Polly Anne Plumer is an American track and field athlete who set the National High School record holder in the Mile run at 4:35.24, in open competition at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

May 16, 1982 while a student at

University High School (Irvine, California) University High School (also known as UHS or "Uni") is one of six public high schools serving grades 9-12 in the city of Irvine, California, United States. It was established in 1970 and is situated on of land in the southwestern portion of t ...

. That distance is no longer run in high school competition since the NFHS converted to metric distances in 1980, but it is still an international record event. Her record lasted over 30 years until it was surpassed on January 26, 2013 by Mary Cain, indoors, running 4:32.78 at the New Balance Games. Cain later improved her own mark to 4:28.25, also indoors at the

Millrose Games The Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet (track and field) held each February in New York City. They started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after having taken place in Madison Square Garden from 1914 to 2011 ...

. Because Cain's marks were set on an indoor track, which is generally considered to be more difficult, they were not recognized by ''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...

'' the ratifier of high school records in non-NFHS sanctioned events (high school athletes in open competition), so Plumer retains the record as published. Christine Babcock, born 8 years and 3 days after Plumer's record, running for Woodbridge High School, also in Irvine, took the record in the more commonly run but shorter 1600 meters to an equitable 4:33.82 in 2008. Babcock's record was improved to 4:33.29 in 2014 by

Alexa Efraimson Alexa Efraimson (born February 20, 1997) is an American professional middle distance runner from Camas, Washington who competes for Nike. During the 2014 indoor and outdoor season, as a junior, she set a pair of U.S. high-school records, break ...

. A couple of weeks after setting the record, Plumer won her third consecutive championship in the 1600 metres at the CIF California State Meet. Only Kira Jorgensen has duplicated that feat. Plumer's state meet record of 4:39.82 stood for 25 years, from 1982 to 2007, until being beaten by Babcock. The University High School team of that time has been considered one of the best high school teams ever assembled. In 1981, Plumer was part of the team's course record at Mt. SAC, the most commonly used course in Southern California, that stood for two decades. The team, including Plumer, Laura Sauerwein, Judy McLaughlin and Teresa Barrios continue to hold the national high school record for the 4x1500 meters relay at 18.52.5, set during the Mt. SAC Relays in 1982. Her older sister is PattiSue Plumer, who ran collegiately for Stanford University. After high school, Polly Plumer ran for

, winning multiple All American Honors, despite suffering serious injuries and illnesses. She ran in the 3000 metres at the 1988 Olympic Trials, finishing 10th in her heat, and the 1992 Olympic Trials, finishing 12th in her semi final in the 1500 and 10th in her semifinal in the 3000. Each time she ran in the trials, her sister also ran and qualified for the Olympic team in those events. The

alliterative Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...

nature of both their names and their competition in the same events has led to confusion amongst some spectators. Polly is blonde, while PattiSue has darker hair.

References

External links

California State Records before 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plumer, Polly Living people American female middle-distance runners UCLA Bruins women's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from California Sportspeople from Ventura County, California Year of birth missing (living people)