Torpys and Kelly O’Brien lead a meet of personal bests at St. Ignatius

By Michael Newman

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Chicago --- It is an unwritten rule in distance running of when you get a perfect night to run, you take advantage of those conditions. Nothing could truer than what happened on the campus of St. Ignatius College Preparatory School Friday evening. Temperatures in the mid 70’s with no wind made the opportunity for every field in the Magis Miles to run fast possible. Kelly O’Brien (Palatine HS) along with Sean and Chris Torpy (Sandburg HS) made dreams reality turning in some fabulous times.

Both the Torpys and O’Brien were invited to run in the Elite Mile races with collegiate and professional runners. The move would pay off for all three runners. The Women’s Elite race proved to put O’Brien and MacKenzie Altmayer (Geneva HS) in a comfort zone and into a situation that neither had encountered during the high school season. The two tucked into the pack and went along for the ride. Neither were asked to push the pace like races earlier. They just had to run.

The pack stayed together through a 72 second first 400 meters and then 2:25 at the half way point. The next lap was more of the same as Hope Schmelze, Emily Delvo, and Emily Gapinski continued to lead and start to quicken up the pace. O’Brien and Altmayer were staying with the three showing to content to accept the moment. The bell sounded and Schmelze started into her kick. Altmayer started to fade just a little but O’Brien was still in this race ignoring that she was the “high school” kid among these college runners.

Schmelze came in for the win (4:43.96) closing in a 65 second final lap followed by Delvo (4:45.98) and Gapinski (4:47.51). Close behind Gapinski was O’Brien who finished her race with a strong kick not different from any other race that she had run this year. “When I crossed the line, I did not realize that I had that fast,” she said. “I thought I had just run a five minute mile.”

She was in a daze as teammates and her coach Joe Parks surrounded her trying to congratulate a runner who was in disbelief of what she had just done. O’Brien had just run eight seconds faster than she had ever run as she passed 1600 meters in 4:46.30 on the way for running a full mile in 4:48.01. It is the second fastest time ever run by an Illinois High School girl in that distance according to the IHSA records.

McKenzie Altmayer finished sixth also running eight seconds faster than she ever had passing 1600 meters in 4:51.39 on her way to a 4:53.18 1 mile. “I was asked before the meet if I wanted to run in this race instead of the high school race,” Altmayer said afterwards. “I just had to learn tonight to hold on instead of setting the pace. I didn’t feel good during the final quarter. It was very painful. I know I have to work on my finishing kick but I am happy on how it ended.”

“It was such a weird race because we got out because I did not get out in front. It was just like a solid pack of people going around the track,” O’Brien added. “I did not know what I was doing. It was a good distraction. I just wanted to stay with them (the front pack). I kept telling myself to go with them, go with them.”

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The Women’s race set up what would be an even more exciting Men’s race. The task was simple for race pacer Matt Plowman as he was to get the pack through the first half in two minutes, step off the track, and then see what happened after that. It was good to see the two brothers run together on the track. We had seen them race all season but not at the same time. There was a symmetry of a flash of blue and gold as the two circled the track with the pack. Leaders went through in 59 seconds as both Torpys passed through the first 400 in 60.9. There was focus in their stride and purpose in their pace.

Plowman stepped off the track after leading the group through a 2:00.5 first 800. Sean and Chris found themselves in second and third passing through in 2:01.9 in position to achieve something great. NCAA Division III champion Jake Campbell of St. Olaf continued to push the pace and had control of this race. He passed in 3:01 with Eric Delvo striding to stay with. Then came Sean and Chris passing the 1200 in 3:03 running faster than they ever had before yet keeping the synchronized strides they had shared in many practices before.

It should not have seemed like an afterthought as Jake Campbell (4:02.05), Eric Delvo (4:03.39), and Anthony Wondaal (4:03.89) crossed the line first. All eyes were on the blue and gold that followed. Sean crossed the line next in 4:05.10 passing 1600 meters in 4:03.42 improving his personal best by five seconds. Chris ran close to a ten second best as he ran 4:07.13 passing through the 1600 in 4:05.40. They had just run two of the top three times in the state.

The best thing after a race when you look back as a runner is that you have no regrets of the race you have just run. There were none by the two as they fell to the track after crossing the finish line. Both were grasping for air after what they had just run. Their mother came and gave then both a hug. They both went to the infield and then fell to the ground again. They did leave everything on the track this night.

“It felt a lot smoother in the pack than taking the pace up front all the way,” Chris said. “We were just ready to get into the mix tonight. Whatever happens would happen. We came in with a lot of confidence in what we do. We trusted our training and trusted ourselves.”

“In the final 250 meters, I was really starting to feel that pace,” Sean added. “We came around the curve with 300 to go and our coach (John O’Malley) told us 58 gives you a sub four. At that point, I did not know if I was able to do that or not. I was running out of gas. I was still gunning for them. Even if they are three or four years older than us, I was still going after them.”

Both Sean and Chris could be on the track one last time in Illinois. We could see them next week at Midwest Distance Classic in the 800 before both head to Seattle for the Brooks PR race on June 18. One more time on the Benedictine University Track we will see a symmetry of blue and gold and a racing bond between two brothers that digs deeper than just a run on the track.

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The races that preceded the Elite races showed that there was magic in the air around this track on this night. In the two High school elite races, there was a scent of WSC-Silver and Lions Pride in the air. Sarah May (York HS, Elmhurst) had a great freshman season that ended a little too early at the IHSA Girls State Meet. After running in the 3200 Relay for her team, she came back to run 2:14.84 in the 800. She missed making the finals in the race by four hundredths of a second. With only a best of 5:07 heading into this race, all eyes were on all-state runner Madison Romig (Grant HS, Fox Lake). May stayed off the pace for most of the race only starting to slowly move up in the front with 500 meters left. As she came out of the turn with 300 meters to go, the freshman took off leaving the pack behind her. She ran a huge PR to win the race (5:01.35) ahead of Romig (5:04.87) and DeKalb’s Christina Ryzhov (5:06.07).

Connor Madell (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange) did not have the senior season that he wanted. He did make the finals at the IHSA State Meet with his teammates in the 3200 Meter Relay finishing sixth. He did not make it to the finals of the 1600 Meter Run like he wanted. He was given the opportunity to race one more at St. Ignatius to go after a fast mile time and he ceased that moment.

Madell stayed off the pace for the first two laps as pacer Kyle Hauser and Sandburg’s Dylan Jacobs set the tone of the race. Madell showed confidence as he took the lead taking the lead with 500 meters to go while never looking behind. One of his goals this season was breaking the school record in that event and he achieved that. Madell won the race (4:13.52) crossing the 1600 meter point in a personal best 4:11.88. Teammate Danny Kilrea was almost three seconds back in second (4:16.15) just ahead of Jacobs (4:17.21) and Lincoln-Way North’s Demetri Panici (4:17.28).

The Lyons Township teammates that surrounded Madell after his race had reason to celebrate as well. Dan Palmer won the team flight race (4:25.45) ahead of teammate Matt Begeman (4:29.97). Tim McCarthy finished fifth (4:36.37) giving Lyons Township the win in the event.

In the first section of the Boys High School mile, Simon Ricci (Latin School, Chicago) ran a six second personal best running 4:20.42 for the win ahead of Warren Township’s Dustin Macuiba (4:22.69) and Chicago U-High’s Jacob Meyer (4:23.17).

In the freshman mile races, Jorge Corona (Palatine HS) passed Eddie Slack (Marist HS, Chicago) in the last fifty meters holding him off for the win (4:35.02) just three tenths ahead of Slack (4:35.32). Gillian Fiene will be running at Illiana Christian this fall. She had never run a mile before in a race as the 1200 meter distance was the longest that she had competed in at her Christian middle school. Fiene did not show any inexperience taking the lead on half way through and running 5:17.53 for the win six seconds ahead of Palatine Kate and Liz Lechowicz who finished second and third.