No one can accuse Dartmouth's Ben True of not being 'true' to his word, at least not this outdoor track season.
Crossing the finish line at 3:59.99 during the U.S.A. Track and Field New England championship held at MIT, True joined an elite group of less than 300 American men who have ran a sub-four minute mile. But the North Yarmouth, Maine native knew what he was capable of all along.
"I knew it was an achievable goal when 53 years ago, Roger Bannister became the first person to break it," True told The Dartmouth about the goal he had set for the season. "If he could do it, and others, then I knew it was possible and it is just determination and perseverance from there."
True's previous best was 4:02.61, which he ran in April, 2006.
"There are not too many secrets in distance running," said Dartmouth men's track coach Barry Harwick in an interview with The Dartmouth. "Ben works hard year round. He is incredibly competitive, and he has a tremendous cardiovascular system."
Only a handful of Ancient Eight runners have recorded sub-four miles during their college days, perhaps because the mile is not a usual distance event. The 1,500-meter is run instead in most collegiate competitions.
Penn's Dennis Elton Cochran-Fikes, now Compliance Cordinator for the Athletic Department, holds the Ivy League record for the mile - a 3:55.0, which he set on his home turf during the Penn Relays in 1974.
And it's been more than two decades since the last Ivy runner dipped below the four minute mark - Princeton's Bill Burke ran a 3:58.7 in 1991.
True, also strong in the 1,500m, finished 15th out of 27 runners in his last competition at the USA Track and Field Championship semi-finals in Indianapolis and just missed qualifying for the finals by five-tenths of a second.
True doesn't just compete on the track, though. He's a three-season athlete, competing on the slopes as a member of the Big Green's powerhouse ski team.
And he pulls his weight there as well; True has earned All-American honors twice and helped the team earn a national title this past year.
But for the next few months, True will only focus on running. According to a Dartmouth press release, True has moved to Sun Valley, Idaho, where he will take a hiatus from his studies and the Big Green cross-country team and exculsively train.
True is looking to persue track oppertunites on the national sclae and also to qualify for the Olympic Trials.
However, True plans to run with the Dartmouth track team in the spring before returning for the 2008-2009 school year to finish his degree.
"When we recruited Ben, we told him that he would be able to pursue running and skiing at the highest levels and that is exactly what he has done," Harwick said in the press release.
Even if it means taking a hiatus from that team in order to accomplish it.
