National High School Records Through the Years

Boys Outdoor Record – Mile

Abel Kiviat (Curtis High School, Staten Island, New York City)

Performance – 4:23 1/5

Date – September 15, 1909

Place – Montreal, Canada

Meet – Canadian National Championships

Previous Record – 4:24 3/5 by Joe Ballard (Providence Tech, Providence, Rhode Island) in Seattle, Washington, August 13, 1909

As his senior year at Curtis High began, the 17-year-old Kiviat went north to Quebec and 116 years ago today won the mile at the Canadian Nationals, running on a track that was three laps to the mile. He represented the Irish-American Athletic Club. That spring Kiviat had won the 880 and mile at the city PSAL Championships and he had a busy summer, including running 2:47 for two-thirds of a mile, which was world-record mile pace. Those were to be his last PSAL titles because he left school that fall and became a full-time runner. In March 1910 he came close to the world indoor record in the mile, running 4:22 1/5. Two years later he set the world record for 1,500 meters and won the silver medal at that distance in the 1912 Olympics, the closest an American came to winning that race for a century. 

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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