A 17-year-old runner is the favorite to win the women’s Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games on Saturday night in New York City. That statement seems a little less crazy than when Mary Cain was predicted as one of the top contenders for the race a year ago. 

One year later, Cain is rewriting the history books and may soon be eyeing American records. The high school phenom is coming off a weekend in which she set a World Junior Record of 2:35.80 in the 1,000-meter run and just narrowly missed the American record by about a second.

While Cain will have her hands full with the professional competition, there's also a "scintillating" match-up with another record breaking high schooler. Fellow teenage sensation Alexa Efraimson is also entered in the race. She broke Cain’s high school and U.S. junior 3,000-meter record with a 9:00.16 performance at the University of Washington Invitational on Feb. 1. Efraimson is dominating long distances, but Saturday night will test her speed.

For what it's worth: Before her win at Nike Cross-Country Nationals, coach Michael Hickey told Flotrack that she completed a workout that consisted of - 2 x mile with 10-minutes recovery. Her splits were 4:53 and 4:44. She was ready to run fast. 

Cain is currently the world leader in the mile. Oiselle’s Amanda Winslow is taking the indoor track scene by surprise with her current standing at No. 3 in the world after a 4:26 performance at the Boston University Valentine Invitational. She is also 12th in the world for the 3,000-meters from her 8:56.37 at Washington, where she beat Efraimson by about four seconds. 

Canadian Nicole Sifuentes (4:29.40), Asics’ Heather Kampf (4:30.14) and former U.S. Champion Morgan Uceny (4:30.57) are also Top 10 in the World from their respective performances at the New Balance Games on Jan. 25.

Now to be overlooked in that race, World Championship semifinalist Sarah Brown is now fifth on the all-time 1,000-meter run list for the United States. U.S. Outdoor 1,500-meter champion Treniere Moser finished fifth in Boston and now sits at 8th all-time for the United States. Brown replaced Moser on the United States roster for the IAAF World Championships when an MRI revealed a hamstring injury. Both will race on Saturday night alongside Florida senior Cory McGee, who raced in the preliminary round of the 1,500-meter run in Moscow.

The United States depth in the 1,500-meters may be at an all-time high. Last year, Gabriele Grunewald (formerly Anderson) ran 4:01 and Katie Mackey ran 4:04 during the summer. Neither went on to compete in Moscow. Grunewald finished 6th in 9:55.21 for two miles at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston. Mackey will be opening her indoor season on Saturday.

Not to be lost in the mix is New Balance's Emma Coburn. The former University of Colorado star was fourth at Millrose last year in 4:29.86. That mark was #5 all-time in the NCAA for the women's mile. She made her professional debut with a second place finish in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. Training with World Championship gold and silver medalist Jenny Simpson may benefit her in the mile. 

Event 37  Women 1 Mile Run Elite
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Saturday 2/15/2014 - 3:00 PM
     Name                        Year School                                
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  1  Sarah Brown                      New Balance                 
  2  Mary Cain                        Nike Oregon P               
  3  Emma Coburn                      New Balance                 
  4  Alexa Efraimson                  unattached                  
  5  Gabe Grunewald                   Brooks Beasts               
  6  Heather Kampf                    Asics                       
  7  Emily Lipari                     Villanova Un                
  8  Katie Mackey                     Brooks Beasts               
  9  Cory McGee                       Florida                     
 10  Treniere Moser                   Nike Oregon P               
 11  Nicole Sifuentes                 Saucony                     
 12  Morgan Uceny                     Adidas                      
 13  Amanda Winslow                   Oiselle/NJ-NY