USATF Announces Youth, Masters Runners of the Year

INDIANAPOLIS
— Mary Cain (Bronxville, N.Y.) and Brian Pilcher (Ross, Calif.) have
earned Youth & Masters Athletes of the Year titles, USA Track &
Field announced Tuesday, Dec. 3. Cain and Pilcher will be honored on
Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Jesse Owens Awards and Hall of Fame Induction
Ceremony in Indianapolis, Ind. The event is held in conjunction with the
2013 USA Track & Field Annual Meeting.

For 17-year-old Mary Cain, 2013 has been the best year of her young
career. The Youth Athlete of the Year nod is just one the many honors
bestowed upon the youngster, having been recently named the Female
Rising Star at the IAAF World Athletics Gala in Monaco. Cain is the
youngest American athlete ever to represent the United States at a World
Championships meet, and she qualified for the U.S. team with her
second-place in the women‰Ûªs 1,500 meters at the 2013
USA Outdoor Championships.

‰ÛÏI
am thrilled to have been named the USATF Youth Athlete of the Year,‰Û
Cain said. ‰ÛÏThe past recipients of this award are inspiring athletes and
to join this amazing group is an incredible honor. I want to thank USA
Track & Field for this award and for their support.‰Û

Cain
was impressive on the world stage, finishing fifth in the semifinals of
the women‰Ûªs 1,500m at the 2013 IAAF World Championships with a time of
4:05.21 to become the youngest 1,500m finalist in World Championships
history. She set seven national high school records in 2013 along with
five national junior records.

Pilcher,
a three-time Masters Runner of the Year (2010-2012), is the 2013
Masters Athlete of the Year. Returning to running in 2006, Pilcher has
been virtually unstoppable, grading out at 90% or higher in nearly every
race he enters. In his final race of 2013, Pilcher won his age group at
the Master‰Ûªs 12 km Championship at the inaugural .US Championships,
crossing in 42:03 and grading out at 93.57%.

‰ÛÏIt‰Ûªs
really an amazing honor. It is more than I could have ever imagined
when I started running again seven years ago,‰Û Pilcher said. ‰ÛÏThe thing
that‰Ûªs so special about this is that there are so many amazing athletes
and to be selected from a group of so many special runners, that makes
this award even more spectacular.‰Û

Pilcher
won his age group at four total races in 2013, all of them part of the
USA Masters Championships series. At the USA Masters 5 km Championships
in Syracuse, N.Y., Pilcher graded out as the top male in the field at an
extraordinary 95.54 percent, crossing in 16:22.

The Youth Athlete of the Year award was established in 2001 to recognize
an outstanding performance by an athlete under the age of 19. The
Masters Athlete of the Year award was established in 2004 to recognize
the outstanding performances by 40-and-over athletes. Lists of the
previous
Youth Athlete of the Year and Masters Athlete of the Year are available on USATF.org.