In a few years, Baxter won't be running and those following Mary Cain's stellar career will be like, "Sarah who?" But today is the lesser runner's moment so taking something away from her would be wrong.
In a few years, Baxter won't be running and those following Mary Cain's stellar career will be like, "Sarah who?" But today is the lesser runner's moment so taking something away from her would be wrong.
^^ Jealous much?
Seriously? Baxter won. Cain was second. Both ran great races. And neither were really that far ahead of the rest of the field.
And for all the people making excuses for Cain, I'd like to give Baxter some credit for sticking with her public high school team and running hard for her team all year, as opposed to racing minimally and selectively while paying tons of $$$$ to be coached by Alberto Salazar. And she still won.
coach wrote:
Cain showed she's a better XC runner than many thought.
This shows that Cain is probably in the top 10 or 20 girls in the country for XC.
Raptured wrote:
In all fairness, I think Mary had a pretty bad race tactically. She closed the majority of Baxter's lead over the last few hundred meters, ie she had too much left in the tank. If she had worked harder over the 4th K, she may have been able to outkick Sarah for the win at the end.
Yep...and you can see in her post race interview that she knows it. If you look at Sarah at the finish...she had used it all up and Mary Cain was closing in, but that's why Sarah's the winner... because she ran it perfectly.
BAXTER FELL AT THE START, GOT BACK UP AND STILL WON BY 3 SECONDS.
BAXTER OVER CAIN ANY DAY!!!
whaa wrote:
Seriously? Baxter won. Cain was second. Both ran great races. And neither were really that far ahead of the rest of the field.
And for all the people making excuses for Cain, I'd like to give Baxter some credit for sticking with her public high school team and running hard for her team all year, as opposed to racing minimally and selectively while paying tons of $$$$ to be coached by Alberto Salazar. And she still won.
Excellent point. I have seen Baxter out training with her teammates many times. She is a team player and the program has grown because of her unselfish attitude. As far as winning, sometimes people only run fast enough to get to the finish first. You can really be moving, catch someone, only to watch them kick it into another gear themselves.Happens all the time and it sucks when it happens to you. You think you are going to blow by someone, you do and then you realize they were only going to kick it up a notch if you made them. Maybe if Cain caught Baxter you would have seen Baxter show off her own kick. So all this speculation is pure bs. Today Baxter is faster and the better runner. period. Nice to see girls getting back to good running like they were in the late 60's early 70's.
ROFL. Cain fans are butthurt. Cali girls best runners woot woot!
Angry, Off-Topic and Plastered wrote:
In a few years, Baxter won't be running and those following Mary Cain's stellar career will be like, "Sarah who?" But today is the lesser runner's moment so taking something away from her would be wrong.
Correct! You are angry, plastered and off-topic. Cain came to this race to win, to beat the defending champion. She didn't get it done, just as I predicted on another thread (in detail I might add). Taking anything away from Baxter today would be wrong because today, she was the better runner. Forecasting who we will be talking about in a few years is about as useful as saving your spittle in a plastic cup.
NOBODY who has watched these two runners put Cain over Baxter, but, and I never thought I'd say this, run this 5K over solid XC terrain and Cain wins easily. Incredible.
Look for Baxter 9:49 to 9:50 this spring, Cain sub 9:40.
It is entirely possible Cain might be a better "normal" course xc runner.
It is entirely possible Cain is superior on the track.
But what we do know for certain is today Baxter mentally broke Cain and the field in the 2nd half of this race. Period.
This was not a "tactical" mistake on Cain's part: when the race was on the line Baxter made the decisive move and no one was remotely close to hanging on to her, including Cain. Indeed it appeared Knight hung on to Cain initially better the Cain hung on to Baxter's move.
Baxter's mental focus and race execution was incredible.
I was also amazed how smooth she looked from the hips down. She has a bit of an over-pronounced shoulder lean, but really she looked mechanically superior to Cain in the mud.
Baxter might ultimately turn into a 10K/marathon type runner. But what I do know is that athletes with her type of mental strength are worth their weight in gold to a coach/program and are inspiring to watch as a fan.
To say that Cain would have won on a "regular" xc course is absolutely absurd. Sure the course was muddy, but it was by no means a great fit for Sarah Baxter. The course is pancake flat except those tiny man-made moguls and hay stacks. As displayed by her performance at Mount Sac, Sarah is an incredible hill runner and has never excelled on flat courses. Footlocker's Balboa Park is much more suited to Baxter's strengths with that huge hill.
As debated on numerous other threads, NY courses are much more similar to NXN than California courses. Pretty much all XC courses in Southern Cal are on hard packed dirt roads or concrete. It is for this reason that kids can't wear spikes in California.
If anyone was better suited for this course it was Cain. The people trying to undermine Baxter's victory are pathetic. Just because your girl lost doesn't mean you should try and deny reality.
Wrong. Sarah is a light, rhythmic "floater", perfect for mud while Cain is a dynamic "pusher" (from the hips down) which is great for track and firm ground, but suffer in the mud. Plus anyone with the quality 800/1500 times that Cain has run will struggle against a lithe slowtwicher like Baxter in the mud. I've run that course when it's like that, and there is NO push off whatsoever. Track runners hate it with a passion. A firm course with hills like Mt SAC or even VCP would have been much more fair a test.Not taking away from Baxter, she is one of the best XC runners ever. Just shocked by Cain's performance (plus Knight and Efraimson were legit as well)
umm what? wrote:
To say that Cain would have won on a "regular" xc course is absolutely absurd. Sure the course was muddy, but it was by no means a great fit for Sarah Baxter. The course is pancake flat except those tiny man-made moguls and hay stacks. As displayed by her performance at Mount Sac, Sarah is an incredible hill runner and has never excelled on flat courses. Footlocker's Balboa Park is much more suited to Baxter's strengths with that huge hill.
As debated on numerous other threads, NY courses are much more similar to NXN than California courses. Pretty much all XC courses in Southern Cal are on hard packed dirt roads or concrete. It is for this reason that kids can't wear spikes in California.
If anyone was better suited for this course it was Cain. The people trying to undermine Baxter's victory are pathetic. Just because your girl lost doesn't mean you should try and deny reality.
Who cares! Both young ladies are extremely talented.
Baxter most likely would beat Cain 9 out of 10 times at anything over 3000m and Cain would do the same anything shorter then 3000m! One is a speed runner 800m/1500m type and the other a strength type 3000m/5000m but both have a great future.
Cain had to run through the entire field as she was tripped up at the start:
http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=13&do=videos&video_id=77526
No boring interviews w/ Mary! She's engaging, funny, animated, articulate, gracious, and charmingly quirky! A lot of presence for a junior in H.S.
While both ladies are extremely talented I am more impressed with Mary Cain's performance today then Sarah Baxter. I figured Baxter was untouchable at the 5k cross distance but after today I am rethinking this. VIPAM Cain would crush Baxter in a 3K 9 out of 10 times. I think 4k is about where Baxter has her first shot of defeating Cain.
For Cain to be tripped up and have to make her way up front from next to dead last makes it even more incredible. What is Baxter's PR in the 3200? I honestly don't think she's fast enough to go any faster than Aisling Cuffe did 2 years ago. 9:55 tops.
If Cain runs a good 3200 I see her threatening 9:40.
^^ anyone who thinks Cain can break 9:40 in the 3200 is an idiot. She ain't that good folks. If she was she should at least be able to win high school XC nationals.
5K in a mudbath and 3200 on the track are two different sports. 4:11 is equivalent to 9:33 for 3200, and Cain is getting stronger by the day. Even if she was only 9:5x when she ran 4:11, she is almost certainly good for mid 9:40's right now. By spring...hold onto your hat. She will possibly be under 9:00 for 3K indoors in collegiate competition.
Baxter ran the smartest race she could have possibly run. She also beat Mary Cain for possibly the last time.
She seems like a quirky, pleasant girl, but honestly, I can't stop staring at those eyebrows. I hope someone gently pulls her aside at some point and introduces her to tweezers or waxing.
Simple Runner wrote:
No boring interviews w/ Mary! She's engaging, funny, animated, articulate, gracious, and charmingly quirky! A lot of presence for a junior in H.S.