He runs in television's shadows
Even though A.J. Acosta is one of the rare American high school athletes to threaten a time-honored magic barrier in sports -- the four-minute mile -- most meat-and-potato sports fans in San Diego aren't aware of his national profile in running. In the time since this story first appeared on the HOC website on May 30, the 2005 National Footlocker Cross Country champion won the CIF state title in the 1,600, was the CIF state runner-up in the 3,200, won the Nike national high school two-mile in North Carolina and won the USA Track and Field Junior National title in the 1,500 in Indianapolis to earn a berth in the Junior World Championships in August in Beijing. Acosta challenged the four-minute mile on July 1 at Mt. San Antonio College, but his time was 4:03.96.
