Birnbaum's Closing Speed Carries Him To Another Historic Performance At The Brooks PR Invitational, This Time In The 2-Mile

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

RENTON, WASH. – No disrespect to the rest of the nation’s top distance runners, but the lethal kick of Simeon Birnbaum has proven to be a vital weapon in his racing arsenal. It’s one that nobody should take lightly.

The nation’s top distance runners found themselves in a close pack heading into the final lap of the boys 2-mile at the Brooks PR Invitational. Right in the mix of it all was Birnbaum, ready as ever to chase down the field.

Like many times before, he did just that.

Birnbaum, of Rapid City, S.D., put together another instant classic performance in his storied senior season, closing the final 400 meters in 55.94 seconds to capture his second Brooks PR title in a meet record time of 8:34.10 at Renton Memorial Stadium Wednesday afternoon.

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Birnbaum’s time ranks No. 2 on the all-time high school list, just right behind the time of 8:29.46 held by Lukas Verzbicas of Sandburg IL from the 2011 Prefontaine Classic. 

“I felt pretty good,” Birnbaum said. “I obviously started tightening up the last 100 and I really just maxed it out the last 50 and just prayed no one had the extra gear since I was maxed out. Luckily it worked out.”

Birnbaum, indeed, hung back early on, letting competitors Hunter Jones and Rocky Hansen do the work from the start to pull the field through 4:23 at the first mile.

“My plan was just to stay in third and fourth and just let the other guys push the pace,” Birnbaum said. “It went pretty much exactly how I planned it except we were a little bit slower than I thought. I thought the guys were going to push a bit harder.”

Heading into the final three laps, Tyrone Gorze took the pace for about 600 meters, with Birnbaum still in the back patiently waiting, as the pace began to pick up.

Then the move happened on the backstretch with 600 to go. Birnbaum found himself out front with 1.5 laps to go.  

Going through the next lap at 62 seconds, Birnbaum opened up his stride and began to pull away from the field under 400 to go. Responding as well was his future Oregon Duck teammate, Connor Burns, sitting right there on his heels on the final lap.

Before the race, the two close friends talked on the bus ride over how they wanted to go 1-2 in the race.

“I was like, ‘Alright, Connor, this is our time to get 1 and 2’,” Birnbaum said. “We’ve been trying to all year.”

Oddly enough, the two were shoulder to shoulder with one another down the backstretch before making their way down the homestretch, fighting every last meter to the end, with Birnbaum edging out Burns.

“I saw him by my side and was like, ‘No way, he’s right there; he’s pushing me’,” Birnbaum said smiling. 

Birnbaum previously broke the Arcadia Invitational record in the 3,200 meters with 8:34.10, the same exact time as Wednesday's slightly longer 2-mile. He also won the HOKA Festival of Miles elite high school race in 3:57.53, which is No. 4 all-time.

His place in Brooks PR history was already assured when he became the first runner to break four minutes in the mile in the 2022 meet, running 3:59.51. Now he owns two meet records. 

Burns crossed the tape in 8:34.32 behind his future teammate, also closing in a blistering 55.85 second final 400 meters, moving him to No. 3 all-time on the national list.

“I thought I would be able to get (Simeon) with 80 to go,” Burns said. “He held me off and I was like, ‘Ahh crap; I don’t have another gear.’ I just needed to give it a little bit more and I would have got it.”

Hansen also closed the final 400 in a sub-60 second effort, running 56.92 seconds to finish in a North Carolina state record time of 8:35.22, also the No. 5 all-time.

Gorze dipped under 8:40 for the first time, running 8:39.61 to place fourth overall while besting Steve Prefontaine’s all-time Oregon state record, 8:41.5 from 1969. Gorze moved to 11th all-time.