Elise Cranny of Niwot, Colorado, ran 4:15.07 for 1500 meters at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational on Sunday to become #3 on the all-time 1500 list for American high school girls. One of the junior’s not-so-secret weapons is her coach, Jason Hartmann, who was fourth overall, and the top American, in the 2012 and 2013 Boston Marathons.

“She showed a lot of maturity out there, it was pretty nice to see,” Hartmann says of Cranny’s latest performance. “It’s a bigger stage than she’d ever been on, and the competition was probably better than she’d experienced in her running career." With 150 meters left, from “seventh or eighth place,” says Hartmann, “she kicked really hard” and took third behind collegians Josephine Moultre of New Mexico and Justine Fedronic of Stanford.

Hartmann had been an assistant cross country coach at Niwot, which is in Boulder County, in Cranny’s freshman and sophomore years. “She was very raw and didn’t have much experience coming in as a freshman,” he recalls. “But being involved in the sport as much as I have been, you can just see a certain level of talent. It was a slow process from there. She ended up running 18:14 for 5-K as a freshman.

"She got really excited about the sport,” Hartmann says. “People look at what she’s done right now and think she just got out of bed and ran that well. It’s taken her three years to get to where she has.”

Hartmann applied for but didn't get another coaching job at Niwot. Through an arrangement with her family, he continues to coach Cranny, who is certainly not being overtrained. “She’s not doing anything that’s earth-shattering or some secret workout,” says Hartmann. “She runs 25 to 30 miles a week, does a long run and two workouts a week and easy running.”

“We have a plan,” emphasizes Hartmann. “We want yearly development rather than going for the gusto for one year and you never hear from her again.”

Cranny’s chief running objective for 2013 has already been achieved.

“Her main goal, obviously, was Melody’s record,” says Hartmann, referring to the 1600-meter time of 4:47.56 she ran to break Melody Fairchild’s 22-year-old Colorado state record. Ckearly, her 1500 time and 4:40.62 indoor mile this winter suggest she can go well below 4:47 for the 1600.

As to upcoming goals, Cranny speaks, in a Denver Post article, of her fervid desire to help Niwot win a state team title. “Originally, she had a plan that she wanted to triple and run the 800, 1600, and 3200," notes Hartmann. “That’s subject to change. We’ll see.”

Beyond that, Cranny could end up racing at the USATF Championships against the pros in June “if she’s feeling fresh,” says Hartmann. “She really wants to compete at that level.” One of her likely competitors there would be Mary Cain, who lowered her scholastic 1500-meter record to 4:10.77 on Friday at the Drake Relays. Her coach, Alberto Salazar, also knows a thing or two about running well at the Boston Marathon, having won the race in 1982.

Cranny is a 4.0 student. “She’s extraordinarily smart and she wants to be a great athlete,” says Hartmann, who expects that her college choice will be “probably a school that has great academics and great coaching.”

He adds, “I just want her to develop and get better every year, and that’s the goal, and then when she goes to college to continue to develop. To be honest, I didn’t think she was at this level yet. I knew she would get there, but she’s rushed the process a little bit. And not because we did anything different. Things fell into place.”