On a cloudy, breezy day last month, Tabor Stevens and eight other elite runners jogged up to a freshly painted 3-inch white starting line, arcing gradually across the eight-lane track at La Junta High School.

A crowd of students, athletes, parents and track aficionados filled the stands and lined the track — many more than you’d expect for an April track meet on the Eastern Plains. They leaned over the railing in anticipation of this race — an elite mile organized to help Stevens and Adams State University teammate Matt Daniels run under four minutes, a feat never accomplished on Colorado soil.

“Let’s go, boys!” one man yelled from the crowd, quietly awaiting the starter’s pistol.

Crack.

Stevens, a gangly 6-foot-5, 180-pound fifth-year senior, tucked behind his two pacesetters, Kevin Batt and Oliver Aitchison, who shielded him from a steady breeze down the track’s backstretch. First lap, 59 seconds. After two laps, they came through a second over two minutes. Batt stepped off.

With 500 meters left, Aitchison swung to the second lane to drop out, yelling to Stevens as he passed. The roar grew louder down the backstretch as Stevens labored alone, and louder still in the final 100 meters. Stevens crossed the line at 4 minutes, 1.27 seconds. Related Articles July 1, 2015 Tabor Stevens gets through 3,000 steeplechase preliminary at Division II nationals

April 17, 2015 Tabor Stevens of Adams State sets Colorado’s fastest mile time

It was the fastest mile run on Colorado soil, but the barrier remains. (Daniels finished second in 4:09.66.)

“I do think I have the ability, but it is extremely difficult,” Stevens said. “I wasn’t nervous. It’s a different feeling when you’re just doing a time trial. You know who’s pacing you, and you know you’re just going to stick to that and run as hard as you can.

“I wanted to give the crowd a show.”

Stevens hopes to make another attempt in Colorado next year. For now, he wants to make his next mile race closer to sea level. His best time is 4:00.90 at an indoor meet in Nebraska last year.

“I always had that in the back of my brain,” Adams State coach Damon Martin said of his first conversation with Stevens about breaking four minutes. “And then probably a year ago, we talked about it more, and then (last) summer more. I told him that I would try to set up an opportunity.”

Martin went looking for a well-surfaced track at an elevation lower than Alamosa’s 7,534 feet that would work with Adams State’s racing schedule. A few phone calls, and he found the meet: April 17 at the La Junta Relays at La Junta High School — elevation 4,078 feet, a 2½-hour drive east from Alamosa.

“If it had not been (windy), I think he could have broken four minutes,” Martin said.

Regardless of the outcome, the race was the start of what’s been a brilliant last season for Stevens. Two weeks later, he ran 8:26.81 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Payton Jordan Invitational, setting an NCAA Division II record that had been in place since 2007.

Stevens closes out his collegiate career at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships Thursday through Saturday in Allendale, Mich., where he will compete in the steeplechase (he’s ranked first) and 5,000 meters (ranked 12th). In late June, he’ll run the steeplechase at the U.S. outdoor championships in Eugene, Ore., hoping to finish in the top three so he can represent the United States on its world team in Beijing in August.

Fastest Mile Times on Colorado Soil

Time Runner Date Representing Meet Location 4:01.27 Tabor Stevens 4/17/2015 Adams State La Junta Relays La Junta HS 4:03.99 Rory Fraser 5/3/2012 St. Vrain Elite St. Vrain Invite Longmont HS 4:04.86 Ted Castaneda 4/10/1976 Colorado Track Club CU Relays Potts Field

It was three years ago when Stevens first mentioned to Martin his desire to break the four-minute mile in Colorado. Stevens had run at Cañon City Middle School, then graduated from Cañon City High School in 2010. He finished third that year in the 3,200 at the 4A state meet — good, but hardly exceptional.

Adams State, which has one of the premiere running programs in the country, churns out top athletes, including seven Olympians. Stevens had attended Martin’s running camps in high school.

“You can train well anywhere,” Stevens said. “Just because you’re DII means you can’t train hard. I consider myself part of the big leagues now. I do enjoy representing a small school.”

In a state with a rich running history, being the first to go under one of the most storied barriers in American sports on his home soil has special meaning.

So why hasn’t it happened in Colorado, more than 61 years after Roger Bannister first broke the four-minute barrier? Beyond the altitude challenge, there are other obstacles. Collegiate athletes race the mile indoors — where times tend to be slower because of tight turns on 200-meter tracks — and they don’t run the distance outdoors, where they compete in the 1,500.

“Americans understand it — you go drive a mile in your car,” Martin said. “I hear a big push collegiately to run the mile outdoors. It’s always been a fascination since Roger Bannister was the first to do it.”

If Stevens doesn’t get below four minutes first, it’s a mark likely to fall soon: The University of Colorado is building an indoor practice facility as part of its athletics upgrades that includes an oversized 300-meter indoor track. It could happen there.

“I do want to be the first person to do it,” Stevens said. “But right now, it’s more important to try to make the (world) team this summer.”