skeller15 wrote:
I've read most of this thread but not all of it so forgive me if these things have been discussed.
1) Why didnt Mary Cain just continue to be coached by her high school coach? Bronxville has been strong in middle distance for a long time. Her coach got her down to 1:59 and 4:04 so he must know something.
2) I'm quite dumbfounded why it seemed Salazar wanted to make Mary Cain into a 1500/5000 runner. I don't think she was nearly as impressive in cross country as she was on the track.
3) I think her body started to change at a bad time. Whatever you want to call it - growth spurt, filling out, weight gain, etc. She probably wasn't given an adjustment period by Salazar. He probably worked with female athletes a little bit older who handled those issues earlier and were ready for more intense training. So I can understand, not justify, the frustrations Salazar had with Mary Cain not running as fast and not looking as fit as he expected.
4) I guess she should have gone to college where some of her changes could be related to the college experience. Then she could have joined one of the pro teams ready to take the next step.
Mary’s Bronxville coach, Jim Mitchell, is a Hall of Fame coach with a long list of extremely talented female alumni. He is generally loved by his athletes. Her parents were ignorant about distance running. There was a lot of bad advice from unofficial coach(es) and drama, and if you have not noticed, Mary is not a shy, humble girl. So in my view this was a perfect storm for believing she was the rare child who should turn pro and not just go to the school of her choice to run, study, enjoy life and mature with other young women. It seemed so predictable, not the abuse per se, but the likelihood that NOP would not be a fit for a kid like this. I feel bad that it turned out this way for her, but she loves the spotlight so this is probably a good next step for her.