van der Westhuizen Breaks Four-Minute Mile at Seattle

Seattle, Wash. - Senior Peter van der Westhuizen, running on a 300-meter oversized track in Seattle, Wash., achieved a time he has been chasing his entire career, a sub-four-minute mile. In his last chance to qualify for NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., van der Westhuizen ran an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 3:59.05.

van der Westhuizen ran the second-fastest time at the meet, being topped only by Andrew Acosta of Oregon who ran a 3:58.52. van der Westhuizen now ranks No. 4 in Division I. He was happy to have a spot at the national meet, but even happier to run under four minutes.

"I am very happy that I’ll be going to nationals next week. Being truthful though, running under four minutes is indescribable. This is a time I've been after for a long time.

Coach Jay Dirksen knew van der Westhuizen could hit the magical time.

"I've known for a long time the Peter (van der Westhuizen) could run under four minutes. Peter just needed some good competition to push him. Most people don't know that having a good field is important to running a good time. Peter is a runner that steps up to the competition and I couldn't be happier for him.

van der Westhuizen's time is the fastest time ever run by a Husker indoors. However, since his time was ran on an oversized track it cannot be counted as the Nebraska indoor record. van der Westhuizen's time was just faster then Greg Carlberg who ran a time of 3:59.6 in 1971 on an oversized track in Houston, Texas. The Nebraska record is owned by Jean Verster who finished with a time of 4:00.30 in 1986 in Lincoln.