NEW YORK: Matthew Centrowitz surged to victory with a final-lap burst to repeat as Wanamaker Mile winner, while elite sprinters Allyson Felix and Andre De Grasse powered to wins at the 109th Millrose Games on Saturday.

Centrowitz, feeling sub-par due to congestion, laid back behind New Zealand rival Nick Willis before charging past at the gun for the final lap to win in a meet record 3:50.63 for a 2016 indoor best.

Shannon Rowbury won the women’s mile by nearly two seconds, clocking 4:24.39.

Canada’s De Grasse edged China’s Su Bingtian to win the men’s 60m in his professional debut — capturing the crown in 6.61 seconds, .01 off his personal best set last year when he ran for the University of Southern California, with Su second in 6.62 and Jamaican Kimmari Roach third in 6.63.

Felix, the reigning Olympic 200 champion and world 400 champion looking at a double in the events at the Rio Olympics, won the women’s 60 in 7.15, .05 ahead of compatriot Tianna Bartoletta.

In other strong performances, American Ryan Hill won the 3,000m in a 2016 indoor best of 7:38.82, just three-hundredths of a second ahead of American-Somali Hassan Mead.

Betsy Saina of Kenya took nearly 12 seconds off the year’s indoor best in the 5,000m when she edged American Molly Huddle in 14:57.18.

Also winning with a 2016 world best was American Ajee Wilson, who took the women’s 800m in 2:00.09.

Omar McLeod, the reigning Jamaican and US college 110 hurdles champion, won the 60 hurdles in 7.46 with American Ashton Eaton, the reigning world and Olympic decathlon champion, second in 7.53.

Grenada’s Bralon Taplin won the 400m in 45.35, the fastest time in the world this year, with Trinidad and Tobago’s Lalonde Gordon second in 45.51.

Natasha Hastings won the women’s 400m less than a week after breaking Felix’s American indoor record in the 300m, while Greece’s Katerina Stefanidi cleared 4.90m to win the women’s pole vault.

American Erik Kynard, the 2012 Olympic high jump runner-up, won his specialty by clearing 2.20m while Australian Mitchell Watt, the 2012 Olympic long jump runner-up, settled for second behind American Marquis Dendy, who leaped 8.13m to Watt’s 7.86.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2016