The Blurred Lines of Prep and Pro: Millrose Miles Look Stacked

The Armory, NYC - Despite the snow, it is almost time for the 107th annual Millrose Games.  Both Prep and Pro will face off against some of the stiffest competition this winter, outside of the National Championships for each respective level.  And even those lines can be blurred, with Mary Cain, now a HS-aged pro herself, and prep Alexa Efraimson both entering the storied Millrose Pro Mile.  Regardless, the high school miles still reign supreme for fans of pure prep competition, as both fields look to bring bold performances.  We've broken down the two races for you below, plus the bonus race included for you as well.  Stay tuned to MileSplit NY for all the updates on the meet, and be sure to tune in to NBC Sports Network the day of the event for live video coverage (Support track on TV!)

 

New Balance High School Girls Mile

Name School State Qualifying Time Personal Record
Caroline Alcorta West Springfield VA 4:49.71 Same
Kennedy Weisner Elk County Catholic PA 4:55.37 4:48.69
Kylene Cochrane West Morris Central NJ 4:56.67 4:51.24
Marin Warner Holmdel NJ 4:56.80 Same
Marissa Sheva Pennridge PA 4:56.81 4:54.90
Mady Clahane Cumberland Valley PA 4:57.62 Same
Bella Burda Arlington NY 4:58.46 4:54.73
Laura Leff West Genesee NY 4:59.22 4:54.71
Tessa Barrett Abington Heights PA 4:59.53 4:55.63
Denise Branch Cardozo NY 5:01.54 Same
Kelly Hayes Pearl River NY 5:02.44 4:59.02
Lauren Chapey Mamaroneck NY 5:02.92 Same
Paige Duca Sacred Heart NY 5:03.08 Same

Breakdown:  It would seem that the out-of-state talent have a stranglehold on the mile this year, as the top six seeds all hail from outside our state borders.  Caroline Alcorta of VA has been running well, and often, after her third place finish at the Foot Locker Finals.  She has put in two marks well under the 5min barrier this season alone, culminating with the 4:49.71 that garnered her the invite.  However, her biggest competition may just have taken the opposite approach.  Kennedy Weisner of PA, shut her XC season down early to nurse a lingering injury, and has been slowly coming back to race dominance over the past few months.  Besides her efforts at Millrose Trials, she only has one more race to her name this season, where she dropped a 2:12 over 800m.  Kennedy has the experience in a race of this magnitude, competing at Millrose in 2013.  Weisner comes in with the best PR of the bunch, albeit over 1600m, which could prove deadly if she has returned to that kind of shape.  Weisner leads a quartet of qualifiers from the Keystone State, which saw a sweep at the trials.  However, separating Weisner from her fellow PA'ers in the seeds are two from Jersey, who rank US #6 and #7.  Kylene Cochrane and Marin Warner have both raced well at the Armory before, and could very well push the pace.  As for NY, Bella Burda has been returning to strength, soloing efforts at her county and sectional meets, while Laura Leff is US #8 in the 1500m.  Both have raced Millrose before, and could use that experience to their advantage.  Lastly, the hometown favorite, Denise Branch, has been running impressively all season long in championship races, putting down big times when it matters.  With the crowd in her favor, will she be one to push the pace?

Interesting Reads:

 

New Balance Boys High School Mile, honoring Larry Byrne

Name School State Qualifying Time Personal Record
Tony Russell West Chester Henderson PA 4:11.56 Same
Luke Gavigan Tappan Zee NY 4:15.68 Same
Sean Kelly Chaminade NY 4:16.10 4:09.56
Mikey Brannigan Northport NY 4:17.04 Same
Tim McGowan Northport NY 4:18.04 4:16.04
Louis Colson Thomas Edison VA 4:18.49 4:14.26
Matt Nowak Deep Run VA 4:18.86 4:15.62
Steven Booker Bethlehem NY 4:19.06 4:15.67
James Burke Port Jefferson NY 4:19.28 4:13.72
Johnny Flannery Bronxville NY 4:20.15 4:17.25
Nick Causey Osbourn Park VA 4:20.41 4:14.46
Marco Pompilj Collegiate NY 4:20.63 4:17.61
Liam Purdy North Rockland NY 4:23.48 4:21.90

Breakdown: Expect a thrilling race here, as the top four individuals all typically have completely different race strategies.  Tony Russell takes the steady tactic, taking the race lead early on, and steadily dropping even splits around the track.  The tactic won him the New Balance Grand Prix Mile in a personal best time, and national leading performance.  Expect more of the same here.  Luke Gavigan, who broke out at the Millrose Trials, utilized a different approach, where he sat and kicked on an unsuspecting crowd, dropping a 12sec last 100m to win the trials.  If he is in contention with a lap or less to go, he could pull away from a packed crowd.  Then there is Sean Kelly of Chaminade, who surges and flows with the race.  He comes in with the fastest PR, going with Nick Ryan and Eric Holt at the state meet last spring.  His 1:50, 800m speed helps him in the mile, as he can test out the merits of the competition by taking the pace for 100m at a time.  And finally, there is Mikey Brannigan, whose races strategy from XC could only be classified as fearless.  With a mile to go at NXN Regionals, Brannigan took off without any regard to the lactic acid buildup typical of a fast XC race.  Should the race play out like that, there is no telling what the junior from Northport is capable of.  And finally, the dark horse pick, Liam Purdy, of North Rockland.  While he comes in with clearly the slowest seed, he may prove that means nothing on the starting line.  Invited after he dropped a 2:28 soloing a 1000m race, Purdy has been kicking with incredible speed in all his races this season.  It seems as if all his mile efforts have been solo this year, and it will be interesting to see him pull away with the pack.

Interesting Reads:

 

Bonus HS Mile Coverage - Women 1 Mile Run Elite

Event 37  Women 1 Mile Run Elite
===============================================================================
Saturday 2/15/2014 - 3:00 PM
     Name                        Year School                                
===============================================================================
  1  Mary Cain                        Nike Oregon P               4:24.11 - World Leader 
  2  Amanda Winslow                   Oiselle/NJ-NY               4:26.28 - World #3
  3  Nicole Sifuentes                 Saucony                     4:29.40   
  4  Sarah Brown                      New Balance                 4:29.62
  5  Emma Coburn                      New Balance                 4:29.86
  6  Treniere Moser                   Nike Oregon P               4:29.93 
  7  Alexa Efraimson                  unattached                  ?????? - 9:00.16 HS Natl' Record (3000m)
  8  Gabe Grunewald                   Brooks Beasts               4:21.3 (Road Race)
  9  Heather Kampf                    Asics                       4:30.14
 10  Morgan Uceny                     Adidas                      4:30.57
 11  Katie Mackey                     Brooks Beasts               4:28.1 (Road Race)
 12  Cory McGee                       Florida                     4:32.10
 13  Emily Lipari                     Villanova Un                4:39.93

Breakdown:  There are a couple of things about this race, that if you told us last year, we probably wouldn't have believed you.  First, Mary Cain is the top seed, and the World Leader in the event.  Secondly, Alexa Efraimson, just one year later, is coming off a broken Mary Cain record, and is the big unknown factor in the race.  With the two high schoolers butting heads, it may be easy to forget about, you know, the professionals in this race, one of which Cain is as well.  Amanda Winslow seems to be Cain's biggest challenger, defeating Efraimson in the race that took down the HS National record.   Not to be forgotten is Cain's training partner Treniere Moser, who jumped to US #8 All-Time last weekend.  There are a littany of competitors in here who could also steal the win, but we wouldn't be surprised if Mary Cain moved up from her 2nd place finish in 2013, and if Alexa Efraimson joined her on the podium.

Interesting Reads:

Flotrack Womens' Mile Preview

Runner's World Cain vs. Efraimson Preview

Flotrack Mens' Wannamaker Mile Preview

 

High School Wrapup

Girls 55m

A race that includes NY #2-5, and a other well rounded racers from neighboring states?  Count us in.

Boys 55m

Who says sprinters can't come from the Northeast?  Trentam Beram and Darryl Harraway share the top seeds at 6.40.

Boys 4x200m Wrapup

US #2 Chetlehem are entered in the race, chasing after Union Catholics mark of 1:28.02

Girls 4x200m Wrapup

New Rochelle may be the national leaders, but Cheltenham went 1:38 before getting DQ'd.  Sure to not make the same mistake, this race will be fast.

Boys 4x400m Wraup

All the usual suspects are present and accounted for from NY, with Boys and Girls the top seed at 3:20

Girls 4x400m Wrapup

Despite also in in the 4x200m, Columbia NJ will look to lower their national lead on the event.

Boys 4x800m Wrap

With the top seeded Chaminade hit by the fact that Millrose Milers can't double, this race may get more even, and more interesting.

Girls 4x800m Wrapup

With Cardozo losing Branch to the mile, Bronxville and Warwick look to battle for the win.