roslyn, N.Y., took the lead
in the Girls Mile from the outset, but she did get reeled in by Joelle
Amaral, who pulled ahead slightly with 300 to go before Lipari found
another gear and reasserted herself and won, 4:53.84 to 4:56.81.
"I saw her come up," said Lipari who also is a top soccer player. "I
saw her body language and she looked strong. She helped me get an
extra second wind."
The New Balance Games also featured two elite 400s, with Natasha Hastings (52.68) and Miles Smith (46.70) taking the wins.
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