Lagat Is Too Much for Webb

Alan Webb never had a chance.

The American sensation lined up for the featured Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games on Friday night, hoping he could keep up with No. 1-ranked Bernard Lagat of Kenya. No chance. Lagat took the lead with five laps to go, then cruised to victory in 3 minutes 52.87 seconds, setting a meet and Madison Square Garden record.

Laban Rotich was second in 4:00.33, and Webb finished third in 4:00.91.

Webb fell behind early and failed in his bid to become the first American to win the race since Steve Scott in 1984. Elkanah Angwenyi paced the group before Lagat overtook him. Lagat took a victory lap to a standing ovation.

Two-time world champion Stacy Dragila won her seventh Millrose pole vault title after clearing a lackluster height of 14 feet 8 3/4 inches, Reese Hoffa won the shotput with a personal-best 70-11 1/4 , and Allen Johnson won his fifth 60-meter hurdles here in 7.53 seconds.

The 22-year-old Webb first got national attention in 2001 when he broke Jim Ryun’s 36-year-old high school record in the mile, completing it in 3:53.43. At the Athens Olympics last summer, he failed to get out of the first round of the 1,500 meters.