Southlake Carroll senior Reed Brown became the nation’s 10th high school athlete ever to run the 1 mile under four minutes while competing in St. Louis on Thursday night.
Brown ran the fourth fastest mile ever for a high school track competitor when he turned in a time of 3 minutes, 59.3 seconds.
Brown was clocked under four minutes while running against pro athletes in the St. Louis-based competition called the Festival of Miles.
“There was a big release,” Brown said. “All of the hard work finally paid off that I’ve done toward reaching my big goal.”
Jim Ryun, who attended East High School in Wichita, Kan., was the first high school athlete to run a mile in under four minutes when he accomplished the feat 53 years ago. In 1964, as a high school junior, Ryun ran for 3:59.0. His time of 3:55.3 in 1965 was a high school record that stood for 36 years.
In 2001, Alan Webb, who attended South Lakes High School in Reston, Va., broke Ryun’s record when he ran a mile in 3:53.43 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore. Webb’s record still stands.
Last year, Drew Hunter, who attended Loudoun Valley High School in Purcellville, Va., ran the mile in 3:57.81 at a meet in New York. He is the third fastest of all time.
In summary, Webb ranks No. 1 on the all-time list with his 3:53.43 in 2001. Ryun ranks No. 2 with a 3:55.3 in 1965. Hunter ranks No. 3 with the 3:57.81 effort in 2016 Southlake Carroll’s Brown ranks No. 4 with his 3:59.30 in St. Louis 2017.
Brown is the first Texas high school athlete to run a mile under four minutes. He graduated from Southlake Carroll on Friday night. He has committed to run for the University of Oregon.
“It was a great way to close out the year,” he said. “Everything just came together.”