Mary Cain, Abbey D, Marielle Hall, Jordan Hasay And Buze Diriba To Race Women’s 2-Mile At Armory On January 31; Galen Rupp And Cam Levins In Men’s Race
Cain, Rupp Target 2-Mile Races at Armory Track Invitational
World, National Marks Could Fall at Armory’s New Balance Track & Field Center
Galen Rupp and Mary Cain coming to Armory Invitational.
(Discuss this article in our forum: Mary Cain, Abbey D, Marielle Hall, Jordan Hasay, and Buze Diriba to Race 2-Mile At Armory on January 31; Galen Rupp also)
Press Release
NEW YORK, January 7, 2015 – In less than a month two of the country’s premier Track & Field athletes will perform in the Armory Track Invitational at The Armory’s New Balance Track & Field Center.
Mary Cain, the 18-year-old Bronxville native who turned professional last year and is a member of Alberto Salazar’s Nike Oregon Project, will focus on a World Junior indoor record in the Women’s 2-Mile on Saturday, January 31 at The Armory. In 2013, Cain rewrote the record books running an American Junior Record in the 3k of 9:04.51 en route to her World Junior 2-mile Record of 9:38.68.
Challenging Cain in the 2-Mile will be a Who’s Who list of International and National runners, including 7-time NCAA Champion Abbey D’Agostino, 2014 NCAA 5k champion and New Jersey native Marielle Hall, Nike Oregon Project teammate and two-time NCAA champion Jordan Hasay and 2012 World Junior Champion in the 5000m Buze Diriba from Ethiopia.
“It will be great to come back to The Armory after winning the Wanamaker Mile there,” said Cain, who last year captured the NYRR Millrose Games’ Wanamaker Mile (4:27.73) as a high school senior. “I want to make another great race at ATI.”
Nike Oregon Project Star Galen Rupp, the country’s premier distance runner and 2012 London Olympic silver medalist, will be favored to capture the men’s 2-Mile. In 2014 Rupp established an American Indoor record in the 2-Mile when he finished in 8:07.41 in Boston, coming within 3.34 seconds of a World record.
The 28-year-old Rupp also owns American Indoor bests in the 3k (7:30.16) and 5k (13:01.26). Joining Rupp in the Men’s 2-Mile will be Japanese Record Holder Suguru Okao and Canadian Record Holder, former NCAA Champion and 2012 London Olympian Cam Levins.
“I’ve been looking forward to racing at The Armory track again since my last race there in high school and looking for a great 2-mile race there on the fast track,’’ said Rupp.
Added Salazar: “I am really looking forward to having my athletes from Nike Oregon Project compete at The Armory. I am hoping for great results there.”
The Armory Track Invitational is a new event featuring some of the country’s finest professional, collegiate and high school athletes and replaces the former Collegiate Invitational.
Along with Cain and Rupp at The Armory will be world silver medalist (1500m) Matthew Centrowitz on a leg of the international distance medley, Brigetta Barrett and Chauntee Lowe in the high jump, Will Claye in the triple jump and a much-anticipated Distance Medley Relay with teams from USA, Kenya,Ireland, New Jersey-New York TC and college programs from Villanova, Columbia, Wisconsin, and Mississippi.
More than 40 collegiate teams and hundreds of high school competitors will compete on Friday (January 30) and Saturday (January 31), culminating in Saturday’s two-hour TV window 4:30-6:30pm. Tickets for the event can be purchased online at tickets.armorytrack.com
Colleges participating will be: Albany, Arizona, Army, Brigham Young, Bethune-Cookman, Cal State Northridge, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Claflin, Clemson, Columbia, Coppin State, Delaware, Duke, Hampton, Lehigh, Loyola (Md.), Maryland, McGill, Millersville, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Monroe, North Carolina AT&T, Ottawa, Penn, Princeton, Ramapo, Rutgers, San Diego State, San Jose State, Savannah State, Sherbrooke, South Carolina, St. Thomas Aquinas, Syracuse, Tiffin, University of the District of Columbia, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, University of Texas at San Antonio, Wisconsin.
About The Armory Foundation
The Armory is a New York City non-profit institution, with the mission of “Keeping Kids on Track.” Each season the Armory — the proud home of the NYRR Millrose Games — hosts more than 100 track & field meets and welcomes more than 125,000 athlete visits. Besides its many youth sports and educational programs, The Armory runs the Armory Track Invitational, EmblemHealth Hispanic Games, the New Balance Games, and the New Balance Nationals Indoors. The Armory is also the home to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame. For more: Please visit ArmoryTrack.com.
(Discuss this article in our forum: Mary Cain, Abbey D, Marielle Hall, Jordan Hasay, and Buze Diriba to Race 2-Mile At Armory on January 31; Galen Rupp also)