Tyrone Gorze of Crater breaks Steve Prefontaine’s 2-mile state record at Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle

By René Ferrán | Photo by Taylor Balkom 

Tyrone Gorze had already chased Steve Prefontaine’s 2-mile state record once this spring. 

On Wednesday, the Crater senior finally caught the legendary distance champion, finishing fourth in a loaded field at the Brooks PR Invitational at Renton Memorial Stadium in Seattle, his time of 8 minutes, 39.61 seconds, breaking Prefontaine’s mark of 8:41.5 from 1969. 

Gorze went after Prefontaine’s record at the Oregon Relays in April but fell five seconds short that day.

“I have posters of him on my wall with his well-known quotes, and to break a record of his makes it very memorable,” Gorze said in a text message Wednesday night.

“His records are hard to break because he was so good. He is such a legend, and to be mentioned along with him anytime is very special.”

Simeon Birnbaum of Rapid City, S.D., who broke the 4-minute mile barrier at this meet a year ago, ran the second-fastest 2-mile time in prep history (and fastest in a high-schoolers-only race) to win the race in 8:34.10.

Gorze took the lead midway through the race and held it for more than two laps but couldn’t keep up with the torrid pace that Birnbaum set down the stretch, closing the race with a 56-second final lap.

“I wanted to make my move with 1,200 meters left,” Gorze said. “I was feeling comfortable when I did and wanted to push the pace a little. Unfortunately, I was not able to put a big enough gap between myself and some of the other runners. I knew a few of those runners were very good at closing races out, so I wanted that gap.”

One of the meet’s showcase events featured two of the nation’s top girls high school sprinters, with North Carolina’s Shawnti Jackson — who broke the national record in the 100 meters at the Music City Track Carnival last week — and Oregon record-holder Mia Brahe-Pedersen facing off. 

The two squared off twice last summer, with Jackson getting the better of Brahe-Pedersen at the U.S. U-20 Championships and World U-20s, and she did so again Wednesday night, grabbing the lead from the start to win in 11.00 seconds to Brahe-Pedersen’s 11.09.

Brahe-Pedersen’s classmate at Lake Oswego, junior Josie Donelson, finished fourth in the 400 in 54.43. Jameesia Ford of North Carolina won the race in 53.52.

Later in the night, Wilsonville senior Carter Cutting turned in the third-fastest 800-meter time in state history with his fifth-place finish in 1:48.98.

Cutting, who defeated Gorze in a classic 1,500 race at last month’s OSAA 5A state meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, now trails only Lake Oswego’s Elijah Greer (1:47.68 in 2008) and Lincoln’s Mike McGrath (1:48.56 in 2003) on the all-time list.