Sub-Four Miler From South Dakota Is Pursuing A National Title In Cross Country

By Keenan Gray for DyeStat

Photos by Zeth Peterka (Brooks)/Hockey photos courtesy Simeon Birnbaum

Growing up in Alberta, Canada, Simeon Birnbaum's first exposure to competitive sports was with ice hockey. 

Wearing skates, not running shoes, Birnbaum developed the grit and determination that eventually seeped into his competitive approach to training and racing. The No. 5 runner in the DyeStat national individual cross country rankings, from Rapid City Stevens SD opened his season Sept. 10 with a victory at the Heartland Preview in 14:47.8. 

Although running talent is in his genes, his story begins on the ice.

“My parents were like, ‘What activity should we put him in?' and the obvious answer was hockey,” Birnbaum said. “That’s what everyone else did. I wasn’t really old enough to understand much of it because I was four, five years old, but I’m sure I was like, ‘yeah, whatever I’ll do it.’.”

Birnbaum spent much of his youth at the ice rink perfecting his craft. He started out as a defenseman and later transitioned to playing center. 

“I liked aspects of both,” Birnbaum. “I like played defenseman a lot just because you could see the whole ice rink. It’s a lot about seeing the ice and making passes to really set up the floor to perform. I also liked center just because you can really apply pressure on the other team and get scrappy with them.” 

Hockey was Birnbaum's first priority but running still made its way back into the picture on occasions.

Birnbaum’s dad, Paul, a pastor, ran collegiately for legendary coach Joe Vigil at Adams State, put together a running club for local kids, and also to give his son an opportunity to try it. The group met up three times a week to practice, leading up to racing two or three times in a span of two months.

“It was a very light intro,” Birnbaum said. “It was more like, you know, run maybe a half a mile and then just play games. It was just really fun.”

When he was in the sixth grade, Birnbaum's father got a new job and the family returned to the U.S.  Without hesitation, the family was on the move – to South Dakota. (Birnbaum was born in McMinnville, Ore.).

Once in South Dakota, his interest in hockey began to wane.  

“That’s when I started running more traditional cross country and track,” Birnbaum said. “That was kind of the next stage."

He played a bit more hockey, but by the time he reached high school he was more focused on running.  

“When I got completely serious, it was my sophomore year,” Birnbaum said. “At that time, I was playing hockey, so I stopped playing that just to focus solely on running.”

When he's in racing mode, some of that hockey grit is evident.  

Last June in Seattle at the Brooks PR Invite, his work ethic was on full display when he became the third junior in prep history, and second this year, to eclipse the four-minute barrier in the mile. He ran 3 minutes, 59.51 seconds in one of the most surprising and exciting races of the season.

“The Brooks race itself was just Simeon racing to win,” Rapid City Stevens head coach Jesse Coy said. “I was watching online, but I'll never forget seeing the ‘3’ on the clock. I could barely respond to texts; my hands were shaking so badly. It was really exciting and obviously a once-in-a-lifetime moment for a high school coach.”

After losing his freshman season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he won three South Dakota Class AA titles as a sophomore. 

“As a 15-year-old sophomore, he ran 1:55 and 4:23 averaging maybe 35 miles per week,” Coy said. “He was the Class AA State Champion in the 4x800, 800 and 1,600. The 4:23 was at altitude at the state meet where he closed the last 400 in 57 seconds.”   

All signs pointed to bright future. 

“I knew I wanted to be great at something,” Birnbaum said. “I didn’t want to be just a good high school athlete, I wanted to be like the best or kind of become one of the best. I just decided that I probably had more of a future in running just with my build and how I was preforming at that time.” 

Birnbaum’s junior year was one of the accomplished ever by a South Dakota prep athlete. Along with running the sub-4 mile at Brooks, he broke state records in the 800, the 1,600, the 3,200, and also anchored a record-breaking Distance Medley Relay. 

“I think Simeon has changed our program's perception of what's possible when you combine talent, belief and hard work,” Coy said.  “He's inspired his teammates to set their sights higher.”

After the Brooks PR meet, Birnbaum added a few more miles to his weekly average.  

“For every year, I just added five miles on to my weekly mileage,” Birnbaum said. “I did 50 last summer, so now I’m doing 55. Nothing really changed. Obviously, I’ve been running all the workouts a bit faster and adding on mileage gives me a bit more strength. I have more confidence for the cross country season than I did last cross country season just because that extra five miles has really done a lot of good.”

Birnbaum's performance at Yankton Trails at the Heartland Preview was a 29-second improvement from last November's NXR Heartland regional.

“To be honest, I wasn't surprised,” Coy said. “He's a totally different runner than he was a year ago.”

Birnbaum's expectations are soaring this fall. 

“I came into that race honestly wanting to run 14:30,” Birnbaum said. “I definitely wanted to break 14:50 and I accomplished that so I can’t be disappointed. But I want more, I’ll say that.”

How much more?

“I want a national title,” Birnbaum said. “I have this board where I write my goals on it. If my brain says it wants to do this and I write anything else other than that, I know I’m not going to be honest to myself because I know I won’t be going for that…If I’m not going for a national title then it doesn’t seem worth it at all to write 'top-three' because I want to win.”

At some level, a background in hockey has played a role in Birnbaum's success. It helped shape who he is, athletically and competitively.

“I think it made me really tough, to be honest,” Birnbaum said. “Growing up in Northern Alberta and going to the rink when it was freezing out really helped developed a tough character. It made running almost feel easy compared to some of the practices and stuff we’d have with hockey. I think it made me strong both mentally and physically, which translated really well.”