Katie Rainsberger [now of Oregon] and Kate Murphy and chat after competing in the 3K final at the IAAF World U20 Championships about their record-breaking seasons and the trend of preps turning pro. Murphy would commit to Oregon a few months after this interview.
Kate Murphy will break Mary Cain's 1500m high school record, won't turn pro
Will she or won't she? Part of the conversation about the nation's most elite level preps turns not only to records and end-of-year PRs, but whether or not the athlete will forgo collegiate competition and turn professional. Kate Murphy of Lake Braddock, Va. first turned heads when the nimble-footed sophomore clocked 4:16.98 for 1500m to win the USATF Junior Nationals at Hayward Field in 2015. As a junior last year, she improved her PR to 4:07.21 and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials, where she advanced to the semifinal round.
Only Mary Cain and Alexa Efraimson have run faster while in high school -- Cain set the national high school record of 4:04.62 in 2013 and Efraimson ran 4:07.05 in 2014. Both girls ran those times as high school juniors, then turned professional - so their later times are not included in prep record keeping. Read more about that debate here.
Murphy is a big-time team player -- she always chooses NXN over Foot Locker, and runs relays at New Balance Nationals Indoor and Penn Relays for the chance to win titles with her team. I think she cracks Cain's record, but keeps her commitment to the University of Oregon.
- jojo