I will try to not make this into a Mary Cain vs Katelyn Tuohy Showdown!
But it would be wise to compare them--
OUTdoors, Cain is better in the 800, 1500, and 3000!
Tuohy's 4:33.87 Mile leads Cain!
Cain has an OUTdoor 5000 time, while Tuohy hasn't run one OUTdoors!
INdoors, Cain has better times in the 800, 1000, 1500, Mile, 3000, and the 2 Mile.
Cain never ran a 5000 INdoors!
On balance, then, you'd be fair to say Cain's PR's are MUCH better than Tuohy's!!
If you go the "absolute" route, Tuohy's INdoor 5000 of 15:37.12 bests Cain's OUTdoor 15:45.46!
Cain's INdoor Mile (non-Pro) time is better than Tuohy's OUTdoor time!
(I won't compare "Honors won", or their XC records!)
But do the numbers tell the REAL tale?
And what about all those OTHER young Women (Girls??) who have practically rewritten the HS Record Book--INdoors and OUTdoors--over distances from 800 to 5000 meters?
The list is long (OUTdoors only in this post)!
Beginning with 2012, we have---
Ajee Wilson, Cain, Alexa Efraimson, Raevyn Rogers, Sammy Watson, and Caitlin Collier in the 800.
Cain, Efraimson, Kate Murphy, Christina Aragon, Katie Rainsberger, Ella Donaghu, Elise Cranny, Collier, and Tuohy in the 1500/Mile!
In the 3000/2 Mile (NOT 3200!!), we see Kelsey Chmiel, Annie Hill, Tuohy, Murphy, Rainsberger, Weini Kelati (although she was older than normal HS age!!), Bethan Knights, Hannah Debalsi, Anna Rohrer, Brie Oakley, Katelynn Hart, London Culbreath, Destiny Collins, and MORE!!
The 5000 OUTdoors has been less busy, but we still list Cain, Wesley & Ryen Frazier, Cayla Hatton, Rohrer, Erin Finn, Katie Knight, Audrey Belf, Fiona O'Keefe, and Grace Ping!
Only Hatton and Alana Hadley are on the 10K list from 2012 on!
Big numbers, eh??
But look closer!
Hatton & Hadley have disappeared!
The Frazier's have run hot & cold--mostly the latter!
Knight is nowhere near elite level, while others (Finn) have suffered several injuries!
Murphy's 4:07.21 over 1500 showed much promise--but she's been inactive the past year!!
Cain "promised" a return to racing this year--but as of today, has been silent & absent since she appeared in a video giving Tuohy the Gatorade award for whatever several months ago!!
Why?
Why do SOME of these youngsters disappear--or run much slower times--after their "heydays" as "elite" HS runners?
Listen to the "experts" (on the Let's Run and T&FN Message Boards), and you see a lot of comments about the changes girls go through!
(As if boys don't change!!)
Their hips grow wider, they grow breasts, they put on those "Frosh 15 pounds"!
Or they suffer from Bulimia or Anorexia, or eating disorders in general!
Their social lives interfere, or if you believe those IDIOTS on L-R, they become pregnant or are zonkers on drugs!
I can sense other answers.
With Cain, I'm sure her association with Alberto Salazar has been detrimental from the get-go!
She was doing GREAT--until AlSal entered her life!
She's dumped him, but might still be suffering from his insanity!!
Hatton might have left Stanford for many reasons--academic problems, disagreements with coaches!
Hadley went way too early to the life of a full-time marathoner!
She ran two good races, but since then, DNF'ed several times, and now might not be running at all!
Will Tuohy follow the same downhill path?
Let's look at their personalities a bit!
Cain, as we might remember, if we saw her many interviews, was a super bubbly, ever-giggling & smiling, enthusiastic advocate of fast racing, and just so---ebullient!!
Tuohy, on the other hand, seems more mature (at their similar ages).
She's more serious in her interviews, and speaks knowledgeably of body mechanics and race strategy!
While she DOES come across as a---15 year old--she seems to have the smarts of a 25 year old!
(Cain was a brilliant student, but we're talking about how they appear to observers during interviews!)
As for their racing, both were (or are) after fast times--even particular Records!
They weren't afraid to set hot paces, and keep them going with every confidence they wouldn't "die"!
Then Salazar entered Cain's life!
He put the leash on her--psychologically and verbally!
In that 5K (at the Portland Track Festival in 2013), he told her to just go for the USATF Q time--even though he told reporters she was in shape to run 20 seconds faster!!
He did the same for her INdoor Two Mile, and for other races!
(In her 4:04.62 HSR at the 2013 Oxy meet, she came from 6th or 7th in the last 150 meters to lose by a mere 0.02 seconds (to Katie Mackey).
Tuohy?
In her INdoor 5000, she wanted to break the HSR of 15:55.
So what does she do?
Her first 2000 was run at 15:20 pace!!
She slowed after that, but how many HS'ers go out that fast in their first-ever 5K race??
Fearless, and WANTING to SMASH the HSR!!
HER coach doesn't even OWN a leash!!
(Or she rejects its being put upon her!!)
The "majesty" of youth is their fearlessness!
They have NO idea what it's like to run slow!
From your "team filler" to your National Class "elites", these youngsters run as if there's no tomorrow!
They want to run fast--NOW!
They want that Class or State or HSR---TODAY!!
Sure, they know their limits!
A 5:00 Miler will seldom go out faster than 70 seconds for the 1st lap--and 65's are even rarer!
But Tuohy (and Cain BS--before Salazar) ran fast not only with full knowledge of their abilities, but with a confidence born and bred from success after success!
When Tuohy ran her first 440 in 67 at NBN, she KNEW she could run close to that for the next 3 laps!
Only the excessive heat (95 degrees!!) made her think a minute before going out at such a speed!
(Her "440's" were approximately 67, 69, 69, and 68!
She ran by herself--against the clock--as 2nd finished 16 seconds behind!
But while the majesty of youth is glorious and thrilling to behold, the "mystery" of such humans is---well, it's a mystery!!
We can read all the "knowing" comments from their elders on the MB's listed above, but in the end, do we REALLY know why some of these prodigies fail, while others continue on to Olympics and World Championships appearances--and even Podium finishes??
Can we blame it ALL on their coaches, or on their bodily changes?
EVERY girl goes through the same changes at certain times in their young lives!
It's called "puberty"!
While the "normal" age for puberty to begin is 13, for many, it happens much later--and at varying rates of speed!
Also, what these changes DO to these girls is also unpredictable as to time and to degree!
Some suffer greatly, while others seem to sail through the "storm"!!
Could it be their environment growing up--the examples set by their parents and peers?
Maybe.
But what about the poor "ghetto" girl who rises above the fray (& the violence & drugs) surrounding her--to become a star, a Record holder??
There are so many examples of these people throwing off the chains of their environment--to become who they choose to be, any "barriers" notwithstanding!!
Then there are those "nasties"---the expectations and pressures put upon them by "outsiders"
During Cain's best years (2013 and 2014), I was accused of being "obsessive" and "creepy" in my advocacy for MORE Records and FASTER times!
I could SEE the possibilities for both!
(I've been deeply involved in the sport for over 55 years!!)
Yes, I was maybe a BIT over the top in my enthusiasm for Cain's potential!
(And now, for Tuohy--for whom I see a LONG life of constant Record-smashing!!)
But I wasn't--or am not--alone!
Just check out the T&FN Message Board's 100's (Yes, I said 100's!!) of comments about Sydney McLaughlin and Mondo Duplantis--all about their limitless potential--and all the many Records they'll break, and all the Olympic & WC medals they'll win!!
Talk about "creepy" and "obsessive"!!
JEEZ!!
I've concentrated on the "youth" of America (Let's not touch on the World's youth!!), but the high degrees of successes found among the "veterans" is also startling in recent years!
Perhaps that began with Jenny Simpson's Gold at the 2011 Daegu WC's!
But since then, we've seen medals won, and high list-making marks from numerous "elders"!
Were they inspired, maybe, by the amazing times run by the Wilson's and Cain's of the US?
Were they remembering THEIR High School successes--or their HS struggles??
Maybe one feeds the other!
It's no secret that most of Cain's best times were run in "Pro" races--NOT in HS-only races!!
(Tuohy, meanwhile, has NOT run against the Profeshes---yet!)
Proving--maybe--that there are different paths one takes to success!
But where do these paths begin--and why?
Is Tuohy's confidence STRONG enough to face the Jenny Simpson's and Molly Huddle's and Shelby Houlihan's, to name a few?
Surely, her INdoor 5000 time of 15:37.12 could get her invites to races with Professionals and Collegiates--say, at Payton Jordan or Pre, or the INdoor meets at the Armory and at Boston's several venues!!
It's interesting the different paths Cain took, as opposed to what Tuohy is doing with her career!
Will SHE turn Pro before she's finished with HS??
Or have Cain's problems made her rethink any ideas of turning Pro early she might have had??
In her NBN interview, she said her season is over--that she'll rest, then gear up for XC!
Will Cain FINALLY open her 2018 season--or were her earlier words just bravado??
As they say in the racing game, only time will tell!
Meanwhile, we can only enjoy--and be amazed!--at the Records & Times these young Ladies keep producing!
And while observing, wonder who and what determines the Winners & Losers--the Dreamers of insane and unheard of "barriers" that THEY just don't see, or feel!
That's what makes these youngsters majestic--and mysterious!
And it's why I'm endlessly fascinated and excited by what they do!
See you soon!
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