Alum becomes fourth Hoosier to break 4-minute mile

Indiana State track and field men's team head coach John McNichols said ISU alumnus Jordan Fife put himself as the best distance runner in ISU track and field history Saturday.

In the Meyo Invitational, where the Sycamores were competing, Fife broke the four-minute mile with a time of 3:59.75.

McNichols said Fife was greeted by a sea of blue when the meet was over, as many of Fife's former teammates were excited for him.

"His group of friends is still on the team," McNichols said. "Our guys were scattered all around the track for him."

Fife was on the team from 2002-07. McNichols called him a "folk hero" as he was a walk-on during his first year on the team. Fife said he walked on because he was starting to improve as a senior in high school and wanted to continue to work, but no school was giving him money, only sending him letters.

Last season, Fife's senior year, he ran a time of 4:06.44 in the mile. Because he was so close to breaking the four-minute mile, McNichols said he knew it was only a matter of time before he did, in fact, break it.

Fife said that after running the mile in 4:06.44 last year, he didn't consider the four-minute mile in the realm of possibility.

"I didn't really think I was going to break it (then)," Fife said.

He said after he ran a time of 4:02 two weeks before breaking the 4:00 mark, he knew it was possible.

"Running 4:02, I knew it was in range," Fife said.

A week before breaking the milestone, he ran a time of 4:00.13. He said running that was encouraging but also a little deflating, as he was so close to breaking the milestone.

When he broke it, he became the 303rd person in the world to accomplish the feat, and only the fourth Indiana native to run the time.

McNichols said he keeps up communication with Fife and will always be a friend with him.

Fife said qualifying for three NCAA Championships while at ISU showed him he could continue his running career after he graduated from college.

Fife is now running for Brooks Running Team Indiana where he can work on singular events. At ISU, he had to compete in a lot of events, often with not much time in between races. He is able to concentrate on one thing at a time now.