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Cain earned the award after setting the American junior and senior high school 1,500-meter record at the USA Track and Field Oxy High Performance meet with a time of 4:04.62 on Saturday.
The Bronxville High School junior finished second in the event to winner Katie Mackey, who finished just two-hundredths of a second earlier. Six athletes at the meet broke the previous meet record of 4:05.92, which was held by Shannon Rowbury.
Cain’s performance shattered Suzy Favor Hamilton’s previous American junior record by nearly five seconds. She also bested her own high school record of 4:10.77 from last month’s Drake Relays.
The track and field star said that she wasn’t even aware she was on the cusp of breaking so many records.
“It’s always exciting for me to break a record, even my own,” Cain said. “It is especially sweet, since it came as a surprise to me. I run to compete and learn, so as I am racing, I don’t worry about the clock. It wasn’t until I crossed the line that I realized all that had just happened.”
Cain slow played the race, and was in seventh place entering the final lap. She lingered in the middle of the pack before putting on the afterburners in the final 200 meters. With 100 meters left to run, Cain made her way into lane three and darted her way to the front of the field.
Despite all of her success, Cain said that there are still parts of her race game that she needs to work on, a notion that should frighten her competition
“There are certain aspects of the race I need to improve on, such as not letting myself fade in the third lap and getting boxed in. I’m just thrilled I didn’t let my poor position with 200 to go dishearten me,” she said. “The last 300 meters were far from ideal, but I was still able to run a really fast time. This race will definitely give me confidence in the future.”
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