NEW YORK – Two former LSU Track & Field athletes were among the stars of Saturday’s finale at the 110th Millrose Games as Vernon Norwood won the men’s 500 meters and Charlene Lipsey was one of two runners to run under the American indoor record in a runner-up finish in the women’s 800 meters at The Armory.
Lipsey finished runner-up to adidas teammate Ajee Wilson in the 800-meter final as both women took down Nicole Teter’s 15-year-old American record of 1 minute, 58.71 seconds that had stood since 2002.
It proved to be the fastest 800-meter race indoors in U.S. history as Lipsey ran an indoor personal best of 1:58.64 for the second-fastest time in the world this season behind Wilson’s winning 1:58.27 that established an American record. British runner Lynsey Sharp took third place with a time of 2:01.14, followed by French runner Justine Fedronic (2:01.36) and American Cecilia Barowski (2:01.52) to round out the Top 5.
A five-time All-American and three-time SEC Champion in four years at LSU from 2010-13, Lipsey ran the fastest 800 meters of her career just one week after running her best career mile of 4:30.13 on the same track at The Armory Track & Field Center a week ago. She remains the 15th-fastest miler in the world this indoor season with her career-best time.
A new American record for Ajee Wilson! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/APIaaWAc6G
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 11, 2017
Norwood, who wrapped up his collegiate career in 2015 as the NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor Champion in the 400 meters, beat an impressive field by nearly one full second to win the men’s 500 meters in 1:00.11.
Norwood crossed the finish line well ahead of Brycen Spratling in second place at 1:00.90, while Bershawn Jackson placed third at 1:01.17 with Chris Giesting (1:01.47) and Lalonde Gordon (1:05.89) rounding out the rest of the field. It was only the second race for Norwood during the 2017 indoor season after opening Jan. 28 with a runner-up finish in the 300 meters at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.
Norwood was crowned a World Indoor Champion in his first full season as a professional a year ago when he ran on Team USA’s gold-medal-winning 4×400-meter relay at the IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Vernon Norwood won the #NYRRMillroseGames 500m in 1:00.11 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/7TJF2L7xLk
— NYRR Millrose Games (@MillroseGames) February 11, 2017