Mary Cain and college?

A better question is- what will she run when she turns into a woman? I'm surprised no one is talking about this. High school female phenoms are a dime a dozen. At least Ajee Wilson is proving she can run fast as a woman.

Multiple personality disorders are way worse than bi-Polar, I'm just sayin'.

Not bi-Polar wrote:

It will be hard for Mary Cain not to make an excellent choice. Her personality will be revealed. She may want to stay close to home and attend Princeton which is a favorite of Bronxville preps. Running and studying in the world's 24/7 fishbowl at UCLA is unnerving, unreal, and a total rush. The atmosphere and academic tradition of Penn, Harvard, Michigan, Stanford, Colorado, and Duke would be an awful disppointment if refused. The contradictory, chaotic, coexistence of antithetical thought in violation of every law known to mankind is why many choose UC Berkeley.

girl vs woman wrote:

A better question is- what will she run when she turns into a woman? I'm surprised no one is talking about this. High school female phenoms are a dime a dozen. At least Ajee Wilson is proving she can run fast as a woman.

Mary Cain is destroying 30+ year old HS records... "dime a dozen" phenoms don't do that. Even if she does nothing from here on...her track times show she's a once in a generation talent.

One name: Melody Fairchild.

the exception doesn't prove a rule. nice try though.

1.Goes pro right out of hs, way more money will be thrown out.

2.Goes to University of Portland which is local the Al sals group

3. Attend practice and stay close to coach at the Nike Campus

In response to the Ajee Wilson comparison upthread: I doubt Ajee's decision was purely financially motivated as suggested. I believe both her mother and father are doctors--not that Bronxville folks might not be richer, but it's not like her family was hurting or anything. Secondly, Ajee's pro contract includes college costs, and she plans to attend Temple next year. So she is bypassing college competition, but not the education.

As for the Stanford suggestion for Cain, it might make sense under the new regime. But the school doesn't have a great track record with lesser prodigies. Consider Chetalat, Dunne, Sveinsson...

I am familiar with that NE upper middle class mentality and like some other posters have said, Cain's first priority will be an education. It makes sense considering how short an athlete's career can be and that is if a career even materializes. If Cain doesn't go to an Ivy, it will probably be a Nova, Duke or GT at the least.

nordicmama wrote:

In response to the Ajee Wilson comparison upthread: I doubt Ajee's decision was purely financially motivated as suggested. I believe both her mother and father are doctors--not that Bronxville folks might not be richer, but it's not like her family was hurting or anything. Secondly, Ajee's pro contract includes college costs, and she plans to attend Temple next year. So she is bypassing college competition, but not the education.

As for the Stanford suggestion for Cain, it might make sense under the new regime. But the school doesn't have a great track record with lesser prodigies. Consider Chetalat, Dunne, Sveinsson...

where have you read that AW's parents are doctors? neptune is a pretty awful town so i find it very hard to believe that 2 doctors would choose to live there.

comparing MC's situation to AW's situation is pretty silly. education clearly is not a priority for AW -- she signed with FSU, is taking community college classes now and is going to attend temple this year while pursuing a degree in kinesiology. that's not exactly the track record of someone very considered with an education. there's zero chance that MC is going to be kicking the tires of FSU, westchester community college and temple.

If this was the case, why would they have shipped her off from her high-end high school to go train in Oregon?

Her and her parents probably had a long discussion about her future and what she wants to do, and clearly they supported her in her decision to pursue her running with Salazar. Come time to make a college decision, she will reflect on how she likes living out there and training with him. If she is happy, she will probably go University of Nike or go pro. If she wants to follow other roads in life she will probably go to a top tier college... like Princeton or Stanford.

She's young and has time to figure it out.

A Goosette name Silvia wrote:

If this was the case, why would they have shipped her off from her high-end high school to go train in Oregon?

Her and her parents probably had a long discussion about her future and what she wants to do, and clearly they supported her in her decision to pursue her running with Salazar. Come time to make a college decision, she will reflect on how she likes living out there and training with him. If she is happy, she will probably go University of Nike or go pro. If she wants to follow other roads in life she will probably go to a top tier college... like Princeton or Stanford.

She's young and has time to figure it out.

except she is not training in oregon.

Galen Rupp route all the way. Go to Oregon, compete for the ducks. Dominate college and compete in elite meets as well. Continue to be coached by Salazar. Then transition into the pro group. She needs to go to college and live with college girls and get her party on. It's good for the soul.

Al Sal is coaching Cain by Skype until she graduates from Bronxville. Cain will be coached by the Princeton T&F staff while in school. Hope this helps.

Even though this is still (barely) on the first page of the LRC message board

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB-UMP!!!!!

With This Article:

http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/jordan-hasay-mary-cain-go-college

Interesting that Hasay is saying Cain should go to college to learn how to race, yet, it looks as if Salazar is getting her to learn that aspect as soon as he started coaching her.

She should go the route of the other high phenom females that skipped NCAA running. 12 NCAA titles won't mean a thing if she is 4:00 and 14:45 for 5000 6-10 years from now.

She is a project and the worlds best runners don't spend 4 years at age 18-22 getting adulation dominating American college runners and doubling and tripling at NCAA meets.

She should be running 14:30 in 4 years and breaking 4:00 which would put her in on a gradual long range plan like Galen Rupp has been on to be in the mix with the world's best when she is 26.

When she graduates she should spend the next 6 years foucusing on that and if Nike could give Webb a 250 grand contract they could cover her college tuition and 50 grand a year and pay for her other training and living expenses easily well under that investment.

Look at all the phenom females in this country that went the normal route. Fairchild, Stamps, Lambie, Hasay( a work in progress I know),Favor. And then you have Mary Decker, Kim Gallagher, Lynn Jennings. Cathy O' Brian, The only Foootlocker female Olympian. You won't find their names prominently in the NCAA record books like you find Joe Falcon, Gerry Lindgren, Suzy Favor, or Amy Skierez.

Dartmouth, BC, Princeton, Villanova, Georgetown, Duke, or Stanford. She will go to one of these schools. (In no order, just north to south). She will not go to Oregon. Too much importance on education as well as staying close to home. With these schools, she can choose whether to run and then if she finds its not a good fit, can easily quit the school's team.

A good agent would negotiate the following in her contract. Nike will pay Mary Cain's tuition for a 4 year undergrade college up to 500K. In addition Nike will pay Mary Cain a salary of 100K per year while she is in school.

quick draw mcgraw wrote:

comparing MC's situation to AW's situation is pretty silly....

No it's not. Ajee grew into a woman, got faster, and signed pro. Mary Cain hasn't grown into a woman yet, so all this talk about going pro vs. not going pro is a big question mark, regardless of either's interest in going to college.

Mary didn't get faster? Pretty sure 9:38 and 4:32 indoors speak more volumes than a 2:05...