Prior to Friday, only five American high schoolers had ever broken the 4:00 minute mark in the mile run.
Oregon runner Matthew Maton
became the sixth.
The
Summit (Bend, Ore.) senior and future Oregon Duck ran a scintillating 3:59.38 at Hayward Field in Eugene Friday night at the Oregon Twilight.
It is the third-fasted mile time for an American high school runner in history.
After New Jersey runner Marty Liquori ran the mile in 3:59.8 in 1967, America experienced a dry spell of more than three decades without a high schooler running a sub-4:00 mile. That drought was broken by Alan Webb, who set the national record in 2001 with a time of 3:53.43.
Prior to Maton's performance, Illinois high school standout Lucas Verzbicas was the most recent American high school runner to accomplish the feat in 2011.
Maton enjoyed a decorated career for Summit, winning multiple titles in track and cross country. He ran a 4:03 mile as a junior and is running independently, apart from Summit's team, as a senior.
