National High School Records Through the Years

Boys Outdoor Record – 2-Mile Run

Dave Deubner (North Eugene High School, Eugene, Oregon)

Performances – 9:15.9 

Date – August 18, 1962

Place – Stanford, California

Meet – All-comers

Previous Record – 9:16.2 by Doug Brown (Red Lodge, Montana) June 16, 1962, in Los Angeles 

Deubner had been the dominant runner in distance-heavy Oregon in the 1961-62 season – state cross country champ in the Fall of ’61, double champion on the track in the Spring of ’62, 1:53.6 880 and 4:14.2 mile. When he ran 4:11.2 earlier that spring, it was the fastest mile ever run in the state, surpassing Dyrol Burleson’s 4:13.2 from 1958, at the time the national record, and remained that way until Steve Prefontaine, of Marshfield HS in Coos Bay, ran faster in 1969. The high school 2M was improving rapidly in that era, but it was not contested yet at any state meet in the country; you had to find a race in an offbeat situation. Doug Brown’s previous record lasted two months. Deubner, about to enroll at Stanford, jumped into an all-comers meet on the Stanford campus 63 years ago this week, won the 2-mile and nipped Brown’s record by three-tenths. Deubner’s mark was broken a year later by Californian Tracy Smith (9:11.6). Nine minutes was surpassed for the first time one year after that by Washingtonian Gerry Lindgren as West Coast youngsters dominated the distances.

National High School Records Through the Years appears once a week, compiled and written by a track historian, Jack Pfeifer (Lake Oswego, Oregon). Inquiries may be directed to him by email (jack.pfeifer@gmail.com).   

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