It was a historic day for the high school mile last Friday in Boston.

Three seniors -- Owen Powell (Mercer Island, WA), Josiah Tostenson (Crater, OR) and Tayvon Kitchen (Crater, OR) all went under four minutes in the mile against collegians and pros at the BU Terrier DMR Challenge/Last Chance meet, with Powell setting the U.S. high school indoor record of 3:56.66.

Tostenson moved to No. 2 all-time indoors with his 3:57.47 effort, and Kitchen joined the sub-four-minute club with a U.S. No. 7 indoor all-time 3:59.61 run.

Seeing high school boys dip under the four-minute barrier has certainly become more common in recent years than it used to be. For instance, 15 of the top 20 indoor mile times in U.S. high school history have come within the past five years, as have 10 of the top 20 U.S. outdoor performances.

But Friday's performances proved significant, for more reasons than one. Powell, Tostenson and Kitchen didn't just notch another trio of sub-4:00 efforts, but made history in doing so.

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Owen Powell Becomes Fourth High School Ever To Dip Under 3:57

Not only did Powell's 3:56.66 clocking break the high school indoor national record, but that mark would also put him near the top of the outdoor all-time list, too.

Only Alan Webb, Jim Ryun and Colin Sahlman have run faster than Powell for the mile -- indoors or outdoors -- as high schoolers. Powell joins Sahlman in the sub-3:57 club, while Webb holds the long-standing overall U.S. high school mile record at 3:53.43 and Ryun sits at No. 2 all-time at 3:55.30 from 1965.

Though we've seen many more sub-4:00 performances in the last few years, even some of the best high school distance athletes in recent memory haven't gone as fast as Powell has. That list includes U.S. high school indoor 2-mile record holder Drew Griffith (3:57.72), No. 2 all-time collegiate miler Gary Martin (3:57.89) and 1,000m collegiate record holder Tinoda Matsatsa (3:58.70), among others.

What's scarier is that it's still February -- and we're not even in championship season quite yet for the indoor season. With the full outdoor season still ahead for Powell, there's no telling how fast he could go if he gets in the right fields.

Tostenson And Kitchen Are First High School Teammates In History To Go Sub-4:00

Never before had two high school teammates both gone under four minutes in the mile -- until Friday.

Tostenson and Kitchen, both seniors at Crater High School (OR), clocked 3:57.47 and 3:59.61 in the second heat of the men's mile at the BU Terrier DMR Challenge. No pair of high school teammates has done that before, let alone in the same race.

The only team that has come close to producing two sub-4:00 milers is Newbury Park (CA). Back in 2022, Colin Sahlman ran 3:56.24 against pros at the Prefontaine Classic, and Leo Young nearly broke four at the APU Meet Of Champions Distance Classic, running 4:00.77. Leo's brother, Lex Young, also ran near the barrier with a 4:01.51 effort at the RunningLane Track Championships.

A year later, Colin's brother, Aaron Sahlman, nearly broke four minutes as well with an agonizingly-close 4:00.30 run at the 2023 Oregon Relays.

So for the duo to travel to BU and hit that accomplishment is quite an important moment in U.S. high school history. While running below four minutes in high school for the mile has become increasingly frequent, a single high school having two boys on their roster that can do so is a monumental feat.

However, Crater has also had its fair share of talented distance runners come through it's doors. In recent years, Tyrone Gorze, now at the University of Washington, developed into a high school national star, at one point setting the indoor high school 5,000m record (13:56.82) before it was beat by Daniel Simmons of American Fork, last year.

The Three Become The First Ever Sub-4:00 Indoor Performers From Oregon And Washington

Despite the Pacific Northwest's history of breeding top-notch distance athletes, surprisingly, no one has dipped under the elusive boys mile barrier indoors before last Friday.

Powell became the first high school athlete indoors or outdoors from Washington to go sub-4:00, while Tostenson and Kitchen became the first athletes indoors and the second and third runners overall from Oregon to do so.

Granted, the Oregon and Washington state associations do not have sanctioned indoor track and field seasons. However, that doesn't mean plenty of well-known athletes from those states didn't race some indoor meets during their careers.

Tostenson and Kitchen pass notable stars on the all-time, all-conditions Oregon mile list, including Galen Rupp (4:01.80). They join Matthew Maton, an eventual All-American at the University of Oregon, as the state's three sub-4:00 milers as Maton ran 3:59.38 at the Oregon Twilight meet back in 2015.

Powell passes Washington product and U.S. Olympian Gerry Lindgren on the Washington mile records list. Lindgren still sits at No. 2 all-time among all indoor and outdoor times produced from athletes in the state, having clocked 4:01.50 over 60 years ago in 1964.

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