World record set in women’s two-mile run

Meseret Defar, a slight and wide-eyed 23-year-old from Ethiopia who vomited two minutes before the start of her two-mile race Sunday at the Adidas Track Classic at the Home Depot Center, went out and set a world record.

Orange juice, hash browns, bread and cheese had been the breakfast that made her sick. But instead of dropping out, as she feared she might, Defar finished as the crowd of 6,208 roared at her time of 9 minutes 10.47 seconds.

It was that kind of day, a little relaxed, a little nerve-racking and packed with some record-setting performances and some sick-looking efforts.

Stacy Dragila’s American pole vault record, the one she has held in some form since 1996? It’s gone. It belongs to Jenn Stuczynski, a 25-year-old who vaulted 15 feet 10 1/2 inches to better Dragila’s 15-10.

Breaux Greer -- who wears his hair platinum blond and spiky and who has left training in Gainesville, Fla., for Scottsdale, Ariz., because, he says, “I can’t date 21-year-old college girls forever” -- raised his own U.S. javelin record to 297-7 from 287-8. Greer set the record on his first throw and then said, “That was luck. I tripped. It just came out of my hand.” There was a long pause before Greer grinned and said, “I’m joking.”

Tyson Gay, a 24-year-old from Lexington, Ky., who says he is trying to bring the men’s 100-meter world record back to the United States, won his race in a wind-aided time of 9.79. Without the wind, his time would have tied Maurice Greene’s U.S. record.

“I wanted to run nine [seconds] in the States,” Gay said. “My whole goal was to run nine seconds in this meet. So I think I’m in pretty good shape. I really think it’s letting me know the USA is coming ready to run.”

Greene, 32, and the 2000 Olympic champion, finished sixth and last in his heat in 10.84, the worst time among the 19 competitors. Greene, a former world-record holder who is back after sitting out last season because of a foot fracture, pronounced himself satisfied and predicted he will win U.S. nationals next month.

Jeremy Wariner, the Olympic and world champion in the men’s 400 meters, had hoped to go under 44 seconds. Wariner won easily, but his time was 44.60 and afterward he was a harsh critic. “I didn’t get out too good on the first turn,” Wariner said. “That’s what affected me the most. The wind down the backstretch didn’t help at all.”

Other winners included Los Angeles native Allyson Felix in the women’s 200 meters in a time of 22.18 and three runners who posted the fastest times of the year in their events -- world champion Michelle Perry, 28, a former UCLA runner, who won the 100-meter hurdles in 12.58; Torri Edwards, who served a 15-month drug suspension in 2004 and 2005, with a time of 10.90 in the women’s 100; and Wallace Spearmon in the men’s 200 in 19.91.

There were dozens of Ethiopian flags waving in the stands as Defar ran alone for the final two laps. Her time beat the world record of 9:11.97 set in 1999 by Regina Jacobs of the U.S.

Defar said that by those final two laps, “I knew I would break the record.”

Dragila, 36, has been battling a series of injuries over the last two years but said she is healthy and eager to compete against Stuczynski at nationals. “I know Jenn is capable, I knew it was coming,” Dragila said. “It’s baby steps for me, but I will love to go head to head with Jenn at nationals.”

Perry won the most exciting race of the day by out-leaning Virginia Powell, Lolo Jones and Angela Whyte in a frenzied finish. Powell and Jones tied at 12.61 and Perry said her form makes her optimistic about defending her world title next August. “I think it’s going to be a great year,” she said.

Edwards is also optimistic about the rest of the season.

The former USC runner tested positive for the stimulant niketamide in April 2004. Edwards said her physical therapist gave her a glucose supplement bought at a store in Martinique during a meet and was unaware the supplement contained banned substances.

“I’m just looking to do great things again,” Edwards said. “I want to prove I deserve what I get.”

diane.pucin@latimes.com