Former Hempstead star Charlene Lipsey helps 4 x 800 team to indoor world record

It’s safe to say that Charlene Lipsey’s goals are a little bigger now. Ten years ago, she had Nassau County championships on the brain. Now it’s world records. Lipsey, 26, a Hempstead native who graduated from Hempstead High School in 2009 and now lives in Philadelphia is part of the American 4 x 800-meter relay team that broke a 7-year-old indoor world record and won in 8 minutes, 5.89 seconds at the 111th Millrose Games on Saturday at the Armory in Manhattan.

Lipsey, along with Chrishuna Williams, Raevyn Rogers and Ajee’ Wilson, broke the 8:06.24 mark set by Russia in 2011.

“The fans here today were amazing,” said Lipsey, who went to college at LSU. “They definitely pushed us through to breaking that record. There’s no better feeling than coming home to your hometown and being able to smash a record.”

Lipsey said that the team had the world record in mind when they started planning their Millrose strategy but because of a slow start to the season, were unsure whether they would push for it at the famous meet.

“As we were warming up, we were hearing all these crazy times happen,” Lipsey said. “My coach said ‘this is a fast track, this is the time to do it.’ He told us we were capable of doing it, so we came out and executed, and we were able to get it.”

Lipsey ran the third leg in 2:01.98, keeping the record within striking distance.

“[Wilson] said that if I could get that baton off to her by 6:05 or 6:06, we could break it,” Lipsey said. “I gave it to her at 6:05, so I knew we were on track to break the record.”

Elsewhere, Chris O’Hare, 27 originally of Scotland, won the men’s Wanamaker Mile in 3:54.14 and Colleen Quigley, 25, a St. Louis native, won the women’s Wanamaker Mile in 4:30.05.

Quigley almost had victory stolen from right under her arms. Seconds before breaking the tape, she raised her arms and Kate Grace, 29, of Oregon, sneaked underneath, looking for a last-second upset.

It was not to be, as Grace finished in 4:30.08, saving Quigley from a lifetime of wondering what would have happened if she held her excitement in for two more milliseconds.

“Oh my gosh,” a relieved Quigley said. “I almost did the one thing you’re not supposed to do and it was almost horrible.”

Farmingville-based Olym pian Maria Michta-Coffey won the one-mile USATF walk championship in 6:35.77. It was the fourth consecutive Millrose Games title for the 31-year-old who competed in the 2012 Olympics in London and 2016 Olympics in Rio. Lauren Harris, who graduated from Sachem East last June and now attends Marist College, finished fourth in 6:52.55.