Pennsylvania senior Gary Martin breaks 57-year-old record with a sub-4-minute mile

Archbishop Wood senior Gary Martin ran an unassisted sub-four-minute mile this week, the first high school athlete to do so since Jim Ryun in 1965.

Fourteen high schoolers have run a sub-four-minute mile since Ryun in 1965, but all of those races came with help from pacers, or "rabbits." 

Three other high schoolers broke four minutes in a high school-only race, but they all used pacers to help hold their speed. Martin is the only runner to break four minutes without one.

The University of Virginia commit pulled off the feat at the Pennsylvania Catholic League Championship on Monday.

“To have everyone going crazy over what I had just done was really cool. To my teammates coming up and hugging me, my coach hugging me, and other kids from other schools coming up and patting me on the back. It was cool,” Martin said, via CBS News.

In 1965, Ryun's best time during a high school race was a 3:58.3 mile. The Olympian broke four minutes six times in his high school career running for Wichita East in Kansas.