Above Photo: Jon Davis crosses the line with the win in the Brooks PR 1 Mile Run (John Nepolitan photo)

By Michael Newman

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The move that Sean Torpy (Sandburg HS, Orland Park) made after the first lap of the 1 Mile Run at Saturday’s Brooks PR Invitational was extremely similar to the move he made at the Distance Night in Palatine race on April 23. In that race, Torpy pulled away from a pack led by Jon Davis (Oakwood HS, Fithian) and held on for the win in the 1600 Meter Run. It was not that race that Davis was thinking of when Torpy made the move in this race.

“I really was not thinking of that race,” Davis said. “I was thinking of the NXN and Foot Locker races from last December.”

In those races, Davis let the pack get away from him and he was not able to challenge for the win. Just like the Festival of Miles race from 2015 that he remembered two weeks ago when he won in St. Louis, Davis kept those two race memories last fall close to his heart as he charged to the lead just before the final lap on his way to the win in the 1 Mile Run. Davis ran 4:07.52 for the win holding off the Texas duo of Reed Brown (Southlake Carroll TX) and Sam Worley (Comal Canyon TX). Brown (4:08.85) and Worley (4:09.95) were the only other runners that finished under 4:10.

Jacob Ogden (Dana Hills CA) pushed the pace early pulling away from the pack the first lap going through the 400 in 61 seconds. The rest of the pack was two seconds back led by Torpy who knew he could not let Ogden get too far ahead. By 600 meters, Torpy had caught and passed Ogden. Davis and Brown made sure that the lead did not get too far away as they stayed close.

Torpy was running with confidence especially after the US #1 800 that he achieved the week before at the Midwest Distance Classic. His lead started to grow up to eight meters on Davis. In this race, Davis was not going to let a gap develop. He closed in on Torpy and took the lead just before the final lap passing by in 3:08.8. He took one look to his right and took off. Torpy was pushing just to stay close.

It was just like last fall at Detweiller Park when Davis closed in a final 2:05 800 and at Festival of Miles when he more speed than the rest of the pack. He came off the final curve thinking that he had the win. Brown was making one final burst looking to close on Davis. With 60 meters to go, he saw the Texas runner coming. He put down his head and found that final burst of speed. He crossed the line as a high school runner one more time as a winner.

“I’m really confident in my kick. I knew I could win with 500 meters to go,” Davis said afterwards. “I just did the little things this year to stay healthy. I closed out my high school season with a win.

Torpy kept pushing the final lap but just ran out of steam the final 200 meters. He finished seventh (4:16.52). Jack Aho (Grayslake Central HS) ran 4:20.92 to finish eleventh.

Two races involving Illinois athletes involved some late race spills effecting the final outcomes. Chris Torpy (Sandburg HS, Orland Park) was looking to take the lead in the 800 Meter Run just before the final curve. Bryce Hoppel (Midland HS TX) took the lead at that point in the front of the pack. With nearly 150 Meters to go, Hoppel clipped the railing tumbling to the track taking out two other runners. Torpy and the rest of the pack had to slow down to avoid the spill which effected the final time in the race. Torpy had the lead coming off the curve after that pile up but was passed by Terrell Jackson (Memphis University HS TN) in the final straight away. Jackson crossed the line in 1:52.01 for the win. Devan Kirk (Shorewood WA) finished second. Torpy ran 1:53.88 to finish seventh just ahead of Heath Warren (Springfield HS) who finished eighth (1:55.37).

As the bell sounded for the final lap of the Girls 1 Mile Run, Julia Heymach (Houston TX) was in the middle of the pack when she clipped the railing and fell. Kelly O’Brien (Palatine HS) fortunately stayed out of harm’s way and continued to push towards the front. O’Brien ended up finishing fifth running 4:47.14 improving on her personal best by almost a second.

A strong head wind slowed down the sprint races. Brandon Taylor (Clear Brook TX) won the 100 Meter Dash (10.58). Josh Eiker (Galesburg HS) ran 10.66 to finish fifth just eight hundredths of a second off of the win. Matt Moore (Union Grove GA) won the 110 Meter High Hurdles (13.69) as William Session (Belleville East HS) ran 13.98 to finish third.