Rainsberger Breaks US HS 3k Outdoor Record At World Champs

(Bydgoszcz, Poland) Katie Rainsberger finished a solid 7th in the 3,000-meters at the IAAF World U20 (formerly World Junior) Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on Wednesday to post the fastest outdoor mark ever by an American high school girl.

Rainsberger's time of 9:00.62 bettered the previous outdoor all-time mark of 9:08.6 set by Lynn Bjorklund in 1975. Only Alexa Efraimson has a better absolute high school mark of 9:00.16 set on an indoor track in 2014, with Rainsberger pushing early professional Mary Cain to #3 with her 2013 indoor time of 9:02.10.

Rainsberger closes out a stellar high school senior year that included a Nike NXN cross country national title, a New Balance National Scholastic indoor mile national title that set a senior class record of 4:36.61, and #6 all-time US high school 1500-meter mark of 4:12.62. She has signed with the University of Oregon and will run for the Ducks in the fall of 2016.