Rapid City Stevens junior Simeon Birnbaum made history on Wednesday at the Brooks PR Invitational event in Seattle, Washington by running a sub four-minute mile.
He’s just the 17th high schooler in history, nationwide, to reach such a milestone.
Birnbaum has had a memorable season in long distance running. This past October he won the ‘AA’ boys state championship in cross country, and then in May won individual titles at state track in the 3200m, 800m, and 1600m runs.
He also broke the all-time South Dakota high school records in both the mile and two-mile run during the regular season.
“I like to say running has always been fun, it’s still very fun now, and I would say it’s definitely been this year where in all the distances, I’ve made huge jumps,” Birnbaum said. “So that’s when I really started to think I could be a top collegiate runner someday.”
His coaches at Stevens also rave about how much of a joy it is to work with Birnbaum on a regular basis.
“First of all, he’s got a lot of natural talent. I would say he’s made to be a distance runner. He’s fast, he’s got good speed, and then he combines that with good endurance,” explained Jesse Coy, Rapid City Stevens long distance running coach. “His drive and his goals, he really believes in himself. Like all the goals he sets, he accomplishes.”
Birnbaum will enter his senior year of high school this coming fall. He’s currently undecided on where he plans to attend college.