Friday, June 3, 2016 was the second annual Magis Miles held by Saint Ignatius College Prep's track and field program. The meet has only one event: the mile. Traditionally, high school runners only compete in the 1600m. However, this meet allows runners to go after the legendary four-minute mile.
On May 6, 1954 (62 years and 28 days ago, but who's counting?), Roger Bannister became the first man to break the four-minute barrier. At the 2016 Magis Miles, many boys ran with the intention of achieving every distance runner's ultimate goal. While no one broke his record, many people still had amazing races.
1. Two Illinois High School Leading Times Were Set in the Mile
Kelly O’Brien and Sean Torpy, of Palatine and Sandberg high schools, respectively, competing in the elite mile races, both set the Illinois high school leading mile times. The previous boys leading time was set not 24 hours earlier. Both of these recent high school graduates were the state champions in the 1600 earlier this year, and it was amazing to see these runners competing in their high school uniforms for one of the last times. Kelly’s time of 4:48.01 puts her in the top 10 high school girls in the nation, and Sean’s time of 4:05.10 puts him at number seven in the nation.
Chris Torpy also ran the elite men’s mile, and with a time of 4:07.13 he jumped to the number 12 time in the nation and three in Illinois. Watch for these brothers next year at Miami of Ohio.
2. Six High School Boys Broke 4:20 in the High School Elite Mile
Connor Madell (4:13.52), Danny Kilrea (4:16.15), Dylan Jacobs (4:17.21), Demitri Panici (4:17.28), Brian Leonard (4:18.06) and Brandon Lukas (4:18.55) all broke 4:20 in the one mile race. The race was back and forth until the third lap when Madell took a commanding lead over the pack. The rest of the pack battled through the finish line. Personal bests were set by all of these runners for the season.
3. No Sub Five Miles for High School Girls, but They Came Close
Sarah May ran a 5:01.35 for the full mile, which gave her a 4:59.53 for the 1600. The 1600 is approximately 9.344 meters short of a full mile, which usually adds about two seconds to your time.
The other high school elite girls also competed very well with five girls breaking 5:10 for the mile.
4. A Chicago Record Was Almost Broken
The last mile race of the night was the elite men's magis mile. The field included a mix of professional runners, state champions and collegiate athletes. The pack went out strong and the leaders started with a 59-second 400 (unofficial), but slowed down the second lap and came in at 2:02 at the half (unofficial). At this point, leaders would need to negative split to break four minutes, which is one of the hardest things to do in a distance race of this magnitude.
Jake Campbell of St. Olaf led the race and pushed himself to a negative split, running 1:59 (unofficial). When the decimals are added together, Campbell had a finishing time of 4:02.05, a mere two seconds away from the prestigious four-minute barrier.
The mile record in Chicago was set by Tom O'Hara, a Saint Ignatius alum. He ran a 3:56.4 at an indoor meet in Chicago.
His record still stands and boys will compete again next year during the season and at the Magis Miles in the hopes of breaking it.
Ed Ernst and Mr. McPherson had the vision to put this meet together. With the help of coaches Bulgarin, Harris and Haffner, it was able to come together and run very smoothly. The meet was attended by Mike Newman and Tony Jones and announced by Billy Pool and Mr. Curran. ILPrepTopTiming allowed there to be FAT official timing, too. The meet is only two years old, but has already attracted a lot of attention. It was amazing to see such big crowds on a Friday night meet, and I hope to see them again next year!
