Birnbaum Grabs 2nd Win Of Week With Crazy Nike Mile Title

* Simeon Birnbaum wins the 3,200m at Arcadia earlier this season. He won the mile at Nike Outdoor Nationals on Sunday to earn his third race win on the week.

Photo Credit: Raymond Tran/MileSplit California

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Five days. Three races. Two wins. Two all-time performances.

What a stretch of out-of-this-world competition for Simeon Birnbaum.

Days after winning the Brooks PR 2-mile in a US No. 2 all-time 8:34.10, and only two nights after clocking the second-best 1,500m effort in American high school history of 3:37.93 for the 1,500m in the Nike Outdoor Nationals pro race, Birnbaum put on a race for the ages in a long-await showdown in the Nike boys mile on Sunday.

Battling essentially all of the nation's elite distance runners in the rain, Birnbaum went from last to first over the course of the final half mile to take the win at the line in 4:02.22.

He split an astonishing 55 seconds over the last 400m to finish just ahead of Newbury Park's (CA) Leo Young in second in 4:02.58.

It came in epic, typical Birnbaum fashion, who often likes to rely on his deadly kick to surprise the leaders come the end of races. That tactic has certainly worked out quite well for his during this June stretch as all three of his historic efforts this week, including the 2-mile at Brooks PR, have ended with a final quarter split in the range of 55-57 seconds.

While the winning time was off of his PR and US No. 4 all-time 3:57.53 logged back at the HOKA Festival of Miles two weeks ago, it may have been the Oregon signee's most impressive performance of the week, the final of three high-level races and just a couple days after making his debut in a non-high school 1,500m race.

Birnbaum would finish third overall against the competitive professional 1,500m field, just behind Nike pro and marathon specialist Connnor Mantz in an epic battle for the high schooler.

It's even more remarkable, too, considering that Birnbaum didn't grow up running, but rather playing hockey before moving to Rapid City, South Dakota before high school. Now, he's developed into a multi-time South Dakota state track and cross country champion, state record-holder and all-time country great on the track.