well the thing is: she's likely to improve only say 30 seconds over 5k the rest of her life, and that only if she is that 1/100 girl who doesn't slow down as her body changes. That's the problem here...keeping someone interested in working so hard for a decade for small potatoes improvements.
That's why so many college runners quit...they fight like heck and only some improve their HS PRs. They get bored and burned out and injured and walk away to do something else.
the argument is that if you REALLY wanted to develop a girl in HS to be a pro at 26, you'd just do aerobic development, not much intensity, keep it fun, just keep her legs and mind fresh and get her through that 19-24 year old downturn problem until she has the mental and physical tools to be a pro.
Succeeding this much in HS is not a help to 'long term success.' It is showing a young person how to excel at something, which is of great value as a life lesson to be used in any career. But it will ultimately be a problem to her pro track career, not a help.
This kind of speed in HS is very unlikely to be there when she is 26 and in her potential professional prime years. The girl who will make national teams in 10 years is now running 4:50 for the mile and you'd never pick her out of a lineup to be on a national team. She has that space to improve, which will keep her mind in the game. Without that space to improve...you don't keep fighting for ten years.
