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Ottawa Hills track star Benne Anderson aspires to become 20th high schooler to ever run a sub-four-minute mile

Anderson loves the running community in West Michigan but he's looking to join some elite company.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Ottawa Hills High School track standout Benne Anderson is insanely fast. It's very apparent to see at any meet he attends. 

"I really like running for some reason," Anderson said.

That reason might be because Anderson knows how to pound the pavement with the best runners in the state.

"He's probably the top distance runner in Michigan at this point," Ottawa Hills distance track coach Dan Ebright said.

That's no joke. The City High School senior has won a few state championships. He also ranks second in the mile, third in the 3200m and sixth in the 800m in the history of high school running in the state.

"I love the people I run with," Anderson said. "I don't know I just like it a lot."

Anderson loves the running community in West Michigan but he's looking to join some elite company.

"I always dreamed of doing it," Anderson said. 

The future Syracuse University track runner aspires to become just the 20th high school student to ever run a sub-four-minute mile in the United States

"I think last year, beginning of this year, is when it dawned on me that it was an actual thing that can happen," Anderson said.

Anderson has been as close as he could possibly be. His best mile time ever stands at 4:03. That's the same mark his dad, Donovan, ran while he was a star at the University of Kansas.  

"I think my Dad has been a huge reason why I am as good as I am or why I still do run," Anderson said.

Ebright says the senior should give himself the credit for the work he has put in to be in this position. 

"It has been an honor and a blessing to coach Benne," Ebright said. "Very few coaches get the opportunity to coach an athlete that is as talented and is working as hard as he is and runs those kind of times."

If Anderson runs a time under four minutes in the mile, he would become one of the select few to accomplish the feat

"I would not mind joining that club," Anderson said.

There have been two high schoolers in 2023 to run a sub-four-minute mile: Connor Burns out of Boston and Rocky Hansen out of Virginia.

No high school student has ever run a sub-four-minute mile on Michigan soil. Grand Blanc native Grant Fisher ran a sub-four-minute mile in 2015 in St. Louis. 

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