David Wesley Santee (March 25, 1932 – November 14, 2010) was an American

middle distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

and athlete who competed mainly in the 1,500 meters and mile events. Born in Ashland,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, Santee was nicknamed the "Ashland Antelope." Santee attended

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Ashland, where he set a state record in the mile run. He later attended the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

where he set records in cross country and the mile and two-mile events. He was the Individual NCAA Cross Country Champion in 1953, while leading his team to the overall championship. Santee competed in the

5,000 meters The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...

, but did not win a medal. Three years later, Santee won the silver medal in the 1,500 meters at the 1955 Pan American Games in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. During this period, Santee was one of the top milers in the world, aspiring to become the first man to run a

four-minute mile A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1609 m) in four minutes or less. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister, at age 25, in 3:59.4. As of April 2021, the "four-minute barrier" has been broken by 1,663 athletes, and is n ...

. His chief competitors were

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Roger Bannister Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an English neurologist and middle-distance athlete who ran the first sub-4-minute mile. At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres and ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

John Landy John Michael Landy OLY (12 April 1930 – 24 February 2022) was an Australian middle-distance runner and state governor. He was the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run and held the world records for the 1500-metre ...

. On May 6, 1954, Bannister became the first to break the barrier with a time of 3:59.4. Seven weeks later, Landy surpassed Bannister's mark. In June 1954, Santee set the a world 1,500-meter record of 3:42.8 on his way to a crushing mile win over Olympic champion

Josy Barthel Joseph ("Josy") Barthel (24 April 1927 – 7 July 1992) was a Luxembourgish athlete. He was the surprise winner of the Men's 1500 metres at the 1952 Summer Olympics, and the only athlete representing Luxembourg to have won a gold medal at t ...

, but after sprinting past Barthel he slowed slightly, finishing the mile at 4:00.7. In early 1955, Santee came close to a four-minute mile of his own, with a time of 4:00.5, but he would never surpass this time. Shortly afterwards, Santee was suspended by the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU) in a dispute over his amateur status. AAU rules at that time limited amateurs to $15 per diem expenses to cover food and lodging, and the costs of air travel. For three track meets over a nine-day period in May 1955, Santee had been paid $1,127.85 of expenses In 1956, Santee was permanently barred from amateur events, ending his chance to surpass Bannister and Landy and also costing him a place in the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

. Santee had previously been banned from competing internationally because of early questions surrounding his status as an amateur. During his abbreviated career, Santee set world records in the 1,500 meter run, indoor 1,500 meter run and indoor mile. In 2005 he was inducted into the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, b ...

. Santee's track career, including his rivalry with Bannister and Landy and his troubles with the AAU, is chronicled in

Neal Bascomb Neal Bascomb (born 1971) is an American journalist and author. He is known for his books on popular history. Early life and education He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Miami University with a B.A. in Economics and English Literature. Career Af ...

's 2004 book ''

The Perfect Mile ''The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It'' (2004) by Neal Bascomb is a non-fiction book about three runners and their attempts to become the first man to run a mile under four minutes and their first ...

''. He died of cancer at home in

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

on November 14, 2010."Wes Santee dies at 78; track star set records in 1,500 meters and indoor mile" ''Los Angeles Times''
November 16, 2010

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santee, Wes 1932 births 2010 deaths People from Clark County, Kansas University of Kansas alumni American male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1955 Pan American Games Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Deaths from cancer in Kansas People from Eureka, Kansas Track and field athletes from Kansas Kansas Jayhawks men's track and field athletes Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games