26 Days Until the State Football Announcement
Gatorade 2022 - 2023: Player of the Year

Boys Cross Country - South Dakota

athletes playing Boys Cross Country
The POY Logo
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

Simeon Birnbaum

Runner
STEVENS HS
RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA
SENIOR
Height: 6-FOOT-1
Press Release

Peak Performance

1st - 15:16.2

State Championship (Individual)

1st

State Championship (Team)

2nd - 14:39.20

Nike Heartland Regional Championship
“Already the youngest American prep to break the 4-minute mile at age 16, Simeon Birnbaum attained new levels of success this fall in the sport of cross country. The University of Oregon signee was one of only two boys to place among the top six at each national meet, taking fourth at Champs Sports and sixth at the Nike final, displaying admirable humility and a positive spirit along the way.”
Rich Gonzalez
PrepCalTrack editor
excellence star

Athletic Excellence

The state’s returning Gatorade Player of the Year, the 6-foot-1, 145-pound senior raced to a 54-second margin of victory at the Class AA state meet this past season with a time of 15:16.2, pacing the Raiders to the team title and winning his second straight individual crown. Birnbaum finished unbeaten against in-state competition and earned All-America status at both national championship meets with a top-five and a top-10 finish. He was the state’s fastest competitor at both regional qualifiers for nationals and his second-place showing at the Nike Heartland Regional Championship came by way of a personal-best clocking of 14:39.20.

a graduation cap

Academic Achievement

Birnbaum has maintained a weighted 3.86 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on scholarship at the University of Oregon this fall.

first place ribbon

Exemplary Character

A talented, first chair alto saxophone player at his school, Birnbaum has volunteered locally playing the instrument for the elderly in nursing homes and at his church. Last summer, he and several peers traveled to work on indigenous community farms in rural Puerto Rico.