By Bob Hahn
The undefeated Orland Park XC team took to Portland, Oregon on December 5th with only one thing in mind: Bring home the Nike National Cross Country title. A lofty goal that was nearly incomprehensible to most. Who even dares to make a statement like that? It sounds aloof, practically ridiculous. But this group of Eagles had the talent and work ethic to dream that boldly. And although they came back home just short of the goal, their 4th place finish at the muddy Glendoveer Championship Cross Country course in Portland, Oregon, cemented their place in history as one of the greatest Illinois teams of all time.
Congratulations to the postseason contributors including Sean Torpy, Max Lehnhardt, Chris Torpy, Brandon Lukas, Dylan Jacobs, Tommy Brennan, Martin Skucas, David Gleisner, Dan Laskero, Paul Sieczkowski, Alex Szymanski and Patrick Foster.
The whirlwind that is Nike Nationals began with an early Thursday morning flight to Portland. One of the cool things about this event is hanging with fellow runners at the airport, on the plane and at the event itself. The same guys that you talked smack about all season suddenly become your friends as you form this common bond as NXN qualifiers. It is not easy to qualify for this event. Only 3 teams from the entire Midwest and only 5 individuals get to take the trip west. If you really take the time to let that sink in it is quite impressive. So you immediately gain a respect for your opponents, and with all that you have in common, become instant friends along the way. Charlie Kern of York became an honorary Eagle for the flights to Portland. Tommy Brennan chatted it up with Jon Davis all the way across the Rockies. (Tommy met his match. I think he was out dueled in the yapping department for the first time ever.) Sandburg, Lyons and Neuqua Valley, Illinois teams that monopolized the Midwest qualifiers, enjoyed each others' company and mutual respect after battling all year for State hardware. You truly get to know these guys after hanging for 4 days at airports, on buses, at dinners and at the hotel. After landing, we were greeted by Nike officials and ushered onto the first bus trip of many, taking the athletes on a dream journey in the land of Nike.
Day two brought an early breakfast at the hotel and a bus trip to the Glendoveer Championship Cross Country Course. Once again Nike outdid themselves with the runners race prep facility. It was even more fantastic than last year with all the team banners hung over each team's dressing area as well as brand new "disposable" plush black carpeting with two giant Nike NXN stars sewed onto the floor. The boys enjoyed all the usual amenities such as the food and drink stations, the spike stations and the warm up area complete with massage tables which coach Mark O'Neal utilized to loosen up our athletes before their runs. We had a meeting with Nike officials who gave us the highlights of the course using the new light up course map. The course was largely designed by Nike pro Simon Bairu and was well received by the athletes. The day turned out to be very nice by late-season Portland standards, as the forecasted rain turned into 50 degrees with peeks of sunshine. This was a nice little bonus indeed as the course would stay in relatively good condition up until race time. The rest of the time at Glendoveer was spent talking strategy and conducting interviews with the press. As usual, the Eagles handled the interviews like pros themselves, providing the national reporters with insight to a spectacular season that would culminate with a big race the next day. We finished the afternoon with a bus lunch while heading back to the hotel and then a mandatory team nap for an hour or so. There were no complaints.
Morning came quickly, but everyone slept well. There was a certain calmness about the team that wasn't present during last year's trip. The experience gained from going through all the hype in 2014 was paying off this year. It was all business. The time schedule was in place and being executed from the 6:30 am "shake out" all the way to the 400 meter mark of the race. The team knew where they would be and what they would be doing up until that point. The rest would rely on training and desire. We saw a return of the more typical overcast and drizzle on race day. There had been a light rain overnight and those conditions continued up to race time. The course was soggy but in reasonable condition. Our race introduction was one of the last, which we were pleased about. It put us outside in the elements roughly 13 minutes before race time, which kept us out of the cool and wet conditions until it was time to compete.
The Race
The race plan was well understood by the team and they were determined to execute it. The team would position themselves in two tiers in the first 800 meters of the race. The Torpy's and Max, followed closely by Brandon would be the first tier getting out around 25th to 30th at the 800 meter mark. Then Tommy and Martin would be followed closely by Dylan a bit further back around 50th to 60th place. Coming out of box 23, the boys were calm and prepared when the gun was fired. There was a hard charge to the first left turn at the 400 meter mark and the Eagles executed nearly perfectly. The familiar yellow headbands of Sean and Chris were positioned around 20th place rounding the first turn with Max and Brandon right in tow. Tommy and Skuc were out pretty good as well solidly in the top 60. Dylan would struggle right from the start, coming off of the hamstring injury that kept him out of State and the NXN Midwest Regional. With this ultrafast national caliber field, Dylan found himself in the last 50 runners and it was clear he would have to patiently work his way up if he could find his stride. Approaching the mile mark the Orland Park XC team was perfectly positioned and that was reflected in the scoring as the US #1 Eagles were indeed in first place with 141 points followed closely by Temecula out of California with 152. At race time, Temecula would become the heavy favorite, as they were able to avoid any injuries and were running at top form leading into nationals. Dana Point (CA) was in 4th at 160 and American Fork (Utah) settled into 7th place with 217. But still, as they approached the mile and one half mark, the Eagles were in decent shape. Sean was in about 38th place rounding Simon's curve with Brandon Lukas running right with him in 39th. Chris and Max however were beginning to struggle a bit as they faded back into the mid 60's. The all-important 5th scorer was Martin Skucas running about 90th. We were definitely fading a bit at the two-mile mark but still were in good position to make a run at the podium. Temecula now had a lead with 123 to Orland Park's 159. American Fork was closing with 198 in 5th followed closely by Dana Point with 206. At this point the battle was now for a spot on the podium as Temecula had Spencer Dodds in the top 5 and two more low sticks in the top 25. The Eagles were fading just a bit but were battling hard. The last mile was simply gut check time, and frankly Orland Park XC hung in there pretty tough. Coming through the 2.75 mile marker in 3rd now, it wasn't so much of a fade as it was a few other teams putting in a tremendous push to the finish. Sean Torpy gave it all he had right to the end and with heavy legs caught a spike and went down with about 50 meters to go. He bounced back up and crossed the line in 62nd only losing about 5 places in the spill. Brandon Lukas was amazing finishing in 68th and turning in his second consecutive top 100 finish in the national meet. Chris Torpy had a strong kick as usual and finished in 70th followed by a gutsy performance by Max Lehnhardt in 80th. Martin Skucas wrapped up the scoring in 102nd to bring the Eagles home as the 4th best team in the nation on this day. The team score was 26, 32, 34, 42, 62 for a total of 196. Temecula was too much, healthy and in peak form, scoring 114 points. American Fork made a tremendous 2nd half push to come out of nowhere to finish 2nd with 163. The biggest disappointment for the Eagles would be letting Dana Point slip ahead in the last quarter mile of the race to knock them off the podium with 181 points and a fantastic last ditch effort by the California team to maintain their pre-race ranking of 3rd in the nation.
Here is the video of the race. Here are the official results.
Here is the post race interview.
What a season!! We will never forget the thrills that the Eagles provided as they rolled to the Illinois State Championship in dominant form followed by a Midwest NXN title. To end up the 4th best team in the entire US is an amazing accomplishment. And even more amazing was that these talented and driven band of brothers stood disappointed that they didn't finish higher! But that was their attitude in a nutshell. They expected to win every time they toed the line. They would train hard, be focused and unrelenting, and yet be respectful and humble. They fought everyday to keep obstacles from holding them back from their goals. No matter how good they were, they would try to find a way to be better. They would accept nothing less then being a champion! They would become one in a billion!!