Jan 27, 2013

Manhattan NY - It was no doubt the most action the Armory has seen all year. State, US, and World leading marks were being set almost every hour, and records were falling four at a time. We were on site all day, and have some of the top stories to tell.

Medger Ever's Storms Back

There was some worry when senior Kadecia Baird went down with a supposed hamstring injury earlier in the season. But the injury, under proper rehab from her knowledgeable coach, has all but dissappeared. Choosing the 4x200m relay to make her return, Baird, alongside stellar relay legs in their own right, flew to a US #1 1:38.90. Why is that so important? Only Medger Ever's themselves have run faster than that in the past five years, and mostly during the post-season. If this is a sign of things to come, then the state record they hold could be toppled.

Benjamin Cardozo's On Fire This Season

Coach Ray James must know some secrets to succes down in the city, because his team now holds four US Leading Marks, and numerous more top ten marks in the country. Their latest assualt came on the National Record in the SMR, falling short by just over a second. Two of thier legs, Deejah Stevens and Sabrina Southerland, are still dealing with flu-like symptons, preventing them from running at full strength. But not one to bow down to excuses Southerland still split a 2:06.06 in her 800m leg, the fastest this year. Their mark now stands as US #3 All-Time. The NY State record is US #2 All-Time.

Garden City Back On Top

Last year, Garden City impressed the state with their longer relays indoors and outdoors. Their 4x400m and 4x800m relays were US #2 indoors for 2012. At the New Balance Games, they proved they weren't going to relinquish that distinction. As anchor Emma Gallagher came across the line, she looked up to see a 9:10.10 mark on the board, National Leading by 6 seconds. That puts them right in the mix for a state and national title.

There's Just Something About Mary

Entire Race Replay

The rest of the country knew that something great might just happen yesterday. Mary Cain, the junior standout, would be amidst a field of professionals, in her search to break the National Record in the mile, the oldest standing mark in the record book. The Armory knew what was coming, setting up FAT cameras at the 1500m mark, just in case the pace helped break a mark en route. But for the junior Mary Cain, something else was on her mind when she woke up yesterday morning. The junior had to take her SAT's that morning, and as a very adept student, Cain was committed to doing well. However, with those over at 1 o'clock, the next focus was making the race!

Arriving on time, with plenty to spare, the junior casually walked in, warmed up, and toed the line. Donning an all-black jersey, and a pink bow in her hair, the gun went off, and Cain took out. Somethings had changed, like her body mechanics vastly improving since last she visited the Armory, but some things were quite the same. Cain stayed to the back of the pack for a majority of the race, and used her impressive kick to vault to the front in the closing laps. At the 1500m mark, she had indeed broken her own National Record, going 4:16.11. But the race wasn't over. Cain pressed on, closing the last 100m in 15.4 seconds to shatter the national record. Her time broke the indoor national record by six seconds, as well as the outdoor national record by two seconds, setting her new standard at 4:32.78. Cain came in second, with the race being won by Sarah Bowman. The kicker (no pun intended)? Cain broke Sarah Bowman's outdoor high school record (she was previously US #4 All-Time) by four seconds.

Not The Only Miler On The Block

The Millrose Fields were finalized on Saturday afternoon. For the boys, Ed Cheserek made it a condition of his participation that his auto-qualifying spot be defered down should he win the race. With that out of the way, Cheserek blasted to a US #1 4:10.94. For New York fans, he pulled Briarcliff's Stephen Shine to a huge PR in 4:17.29, giving him an At-Large spot in Millrose.

For the girls, Kristiane Width of UNIS didn't let the pace go from her race like she did at Millrose. The tall blonde of Swedish and Finnish decent was hovering at the front of the pack as they entered the final laps, then kicked away to secure her spot at Millrose. State XC Champ Megan Young (Nanuet) also ran well enough to grab a qualifying spot by At-Large. Another At-Large bid came to Bella Burda (Arlington), and she proved why with her 4:54 anchor leg over 1600m in her team's DMR.

New York Not The Only Story

A Tale of Two Cities, Two Races. As Mary Cain was on the track chasing her record, teammate Galen Rupp was doing the same up in Boston. Check out the impressive photo journal by MileSplit Mass of the race right here. We're heading up to Boston next weekend, to watch Rupp take another stab at it, as well as Cain's attempt at the 2-mile record. Check back for a full preview later in the week.