Birnbaum wins in 3:57.53 to ascend to No. 4 in U.S. high school history, with Hansen, Matsatsa and Heidesch top 10 all-time prep outdoor competitors; Hacker triumphs in men’s mile in 3:56.59, with Nichols prevailing in women’s race in 4:26.08, as David runs 4:37.79, and Bell takes girls title in 4:41.33 

By David Woods for DyeStat

Photos by Lily Dozier

ST. LOUIS – The first night of June resembled one of those intimate summer meets in Europe in which the whole town turns out. Maybe this wasn’t the Diamond League. But in terms of ambiance and achievement, the HOKA Festival of Miles was a jewel.

For the first time, four high school boys ran a mile in less than 4 minutes in the same race.

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Simeon Birnbaum, a consistent fast finisher from Rapid City Stevens High in South Dakota, ran the closing 400 meters Thursday in 57.68 to win in 3:57.53. Rocky Hansen of Christ School NC was second in 3:58.23. Both had run sub-4:00 before.

The 19th and 20th members of the sub-4 club were Tinoda Matsatsa of St. Andrew’s Episcopal MD, third in 3:58.70, and Jackson Heidesch of Dowling Catholic IA, fourth in 3:59.08. Tayson Echohawk of Orem UT was fifth in 4:01.07.

At St. Louis University High, where temperatures were in the 80s and humidity less than 50 percent, there were all the elements of track-as-entertainment. There was a fan plaza, live and taped music, rhythmic drumming, flashing lights, packed stands, an ongoing buzz and kids lining up for autographs. There was even Diamond League regular Erik Sowinski as pacesetter for the boys mile.

“To be a part of this, in this atmosphere, I never thought I’d be a part of a high school race again in my career,” Sowinski said. “To be able to come back at 33 and do this, it’s pretty special.”

Top five boys broke their respective state records. Previous meet record was 3:57.89 by Gary Martin of Archbishop Wood PA last year.

Birnbaum climbed to No. 4 on the all-time high school list behind Alan Webb, 3:53.43 in 2001; Jim Ryun, 3:55.3 in 1965, and Colin Sahlman, 3:56.24 in 2022. Outdoors, Hansen became No. 6, Matsatsa No. 7 and Heidesch No. 10.

Birnbaum, unbeaten outdoors in races ranging from 400 meters to 2 miles across four states, said he “got shot straight to the back” and didn’t run the mile as designed.

“So I just focused on racing,” he said. “I looked at the clock with a lap to go. ‘Oh my gosh,  we’ve got to get going.’ So I started running hard. I’m so happy with the win, but I’m not satisfied.”

Eight high schoolers have run sub-4:00 in the past two years. Hansen suggested it can be “super toxic” for runners to compare themselves to others, but he added high schoolers are starting to see sub-4 as no barrier.

“Because it’s not. We’re all capable of doing this,” Hansen said. We can all do great things if we work together. I’m very happy people are starting to realize that and push past what we thought was possible.”

In this meet last year, local favorite Connor Burns of Southern Boone County MO became the first 11th-grader since Ryun in 1964 to run sub-4. This time, Burns led the high schoolers with three laps to go (59.21) and 800 to go (1:59.13), and he was virtually even with Heidesch, Birnbaum and Hansen to begin the bell lap.

He finished seventh in 4:03.25. Burns had broken Galen Rupp’s 19-year-old national record for 5,000 meters May 6 by clocking 13:37.30 at Mt. SAC in Walnut, Calif. (That record was broken 20 days later by Lex Young of Newbury Park CA.

“To PR today, I had to be up there. So I was intent going in there,” Burns said. “I felt pretty bad early on. I tried to keep going and persevere through it.”

Matsatsa’s time was a six-second PR, but should not have been entirely unexpected. In an 800 meters March 11 at New Balance Nationals, he ran 1:48.27 for No. 3 all-time indoors. He said he had been dreaming about sub-4 “for like the past four months.”

Aaron Sahlman of Newbury Park CA was introduced but did not complete the race. Sahlman recently announced on social media he has an IT band injury.

Much of the mile cast will next race June 14 at the Brooks PR Invitational at Renton, Wash. Heidesch is in the mile, and Birnbaum, Hansen and Burns in the two-mile.

Tatum David runs US#2 4:37.79 vs. pros; Watcke with US#1 1:48.59 in 800

In other races:

>> Tatum David of Richland County High in Olney IL, rather than race in the high school mile, finished sixth against the pros in a US#2 of 4:37.79 to break her own state record and climb to 11th on the all-time outdoor list.. (She set a girls mile record of 4:42.15 here last year.) “I just kept trying to tell myself to stick with the girls in front of me, and try to stick to this hard, fast pace,” David said. HOKA NAZ Elite teammates Abby Nichols and Krissy Gear went 1-2 in 4:26.08 and 4:26.52, respectively. Alexina Teubel was third in 4:27.67. All three were under Amanda Eccleston’s meet record of 4:30.06. Nichols is among 15 American women to run a sub-4:27 mile and sub-15:10 for 5,000, achieving both this year.

>> In the girls mile, Charlotte Bell of Cuthbertson NC broke David’s record to win in 4:41.33 over Samantha Humphries of Flower Mound TX, 4:41.93. They are US#4 and US#5 this year. Normal IL junior Ali Ince, after winning a 400/800 double at her state meet, led with 200 meters left and finished sixth in 4:43.67.

>> Daniel Watcke of Hinsdale Central IL repeated as winner of the boys 800, clocking 53.10/55.49 for a US#1 of 1:48.59. Patrick Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic IL, who has dropped his PR by nearly four seconds in six days, was second in 1:48.81. Alexander Waldie of St. Thomas Aquinas KS was third in 1:49.97. All three were under the meet record of 1:50.03 by Brandon Miller, a native St. Louisan, in 2018. “The energy was crazy the whole time,” Watcke said. “Coming down the home stretch, I just had to finish, and the crowd really helped that.” Watcke and Hilby won 800s on Saturday at Illinois’ Class 3A and 2A state meets, respectively.

>> In the concluding men’s mile, Ollin Hacker, also of HOKA NAZ Elite, ran the final 400 in 55.19 to win with a PR of 3:56.59. It was a marginal improvement over his indoor 3:56.66 from last year. He heads to Oregon for a 5,000 on Sunday at the Portland Track Festival at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.