By Elliot Denman // Photo by Justin Gaymon

Ajee' Wilson is back in full, thriving, top-of-the-line track and field health and many of the happiest people to see this happen are her legion of fans at the New Balance track and field center at The Armory.

Wilson's 2:02.15 win in the women's 800-meter invitational race at the 16th annual Armory Track Invitational Saturday -- holding off the late bids of Laura Roesler (2:02.18) and Lynsey Sharp (2:02.25), as well as such celebrated names as Natoya Goule (2:04.21) and Morgan Uceny (2:04.77) -- was a performance of strategic beauty.

Roesler and Sharp staged desperation bids to take it all, around the final bend, but Wilson, in typical fashion, kept her cool and had just enough left to post a clear but narrow triumph.

"Yes, I knew they (Roesler and Sharp) were coming," said Wilson.

But, yes, too, she never lost focus in her patented drive to the finish line. Wilson, of course, has been starring at Armory and Met area meets since her days as a precocious age-grouper out of Neptune,. N.J.

She was a model of consistency at every rung of her sport's ladder, winning virtually everything in sight, first as a child prodigy at the Colgate Women's Games, and more; next as scholastic star for the Neptune Fliers; then as a young internationalist running off with World Youth and World Junior 800-meter titles; then as a full-grown winning three USA Senior 800 crowns, two indoors and one outdoors, and twice in the last three years, as a qualifier for her Uncle Sam's Team at the World Outdoor Championships.

After placing sixth in the Moscow Worlds final of 2013 -- a placing still subject to revision based on pending doping-related allegations against Russian entries -- the Temple University senior and Adidas-representing pro runner seemed poised to strike it really big at last August's World Championships in China.  After all, she'd posted the world's fastest 800 time in 2014, 1:57.67.

But she never got to Beijing for the Worlds. A nagging injury put her on the sidelines and the three-runner American delegation failed to produce a finalist for the world title race. Now, though, Wilson is back, and you can make that statement with an exclamation point.

Every one of her goals -- starting with her next major start, at the NYRR Millrose Games here Saturday, February 20, and moving ahead to the USA Indoor Nationals (in Portland), the qualifying meet for the World Indoor Championships (also in Portland) -- is back in play. And when spring arrives, she figures to be perfectly positioned for the build-up to the USA Olympic Trials.

After two low-key races earlier this winter, Wilson opened up in style.

"I felt really good, really comfortable," she said. "I paid careful attention to my third (200-meter) lap, sometimes that's not really my best split.

"At first, last summer (sitting out the Worlds trip) was really hard, but luckily I had good people around me (Coach Derek Thompson, family members and friends) who were constantly checking up on me. motivating me.

"My injury was a kind of gradual thing, it would flare up, then die down. But it kind of became consistent just before the New York Diamond League meet.

"It wasn't a full stress fracture (of the left tibia), a break or anything, just a stress reaction to all the things that were happening."

On top of all that, she had to run the last 200 meters of the National 800 final in Oregon with one shoe on, one shoe virtually kicked off, as she settled for third place in the event she had won the year before. She took three weeks off after Nationals, tested the injury, and on Coach Thompson's advice, shut it down for the rest of the year.

"I really wanted to race, I rally wanted to be there (Beijing)," she said. But it wasn't to be.

Just as you'd expect, her real target for 2016 will be the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in August.

There were dynamite performances throughout this 16th edition of the Armory Track Invitational.

Needless to say, Drew Hunter's national scholastic (and Commonwealth of Virginia) mile record of 3:58.75 -- running seventh in the talent-packed men's invitational mile -- was guaranteed to steal most of the headlines.

After just two hours sleep, the over-anxious Loudoun Valley, Va. High School, University of Oregon-bound senior knocked fellow Virginian Alan Webb (who'd run 3:59.86 for South Lakes High of Reston at The Armory in back in 2001) out of top spot on the all-time scholastic indoor list (and became the eighth U.S. schoolboy to better the once-magic minute mark for the mile, indoors and outdoors.)

He went through 1,500 meters in 3:42.83 to top Webb's 3:43.27 in 2001, too. 

In addition to Webb (who also ran 3:53.43 outdoors in his epic 2001 campaign, the other members of the sub-four schoolboy mile club (all outdoors) are Jim Ryun (3:55.3 1965), Matthew Maton (3:59.38 2015), Grant Fisher (3:59.38 also 2015), Tim Danielson (3:59.44 1966), Luke Verbicas (3:59.71 2011) and Marty Liquori (3:59.8 1967.)

More good news for Armory fans: Hunter will be back for the NYRR Millrose Games, and attempting to slice further chunks off his 3:58.25.

Six men (all his elders) will be able to say they helped Hunter run his way into the HS record books. Preceding him over the line were British Olympian (and former Tulsa star) Chris O'Hare at 3:54.59, Sam Penzenstadler (3:57.29), Daniel Winn (3:57.36), Morgan McDonald (3:57.83), Christian Soratos (3:57.98) and Craig Forys, the former Colts Neck, N.J. High School and University of Michigan star (3:58.02.)

Other notable men's winners in the Invitation Section of the meet included Armory favorite Robby Andrews of Manalapan, N.J. (1:48.43 men's 800) and Kemoy Campbell, the former Arkansas star and Jamaica internationalist (7:55.01 3000 meters.)

Starring with Wilson, meanwhile, on the women's side were Marielle Hall, a Wilson training partner with Derek Thompson and the Philadelphia-based Juventus Track Club (8:54.70) over ex-Villanova great Sheila Reid (8:56.50) in the 3,000 meters, and University of Toronto's Gabriela Stafford (4:29.07 mile) over comeback-ing Erin Donohue (4:29.67.)

Strictly speaking, all of the above were members of the supporting cast of the meet whose major thrust ever since its founding in 2001 (as the brainchild of meet director Jack Pfeifer in coordination with Armory president Dr. Norbert Sander) has been the collegians.

But, as the meet has evolved, it's been a cooperative arrangement with plenty of glory in it for all.

Gold medal collegians included Ohio State's Nick Gray (21.17 200), Champ Page (47.62 400) and Joe Murawsky (65-4 3/4 shot put); and Mississippi State's Alfred Larry (1:03.04 500) and Brandon McBride (2:23.60 1000.)

Winners, too, were South Carolina's David Winters (6.71 60), Hampton's Trey Holloway (7.71 60 hurdles), Youngstown's Austin McLean (4:10.58 mile), Wisconsin's Zack Snider (8:12.99 3000), American University's Brendan Johnson (14:20.85 5000), Cincinnati high jumper Alex Bloom (6-10 3/4), York pole vaulter Samuel Adams (15-9), Bethune-Cookman long jumper Kenneth Fisher (24-4 1/4) and triple jumper Michael Tiller (52- 3 3/4), and Miami weight thrower Carlos Mangum (64-7.)

Meanwhile, Miami women's athletes were claiming collegiate golds and they included 60 hurdler Ebony Morrison (8.22), Shakima Wimbley (52.90 400) and weight thrower Precious Ogunleye (69-9 1/2.)

Duke's Megan Clark raised the pole vault record to 15-1 and Blue Devil teammate Teddi Maslowski led the long jumpers at 20-1 1/2.

Other top women's collegians included Syracuse's Shaina Harrison (7.37 60), Arizona's Sage Watson (1:10.52 500), Toronto's Madeline Kelly (2:45.95 1000), UConn's Alexis Panisse (4:45.34 mile), Vanderbilt's Carmen Carlos (9:27.98 3000), Stevens Institute's Amy Regan (16:23.40 5000), South Carolina's Naikita Gray (5-11 1/4 high jump), Vanderbilt's Simone Charley (42-11 3/4 triple jump) and Maryland shot putter Chioma Onyekwere (52-8.).

A Friday night feature was North Dakota State's 11:15.89 women's distance medley triumph.  Wisconsin (9:50.96) took the men's DMR. Other women's relay titlists: Duke (1:37.51 4x200), South Carolina (3:34.24 4x400) and Mississippi State (8:51.64 4x800.)

Men's relay wins went to Mississippi State (1:25.20 4x200 and 3:09.41 4x400) and Coppin State (7:32.99 4x800.)

"I think we had another great Armory Track Invitational," said Dr. Sander. And, as the athletes began filing out of the Armory, few disagreed that this had been quite a show.