Navigation
Newsworthy
Aisling Cuffe Sets USA High School Girls' Two Mile Record of 9:54.22
By Amanda Nappi, Communications InternUSA Track & Field
Indianapolis, IN
Aisling Cuffe (photo by www.photorun.net) of Hudson, NY was named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week (on June 22) after her record-setting performance in the girls’ two mile on June 17 at the 2011 New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, NC. Cuffe’s time of 9:54.22 bettered Molly Huddle’s national high school two-mile record set in 2002 by nearly seven seconds. The high school senior went out hard and grabbed an early lead, but was overtaken by Illinois native Kayla Beattie two laps in. After trailing Beattie for several laps, Cuffe made a move with 1200m to go.
“I figured that Kayle Beattie would take the lead,” Aisling Cuffe said. “My plan was to reel her in. By then my energy was slowly dropping because it was a tough race. I figured while I still had the energy to make the move, I should make it.”
The strategy worked for Cuffe, who finished more than ten seconds ahead of Beattie and the rest of the field. The record-setting victory capped off Cuffe’s impressive prep career which included first-place finishes in the 2010 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships and 2011 New Balance Indoor two mile. Next year, Cuffe will attend Stanford University and compete for the Cardinals.
“It was nice to know that I went out well, and that I didn’t have a bad race in the last race of my high school career,” Cuffe said.
Now in its tenth year, USATF's Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on the USATF website. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the World's #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States. See www.usatf.org.