Above Photo: Sean and Chris Torpy will race their final High School race in Illinois Saturday night in the 800 Meter Run (Eric Hofmann Photo)

Jenks and Torpy brothers head the field at Benedictine University

By Michael Newman

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There has been a sense of excitement when ever either Chris or Sean Torpy has stepped onto the track the last couple of meets. At the IHSA Boys State Meet two weeks ago, Sean broke open a close 3200 Meter Relay on his third leg handing off to Chris to give Sandburg the win and a new 3A State Record. Both came on the track later at Eastern Illinois with Chris winning the 3A 800 Meter Run and then Sean stepping on the blue oval to win the 3A 1600 Meter Run.

Last week in the Magis Miles in Chicago, both brothers ran in the men’s elite race. Sean ran 4:05.10 (US #7) to finish fourth in the race followed by Chris who improved his personal best by more than seven seconds (4:07.13, US #12). Both will run in the Boys 800 Meter Run in what probably will be the race to watch at Saturday Night’s Midwest Distance Classic at Benedictine University outside of Chicago. Both have run under 1:51 and will have the top two seeds. Sean ran a 1:50.8 split at the state meet. Chris ran 1:50.88 (US #17) to win his state title.

The chances that both could run under 1:50 are good especially coming off the effort that they gave last week. They will have company up front. Dustan Davidson (St Louis University MO) won the Missouri Class 5 State Championship in the 1600 and then came back to finish second in the 800. He finished fifth in this meet last year finishing just ahead of Chris Torpy. Kyler True (Olpe KS) is a runner to watch. He ran a personal best (1:52.64) at the Burlington Invitational on May 3. Two weeks ago at the Kansas State Meet, he took home wins in the 800, 1600, and 3200. He showed his fitness last week at Festival of Miles in St. Louis when he ran 4:12.54 in the Elite Mile. Another runner to watch for in this race is Josh Goehring (Roosevelt HS, Sioux Falls SD). The senior completed his South Dakota high school career winning the Class AA 800 Meter Run, finishing third in the 400 Meter Dash, and anchoring his school to the state championship in the 3200 Meter Relay. Illinois will be represented well with the Torpy brothers and a good group led by Tim Krashevsky (Vernon Hills HS). The junior ran a personal best 1:53.62 to finish third at Festival of Miles last week. Torrain Haughton (Maine East HS) and Demetri Panici (Lincoln-Way North HS) could also find their way under 1:53 in this race.

Stephanie Jenks (Linn-Mar HS, Marion IA) will have the spotlight on her in the Girls portion of this meet. The 11 time Iowa State Champion on the track is entered in two events. She will open the meet in the Girls 2000 Meter Steeplechase. It is an event that we believe she never run in before. It could be an event that we see her run the next four years at the University of California. Jenks is also in the 1600 Meter Run and has the top seed time by close to twelve seconds. Jenks finished fifth at the Festival of Miles running 4:50.61 for a full mile. If the race comes down to a kick, then Jenks should be the runner to watch. She ran 2:10.56 to win the Iowa 4A 800 Meter Run Title. Madison Romig (Grant HS, Fox Lake IL) ran 5:00.60 to finish fifth in the Illinois 3A 1600 Meter Run three weeks ago. Maddy Kammerer (Oswego HS) ran 5:03.89 in the event this season and anchored her team to a third place finish in the 3200 Meter Relay. Both runners should be Jenks’ chief competition in this race.

Here is a look at some of the other races that will take place on Saturday night.

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Boys 2000 Meter Steeplechase – Ben Ewert (Beavercreek HS OH) has experience and success at this facility as he won the USATF World Youth Trials in this event. He won is age-group at the USATF National Junior Olympics running 6:14.83.  He ran 6:07.32 to win the Eastern Relays in Louisville at the end of April. He will be the one runner to watch. Mark Myers (Lake Forest HS IL) and Kav Fitzpatrick (Lakeland HS WI) finished fifth and sixth in this race last year and should be the top runners to watch challenge Ewert.

Girls 800 Meter Run – If the Boys race following this one is the race to watch on Saturday night, this race could rival it. Larkin Chapman (Muscatine HS IA) finished third in the 4A 800 at the Iowa State Meet and second in the 4A 400 Meter Dash (56.63). She ran a seasonal best of 2:12.29 last week at Festival of Miles. Chapman finished fourth last year in this meet. The competition for Chapman in this race could come from three Illinois runners. Avryl Johnson (Libertyville HS) had a 2:14.22 personal best that she ran in the prelims of the IHSA State Meet. She finished seventh in the 3A finals. Jenna Diers (Lincoln-Way Central HS) finished tenth in the IHSA 3A finals and has a 2:15.55 personal best. The surprise could be Sarah May (York HS, Elmhurst IL) who just missed making the state finals by four hundredths of a second. She showed her fitness level last week at the Magis Miles winning the Girls High School Elite Mile running a personal best by close to eight seconds (5:01.35).

Boys 3200 Meter Run – Four runners are seeded under 9:11 which could make this race fun to watch. Blake Evertsen (Hinsdale Central HS IL) earned all-state honors finishing sixth in the IHSA 3A finals two weeks ago but has a 9:04.22 personal best that he ran at Arcadia in April. Martin Barr (Niles North HS IL) finished fourth in the 3A State Final and has run 9:07.27 this season. If this race come down the final 400, keep an eye on Barr who has a nasty finishing kick. Abe Visser (Calvin Christian HS, Grandville MI) won the Michigan D3 State Championship in the 1600 and finished third in the 3200 last weekend. He finished third in the Emerging Elite 3200 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals last March. The 14:34 that he ran for 5k at the end of the April makes him a runner to watch. Brett Davidson (Highland Park HS IL) ran 9:10 behind Barr at their conference meet. He could be the surprise in this race along with Evan Mitchell (Lincoln-Way West HS IL) and Hunter Cobbley (El-Paso Gridley HS IL). One runner to keep an eye on is Cory Landon (Carlinville HS IL). He only has a 9:29.50 that he ran solo in a tune up meet before the IHSA State series in the middle of May. He did run 4:12.42 for 1 Mile last week at Festival of Miles making him a threat in this meet.

Boys 1600 Meter Run – Kyler True and Ben Ewert are both scheduled to double back in this race. True, the Kansas 2A state champion, ran 4:12.54 last week at Festival of Miles and could be the favorite if he runs this race fresh. True finished fifth in this race last year as a sophomore. Ewert has a seasonal best of 4:17 this season. Vince Zona (Lyons Township HS, La Grange IL) ran 4:16.82 for 1600 at Festival of Miles and could be the runner to watch. Nick Wondaal (Illiana Christian HS, Lansing IL) ran 4:18.24 to win the IHSA 2A championship in the 2A 1600 Meter Run. Wondaal’s teammate Colin DeYoung is the two time IHSA State Champion in the 3200 Meter Run. DeYoung has run under 9:20 twice this season including a 9:13.65 seasonal best at the end of April. Keep an eye on him. He knows how to race and has a great finishing kick.

2016 Midwest Distance Classic Heat Sheets