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Mary Cain becomes youngest to ever make the U.S. national track team

Prep Rally

Mary Cain keeps setting records, even when the 17-year-old is not racing against fellow teenagers.

Mary Cain, at right, finished second in the U.S. 1,500 meters — Associated Press
Mary Cain, at right, finished second in the U.S. 1,500 meters — Associated Press

As noted by the Chicago Tribune and a handful of other sources, Cain became the youngest athlete in American history to qualify for a U.S. World Championships squad. The Bronxville native earned the honor by placing second in the 1,500 meter final at the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship, which was held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

“I’m just so exhausted,” Cain told the Tribune. “I get to wear the Team USA uniform again. It’s an awesome uniform. It’s what we’ve been talking about. I just really wanted to get a uniform. It will be so exciting.”

For Cain, the berth on the senior national team was just the latest honor or record in a season chock full of them. In the past eight months, Cain has set new national prep marks for the 800, 1,500 and 5,000 meter distances. She set both the new 800 meter and 5,000 meter records in a span of seven days alone. Her record in the 1,500 meters came on the same Iowa track on which she qualified for the national team.

Keep in mind, these records are only her outdoor season accomplishments. She turned just as many heads during indoor season with a full-on cavalcade of new national marks.

Now, Cain will have a chance to line up against the world’s best in the 1,500 in Russia in August. She’ll do so as the face of the future of American running, all at the tender age of 17.

No pressure, Mary, not that she would feel it anyway. She’s been running right through all those barriers all year already.

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