Yes up here in good ol Ak. The state championships were held recently and the times in the boys 800,1600,and 3200 championship races are definitely inferior to the ones Mary Cain has run. I wonder what other states she could beat the boys in?
Thoughts?
Hard to compare with championship races. What are the top ten times from the season?
Look at my old college Div III conference MIAC. The 1500 was won in 4:09 but it was cold and windy. Less than a week later several of the guys ran 3:49-3:53 in a qualifier race.
There's over 40 hs boys under 4:04 this season which looks about right -
http://www.milesplit.com/rankings/2013/outdoor/hs/m/1500m
. So for what it's worth, there are several states where Cain would be at the top. Impressive indeed!
She'd do great against AK in boys in equivalent circumstances but not in the conditions they faced at the state meet.
Winning times were not fast for 3200, 1600, 800 (9:27, 4:25, 2:00). However, the weather was bad with temps in low to mid 30s (at best--even colder for some events) and a 10-15 m wind. Snowing for half the meet. Has there ever been a colder state meet anywhere, any time? MT, WY, ND?
Let her live and train up here over the 230 day winter and race without faster pros to follow, then let's compare.
Don't mistake the ability of a girl to run a certain time in a paced race with the ability to win a race against boys.
I expect most decent boys HS runners would simply sit and outkick her in the end even if they haven't run the times she has.
She's faster than I was as a Soph over 1500m. You?
...and as a Junior.
Jghjghjg wrote:
She's faster than I was as a Soph over 1500m. You?
Can she run her last 200 in
Running on Empathy wrote:
Don't mistake the ability of a girl to run a certain time in a paced race with the ability to win a race against boys.
I expect most decent boys HS runners would simply sit and outkick her in the end even if they haven't run the times she has.
Given her closing speed, what makes you think they could outkick her?
"Has there ever been a colder state meet anywhere, any time? MT, WY, ND?"
I don't know the answer... but I'm in Anchorage, read coverage of the meet in the ADN over the weekend, and definitely had the same thought. Then I went out "skiing" in 6" of heavy new snow at Powerline.
bansidh wrote:
Running on Empathy wrote:Don't mistake the ability of a girl to run a certain time in a paced race with the ability to win a race against boys.
I expect most decent boys HS runners would simply sit and outkick her in the end even if they haven't run the times she has.
Given her closing speed, what makes you think they could outkick her?
And just what is her closing speed? 27.xx? 55.xx?
The problem some of you have is this static approach to compare Mary Cain's impressive times with the times of decent boy runners from podunk states. Most of us ran to the level of our competition - in my state a 4:20 1600 would win state even in the largest divisions.
But in a head to head matchup, I'll take Billy Bob Twobums from Chickenscratch, Wyoming with his measly 4:32 1600 (but with 24.xx and 52.xx leg speed) over Mary Cain any day.
The last 400 in the AK 1600 state meet is almost always around 60, sometimes better.
She would have won the 1500m and 3K would have been close in HI for the boys. She ran about the same in the 1500m as the fastest time in the state.
Pretty sure it was snowing at Montana's state meet last year (or was it the year before?) though I don't know what temperature it was...
quagmire wrote:
She would have won the 1500m and 3K would have been close in HI for the boys. She ran about the same in the 1500m as the fastest time in the state.
No she wouldn't. Comparative times do not translate into who would be who head to head.
If I were a betting man in a Mary Cain vs boys in the same race, I would still put my money on the boys. 4.04,while fast, is not a sacred time for boys.
Yep it was snowing pretty hard, mid to low 30's, 20 mph winds 5000 ft elevation and there were still 3 sub 50's, 3 sub 1:56's, a 4:17,a 4:22 and a 9:20 run at the meet...oh and a 2:08 on the girls side,
watchout wrote:
Pretty sure it was snowing at Montana's state meet last year (or was it the year before?) though I don't know what temperature it was...
Denmark
Sure she may be able to beat a few high school boys on the track but I guaran-damn-tee you she probably still throws like a girl!
None of these guys are running at Occidental under the lights and being paced by pro runners.