by Bob Hahn
The 3A 4x800 just ended with the grandstands on their feet watching an incredible finish and assault on the state record. Eagle fans sunk back into their seats disappointed. We had to take it in. Think about it. Analyze what we just witnessed. Every 30 seconds my head would slump and shake side to side. I would find myself laughing. It wasn’t a “ha-ha gut buster” laugh. It wasn’t an “evil I am going to get you” laugh. It was definitely that “Really? Did that just happen” laugh. It might be best described to borrow a famous line from Dodgers broadcaster Vin Sculley...."I can't believe what I just saw!"
This…..is what I saw.
I saw an Eagle record barely broken and then obliterated.
In the preliminary heat on Friday the Eagle relay team of Chris Torpy, Tom Brennan, Sean Torpy and Matt Hetzler won their heat handily clocking in at 7:46.53 and qualified for the finals first overall while at the same time breaking the Sandburg record in the 4x800 relay by a scant .02 hundredths of a second. Set in 2012 by Kevin O’Flaherty, Mitch Rees, Derek Hevel and Pat McMahon, that record holding team ultimately ended up with a 3rd place finish at the State meet. But what came next for the current Eagles on Saturday was amazing. The Eagles smoked the track with a 7:40.77 which shaved nearly 6 full seconds off the 24 hour old record!
I saw a state record nearly fall.
The only way you shave that much time off an already very fast team record is by nearly breaking the state record yourself! On Saturday, the Eagles put Chris Torpy, Matt Hetzler, Sean Torpy and Denis O’Callaghan on the track and ran a nearly flawless race to come within .75 of a second of the state record set in 2006 by Algonquin Jacobs.
I saw the greatest race that an Eagle relay team has ever run.
There have been great races that led to individual Sandburg state championships. Bob Hicks, Tom Graves have 5 between them. But this was the greatest race ever run by a relay team wearing the CSHS. With Denis O’Callaghan sacrificing individual glory in the mile (He qualified 4th overall on Friday) and one of the “Super Soph’s”, Tom Brennan, unselfishly watching from the stands on Saturday, the Eagles surgically decimated a strong field while running the 3rd fastest time in state history. Lead-off man Chris Torpy bided his time while running a perfect 400 meter split that allowed him to brilliantly smoke the field in the last 200 meters with his typically outrageous kick that he has displayed time and time again. Matt Hetzler ran a perfect leg 2 and handed off to Sean Torpy with a slightly extended lead. Sean, like the two legs ahead of him, ran flawlessly, hitting all his splits and extending the lead to 3 seconds or better. Denis O’Callaghan took the baton with confidence and set out to calmly hit his splits and defend the lead that the Eagles had built. And by every definition, he did just that. He ran brilliantly, setting himself up by running fast but steady and saving a big kick to attempt to bring home the elusive Eagle relay State championship. Denis ran a personal best 1:54 at the perfect time to propel his teammates to a new Eagle record and one of the fastest times ever seen on an Illinois track.
I saw one of the gutsiest anchor legs in state history.
The Eagle celebration was spoiled by one of the greatest comebacks in recent memory. Ty Moss, the Junior from Neuqua Valley, ran a race that just doesn’t happen. Nobody makes up a 3 second deficit in the first 400 meters and has anything left at the end. O’Callaghan all but let him reel him in with the simple thought that he would blow him away down the home stretch and give the Eagles their first relay State championship. I watched Moss pull up behind Denis with 250 meters left. He settled in briefly to collect himself and then challenged O’Callaghan coming around the last turn. Denis yielded to Ty and waited for the last stretch to turn on the afterburners and show Moss that you cannot make up a 3 plus second lead and expect to have anything left. Coming out of the last turn O’Callagan began his push. His sprint was in full gear with about 75 yards left and surely he would walk down the tired Moss. He pushed and pushed the kick with the entire stands on their feet cheering furiously for both runners and the show that they were putting on. But Moss would not yield. His speed just kept increasing with the push from O’Callaghan. It was uncanny. Ridiculous, really. That doesn’t happen. I saw 3 legs from 2A Cahokia try to make up 3 or 4 second leads and each time fail with kicks that were bogged down by trying to reel in their opponents in the first 600 meters. But Moss…….Kudos to him. And Kudos to the entire Eagle team for running virtually perfect legs all weekend!!
I saw 5 members of that team that were cool, calm, calculated assassins.
Tom Brennan, Chris and Sean Torpy, Matt Hetzler, and Denis O’Callaghan did everything that they were asked to do. They qualified first while running a time that they knew they could improve upon. They brilliantly hit their splits giving them PR’s all over the place. They were not afraid of the competition or the situation. They should be proud. They were off the hook!!
I saw teamwork, sacrifice and class.
The Eagles were the ultimate team all weekend. They laid it all on the line for each other and came through big time. Tom Brennan sacrificed his chance to contribute on Saturday with class and grace and gritted his teeth in the stands trying to imagine what he could have done to shave off those .56 seconds that denied the Eagles their state championship. Denis O’Callaghan may not have known it at the time, but his personal best in the relay denied him the chance to challenge for a state title in the 1600 meter championship. In Friday’s preliminary heat 2, he came within an eyelash of posting the fastest time for Saturday’s final. The Eagles graciously shook hands with Neuqua Valley and left the track with their heads held high.
I saw a group of guys who are not satisfied and still may have something to say about the state record the next two years.
They just ran the 3rd fastest time in state history, the fourth fastest time in the nation this year, personal bests for every leg of the relay, and yet the mood back at the tent was tempered and hushed. They came for a different color medal, one which they plan on hanging from their shoulders for the next two years. Tom Brennan, Chris and Sean Torpy will team up with one of the fantastic young Eagles waiting in the wings for their chance to send the Sandburg 4x8 to the stratosphere. Why not win next year and break the record? It is less than a second in front of them! How about 2.5 seconds faster to challenge the REAL state record set by Harvey Thornton in 1976. That relay was the classic 2 mile relay (18.7 meters longer than the 4x8). Legendary runners Steve Ibarra, Bill Moran, Mike Clark and Donald White put together that gem. But do the math on those 18 meters, and 4 seconds faster for this group cannot be out of the question. Chris Torpy (Jr.),Tom Brennan (Jr.), Sean Torpy (Jr.), (Insert Eagle here), and all cut 1 second off their personal best and who knows!! And they will all be Seniors as well someday.
I saw some brilliant, confident coaching.
Coach O’Malley and Coach Novak were at their best with this team. Convincing them that they had what it takes to win a state championship and showing them exactly how they were going to do it. I talked to Coach Novak after the race and asked him point blank if he had any idea that they could run that fast. He quickly answered yes. Those times that they ran were planned. Known. Premeditated. And they would win if they executed. Ty Moss had other plans. Coach O’Malley builds character, confidence. Coach O’Mal builds adults. This was clearly demonstrated on how they prepared, executed and handled coming up so, so short.
I saw Eagle pride.
From the Eagle teammates that cheered until they were hoarse, to the Alumni who watched in amazement, to the parents who had to remind their son’s that they were still so proud even if the medal was silver, CSHS pride was on display.
Congratulations, Eagles, on an amazing effort!!