By David Fleet

Editor

The son of a former Ortonville resident will soon join some elite high school runners from across America.

Cooper Teare, 17, son of Dave Teare, a 1980 Brandon High School graduate, recently came within one-hundredth of a second of becoming only the tenth high school student ever to eclipse the four-minute mile.

On April 15 Teare, a senior at St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, Calif., competed in the Mt. SAC Relays, also in southern California, winning the race in 4:00:16—just short of the magical 4-minute mark. Two weeks later he ran a 4:01.25 at the Sacramento Meet of Champions.

“It’s all about wanting it more than the competition,” said Teare, in a phone interview last week. “My teammates and other runners push me. The competitive spirit makes me faster. That’s why I’m always looking for most competitive races.”

At 6 feet, 140 pounds, Teare is a two-time California state champion in cross country and defending state champion in the 3,200 meters. He is currently the fastest high school athlete in America for the 1600 meters at 3:59:80 and the 3,200 meters at 8:41:46.

“I’m going to keep training hard,” he said. “What ever you put in you get out. Have an attitude about speed and going faster each time out. Today the equipment and the training is better so kids are getting faster.”

The current American high school record for one mile is 3:53:43 held by Alan Webb from South Lakes High School in Reston, Va., set in 2001. Teare has set the pace in several races this year.

In mid-March, he won the New Balance Indoor Nationals Mile Run at the Armory in New York City with a time of 4:06. Teare then won the 5K with a time of 14:13 at the Texas Distance Festival the following weekend near Dallas. On April 6 he won the 3,200 meters at Arcadia Invitational in southern California with a winning time of 8:41.

Teare is chasing some elite company.

According to reports from Runner’s World magazine, in 2016 Michael Slagowski, 18, of Meridian, Idaho ran a 3:59.53 mile at Jesuit Twilight Relays in Portland, Ore. A senior at Rocky Mountain High School, he was the ninth American high school student to run a sub-4:00 mile, and the fourth recently to do so.

“I’ll continue to focus on my running career,” said Teare. “I can’t rule out a run at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. But I’ll have a better chance at the 2024 Olympics.”

He has accepted a track and cross country scholarship to the University of Oregon this fall.

Teare is also the grandson of John Teare, of Myrtle Beach, S.C. John is also a former long-time resident of Ortonville and a 1949 graduate of Goodrich High School, finishing as a medalist in the mile run in the state track meet that year and was the very first Goodrich High School mile record holder.