Hartwig, Dragila win pole vault

NEW YORK, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Pole vaulter Jeff Hartwig broke his 1998 Millrose Games record Friday night at Madison Square Garden with a vault of 19 feet, three inches at the 95th annual meet.

"I felt really good coming into the event," said Hartwig, who won the Fred Schmertz Outstanding Performer Trophy. "This early in the year, you really don't know what to expect."

Hartwig fell short of the American mark set by Lawrence Johnson last March in Atlanta, missing on all three attempts.

"I thought I had a good chance at the meet record, but I wanted the American record," he said. "I just didn't have the endurance."

Johnson placed second and Derek Miles finished third Friday night.

Women's world champion and record holder Stacy Dragila was a repeat winner in the pole vault.

Dragila, who set the world record at last year's meet and broke it 15 days later in Pocatello, Idaho with a jump of 15-5, was on her game as she cleared 14-11.

"I was excited coming into this year's event after my success last year here," Dragila said. "Tonight was a little tough. It was hard to find my rhythm, but this meet gave me a good sense of where I am."

In the Wanamaker Mile, three Kenyans dominated the field, with Laban Rotich defending champ and favorite Bernard Lagat on the final lap and taking the tape in three minutes, 57.04 seconds.

After early leader Bryce Knight dropped out following the fourth lap, Rotich and Lagat waged a battle, with third Kenyan Leonard Murcheru in close pursuit.

"The race was so nice, but the problem was the pace was so high (and) the field was weak," Rotich said. "You don't expect the race to be that fast."

Regina Jacobs won the women's mile for the fourth straight year, clocking 4:34.60. Jacobs, who ran the fastest indoor mile at last week's Boston Indoor Games, outdistanced Russia's Lyudmila Vasileyeva.

Shawn Crawford and Chandra Sturrup won the men's and women's 60-meter dashes in 6.49 and 7.11 seconds, respectively.

David Krummenacker overtook Daniel Caulfield in the final lap to win the 800 in 1:52.30.

"It wasn't a blazing pace, but it was a great field," said Krummenacker. "I knew I had to blaze it home and steal the last 100 meters."

Indoor track greats Marcus O'Sullivan and Mary Decker Slaney were inducted to the Millrose Hall of Fame, as was Renaldo "Skeets" Nehemiah, the former record holder in the 100 hurdles who had a brief NFL career.

Also inducted were Olympic gold medalists Loren Murchison and Malvin Whitfield. Murchison was part of the winning 1,600 relay team in 1920 and 1924 and Whitfield won the 800 in 1948 and 1952.