This is it folks - Mary Cain is the greatest high school distance runner we have ever seen

ryan foreman wrote:

Yeah, but I believe Decker got her 800PB for high school as a sophomore. Age 15 and around two years younger than Cain is now. Decker then suffered a string of injuries for the next couple of years.

Strictly speaking from the standpoint of high school performance I guess you could argue Cain is better. But generally as far as who was a greater prodigy at a young age, its still Decker.

True. Mary Decker ran 2:01.7 for 800m when she was 15 yrs old, almost 40 years ago! And another 15-yr old girl the same year(1974) also ran 2:02.4 for 800m. Cain is remarkable, but she would have to run faster than just 1:59.5 to compare. Now, Cain's 4:04 1500m is the mark that no US girl has ever approached. That's the one that defines Cain.

Hugely impressive from Cain. I hope she proves me wrong, but in my experience it's unusual for someone to be so good at this age to then go onto bigger and better things as a senior.

I'm not saying she can't or won't, just that that's the way it goes for these phenomenal teenagers more often than not. We (in England) had a young girl, Charlotte Moore, who ran sub 2 at the Commonwealth Games back in '02 as a 17 yr old. On the face of it, Cain seems a superior athlete to what Moore ever was but there's not much discrepancy there in terms of age and time, but Charlotte never really got near the times she ran that year again. As I said, I really hope Cain proves me wrong, I was hugely impressed with her race this weekend (first race of hers I've ever seen), but I'll exercise some caution for the future for the time being

We had a 17 year old do 1:59 10 years ago

http://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=1122

pb still 1:59 - Beware!

Not as good over 1500m as Mary though

Wait a minute - Didn't Gallagher run 1:58 the summer of her High School graduation in 1982??? It was an International Competition Race as well and she was only 18 years old at the time! This is not to take away from Mary but technically then, Kim still has the 800 Meter Record!

Cain will run the first sub 2 hour marathon, no doubt

Not A Coach, you have some mistakes about Zola in your comments. Zola started to compete in South Africa again in a 10K road race in August '89. She raced a 1990 track season ........

Wait!!!!! wrote:

Wait a minute - Didn't Gallagher run 1:58 the summer of her High School graduation in 1982??? It was an International Competition Race as well and she was only 18 years old at the time! This is not to take away from Mary but technically then, Kim still has the 800 Meter Record!

No Kim did not run 1:58 in 1982. She ran 2:00.07

Cain is fun to watch - I'm a great fan. But Zola Budd was far better. She had a WR at 5000m at 17 (15:01). Cain is only going for sub 15:46 this next Saturday. She ran 8:39 for 3000m at 16 when Cain's PR at 17 is 9:02. Even her 1500m time (4:01) was faster at age 17 than Cain's time (4:04). Both Cain and Budd have amazing range.

I think Mary Cain will probably run a lot faster over the next year, but at present, Zola is still better.

Mary Decker, a disgusting drug cheat, wasn't nearly as good in HS over all of the distances as Budd.

I agree, Cain is the best female high school distance runner the US has produced. Budd was far superior while the equivalent of a high school junior. Decker slightly behind. Another tier includes, Gallagher, Hasay, Heald, Shea and Schiro. I may have left one or two out.

I'll jump on the Cain bandwagon. She's the best high school distance runner of all time. I don't care what Ryun did on the national stage as that stage was WAY smaller than it is today. What Mary Cain has done is crazy. She would have qualified for the state finals for BOYS in many cases. She is the best ever.

Flagpole wrote:

I'll jump on the Cain bandwagon. She's the best high school distance runner of all time. I don't care what Ryun did on the national stage as that stage was WAY smaller than it is today. What Mary Cain has done is crazy. She would have qualified for the state finals for BOYS in many cases. She is the best ever.

Yes, but again you must put the letters U.S. in there. Budd was far superior. Lindgren and Ryun were pretty good as well.

ray wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

I'll jump on the Cain bandwagon. She's the best high school distance runner of all time. I don't care what Ryun did on the national stage as that stage was WAY smaller than it is today. What Mary Cain has done is crazy. She would have qualified for the state finals for BOYS in many cases. She is the best ever.

Yes, but again you must put the letters U.S. in there. Budd was far superior. Lindgren and Ryun were pretty good as well.

Yeah, greatest US High School. Sorry...I shouldn't just assume.

If Jordan was better - why does Mary have all the records?????? Retarded Statement! Cain is obviously by far the best HS Girl distance runner ever... Very Simple

Flagpole wrote:I don't care what Ryun did on the national stage as that stage was WAY smaller than it is today

eh ???

as the great sir anthony hopkins as pythagoras tutoring the young turks of peloponnese said :

in my long life, i have been privileged to know many great men, but only 1 colossus...

ventolin^3 wrote:

Flagpole wrote:I don't care what Ryun did on the national stage as that stage was WAY smaller than it is today

eh ???

as the great sir anthony hopkins as pythagoras tutoring the young turks of peloponnese said :

in my long life, i have been privileged to know many great men, but only 1 colossus...

Should have been "international stage". That was WAY smaller than it is today. National stage was smaller, but not WAY smaller.

Cain remains the best high school distance runner of all time.