Katie Rainsberger added another solid achievement to her memorable high school senior season with a second-place finish at the adidas Dream 1500. Photo by Chuck Martin.
With an eye toward this year's Olympic Trials, the adidas Boost Dream Mile (for girls) became the adidas Boost Dream 1500. And, with that little change, the race took on a whole new significance for a handful of high school girls with a shot at running a qualifying mark for the OTs.
One high school girl did run the qualifying mark. Kate Murphy reversed an earlier loss to Katie Rainsberger this time around by taking the win going away in 4:07.21. Rainsberger would finish second this time around with a 4:14.12. And, while Rainsberger's time stands as second place (four seconds ahead of Ella Donaghu in third) in arguably the toughest high school 1500/1600/Mile field we've seen for the season to date, it was still about five seconds off of the time required for the Olympic Trials.
Rainsberger has one more opportunity to get that mark at Junior Nationals--if she chooses to run there--but it's also true that she has stated that her own evaluation of her season does not hinge on qualifying for the Olympic Trials.
Indeed not. Regardless of what happens over the next month, Rainsberger has already enjoyed a most memorable high school season that all but a small handful of girls in US high school history could only dream of.