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Artists like Kendrick Lamar, Aaron May, Taylor Swift and Lana Del Ray were a daily part of Benne and Selma Anderson’s car rides to school.

The siblings connected over music on their 40-minute daily commute from their home in Allendale, Mich., to Ottawa Hills High School, where they ran track. Benne tended to play “calmer rap” while Selma was more “all over the board.”

“I think one of the things (we do to bond) is sharing music,” Benne said.“I feel like music’s a big part of people’s personalities.”

Beyond the aux cord, Benne and Selma bonded over running — where they will both run on Syracuse’s track and field and cross country teams starting next fall. Benne, a freshman at SU, was the first true freshman to run a sub-four-minute mile in program history, when he ran 3:58.78 at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Mass., on Feb. 9. Selma, a senior in high school, is an incoming recruit for Syracuse after breaking four individual school records (800-meter, 1600-meter, 1 mile, 3200-meter) at Ottawa Hills.

While Benne did not run any cross-country races for Syracuse last fall, partly because of the doubling of the race distance from 5000 meters in high school to 10,000 meters in the NCAA, he placed eighth in the mile at the NCAA indoor track and field championships last month.

“(Benne) is a huge talent,” Syracuse head track and field and cross-country coach Brien Bell said. “He takes running seriously, but not in an unhealthy way. There’s an element of fun and levity that he also has.”

Benne Anderson finished in eighth place at the NCAA indoor track and field championships in February. Photograph Courtesy of SU Athletics

Bell also expects an instant impact from Selma, saying he “wouldn’t be shocked” to see her competing on varsity since the distance only rises to 6,000 meters for female runners.

Benne and Selma’s father, Donavan, was an All-American runner at the University of Kansas. As the siblings matured, their dad became a valuable resource. Benne said he learned how to strategize in a race with a larger group, while Selma remembers getting advice from Donovan while she was running because of where he placed himself along the course.

“He’s good at finding me at points he thinks I’m going to be weak and helping build,” Selma said.

In third grade, Selma started running for Girls on the Run, an organization that teaches life skills to young girls and includes a 5K at the end of the curriculum. Selma played soccer and swam, so despite staying consistent with her runs, she didn’t fully commit to running until eighth grade.

Though she didn’t want to split her time between sports, she put all her energy into running. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, it allowed running to become a part of Selma’s daily routine.

Originally, Benne opted to play soccer in the fall of his freshman year instead of running cross country. In early October when the soccer season ended, Ottawa Hills cross country and track head coach Dan Ebright — who coached Selma and Benne in middle school and high school — convinced Benne to join the cross-country team for the rest of the season.

“He had three weeks to kind of focus on cross country the rest of the season, and at our regional meet, ran a fast time, didn’t quite make it to the state meet, but at that point saw that he had the potential to get a lot better,” Ebright said.

Benne wasn’t that interested when he first started with the team, but his friend Liam Walters kept beating him. This annoyed Benne, prompting him to pour more effort into running. Once he started to see some progress, Benne said he wanted to go all in.

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After he reached the latter stages of high school, Benne was not only beating Walters, but he was setting records at Ottawa Hills. Benne set records in the 800, 1600, 3,000 and 3,200 meter races as well as the mile.

“I don’t know that anybody dreamed back then he’d get as good as he did,” Ebright said. “But, surely by the time he was in his sophomore season, junior season, he was showing signs that he could become a very good runner.”

Benne’s main goal was to become just the 20th American high schooler ever to run a sub-four-minute mile. The closest Benne came was his time of 4:03.04, but he eventually broke the mark at Syracuse at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Feb. 9.

When deciding on where to continue his running career, Donavan was a valuable resource for Benne. His father told him what cues to listen for to know if a place is a good fit.

“I really connected with the team and the guys (at Syracuse),” Benne said. “They were nice. And Coach Bell is a phenomenal coach. Some of the other freshmen that came in, like Connor Ackley, are a big part of why I’m here too. A bunch of small stuff felt right.”

Bell developed a rapport with Benne instantly. After Bell started paying attention to Benne’s results, he noticed Selma was doing well too, and started recruiting her.

Initially, Selma didn’t want to follow Benne to Syracuse. She wanted to “be her own person,” and pick the school that fit her best. That school became Syracuse, with the bonus being the chance to run with her brother again.

“I’m pretty excited,” Benne said. “I think it’ll be fun. At first, I was a little skeptical about it. I think it’ll be an interesting duo to have on the team.”

Published on March 18, 2024 at 12:12 am

Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal