By Rich Winter

605 Sports

For distance runners the month of March is typically a feeling out period. Run a bunch of miles during the winter months, ease into the season and peak by the state track meet in late May. 

At the West River preview meet on March 26, Rapid City Stevens junior Simeon Birnbaum put the state on notice that he's ready to run fast this season. On a chilly and windy day with no competitor within 90 seconds, Birnbaum crossed the line in the 3,200-meter event in 9-minutes and :14.18 seconds. 

“Simeon’s dad said he ran a 9:24 in high school so he was trying to surpass that,” Rapid City Stevens distance coach Jesse Coy said.

The 9:14 dropped :28 seconds from Birnbaum’s previous best (9:42) and shocked his coach. 

“I certainly didn’t think he’d go 9:14,” Coy said. “That was crazy and he was absolutely spent after the effort. Running solo is harder the further you go up in distance so to run 9:14 in that fashion was super impressive.” 

During the indoor season Birnbaum ran the 1,600 meters in 4:11.06 at the New Balance indoor national meet in Boston, Massachusetts. Last spring, he captured the 800 meters (1:58.03) and the 1,600 meters (4:23.49) at the South Dakota AA state track meet. 

On April 2, he won the 800 meters at the Douglas Early Bird meet with a time of 1:54.55, breaking his own school record. 

 Clearly, Birnbaum has made a leap and Coy feels like some of that came at the end of the cross-country season, where his pupil won the Class AA 5,000-meter race in 15:48.

 “He had some illness and a mild injury issue mid-season but he got in a good block of training in October,” Coy said. “After winning the state meet he nearly made the Nike and Footlocker Nationals (Nike Heartland 8th - 15:15) (Footlocker Midwest 16th - 15:24).”

 Coy feels like an increase in mileage from 20-30 miles per week to around 40 miles per week since December is paying some dividends. 

 “He’s got a God-given talent,” Coy said. “He has the physical and mental tools to be a really good runner and he’s got a really good blend of speed and endurance.” 

 The South Dakota high-school state record in the 3,200 meters is (8:56) set by former Rapid City Stevens standout Erik Grumstrup. The Rapid City Stevens record in the 1,600 meters is also held by Grumstrup (4:12.6).

 On Saturday, Birnbaum is scheduled to run the mile in Arcadia, California in a meet featuring some of the top track athletes in the country. Coy anticipates Birnbaum will also compete at the Nike outdoor meet in Eugene, Oregon in June.