Olympic champion Stacy Dragila broke her own record in the pole vault and aging track stars Johnny Gray and Merlene Ottey defied time to win their events at the Millrose Games on Friday night.
The women's pole vault is a relatively new event and Dragila has dominated it. It was no different at Madison Square Garden as she cleared 15 feet, 2 1/4 inches (4.63 metres) - nine inches (23 cm) better than her nearest competitor - to break her own world record of 15-1 1/4 (4.61m).
The 94th edition of the Millrose Games kicked off USA Track and Field's Golden Spike Tour and Gray and Ottey - both in their 40s - stole the early portion of the program.
Gray, 41 years old and a four-time Olympian, won the Masters 800 meters for the fifth time. His time of one minute, 50.40 seconds barely held off Daniel Caulfield at the tape and set an event record.
"I'm speechless," Gray said. "I dedicated myself to the sport. I'm disciplined, live a clean life. I take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. Seriously, I just concentrate on doing the best I can. I'm a human being, not a machine, so I don't worry about everything."
Ottey, 40 and an eight-time Olympic medal winner, was the fastest of a fabulous field in the women's 60 meters as the Jamaican won a Millrose Games event for the first time.
With a half-dozen Olympic medal winners in the blocks, Ottey got the jump and crossed the finish line in 7.20 seconds, a full stride ahead of Chryste Gaines.
In the first indoor 800 of her stellar career, Jearl Miles-Clark won in 2:05.42, easily beating Charmaine Howell, who finished in 2:06.29.
Clark is a five-time winner of the 400 at the Millrose Games and a two-time olympic gold medalist in the 1,600 relay. She holds the American outdoor record for the 800.
In her first event of the season, Amy Acuff won the high jump at 6-5 (1.96m). Kajsa Bergqvist was second at the same height but had more faults. Both women qualified for the world championships in Portugal.
Olympic silver medalist Terrance Trammell won the 60 hurdles in 7.47 seconds, breaking Greg Foster's 1991 Millrose record by one-hundredth of a second. Dawane Wallace was second in 7.63 seconds.
Regina Jacobs won the Wanamaker mile in 4:42.15, taking it for the third straight year. Sarah Schwald was second and Marla Runyan, an Olympian who is legally blind, was third.
Comedian and actor Bill Cosby fired the starter's pistol on the men's Wanamaker mile, which was won by Bernard Lagat in an uninspiring 3:58.26. He edged Laban Rotich by 14 hundredths of a second.
The Millrose Games drew a crowd of 15,125. It began as a small indoor track and field meet in 1908. This year's event featured a new state-of-the art track surface.
The Golden Spikes Tour is a series of indoor and outdoor events that offers U.S. athletes the opportunity to compete on U.S. soil for substantial prize money in front of large crowds and a national television audience.