Grant Fisher became the 7th prep to break 4:00 for the mile (Andrew Everett photo)
The first leg of the Illinois post-state meet races started off Thursday evening in beautiful but muggy St. Louis for the Nike sponsored Festival of Miles. Actually, it was an oxymoron if you also take in account that the climes were a downright gorgeous 73 degrees when the first set of races jumped off. The University of St. Louis High School has an awesome campus that could be confused with their big sibling St. Louis University which is down the street.
The trek to the Gateway to the West was definitely worth the drive or airplane ride on an evening that was magical on many fronts. Aside from the professional athletes draw there was an entertainment value for the whole family that included music, a mascot race, grade school/middle school miles, 800m races, and of course Grant Fisher. Fisher, the charismatic senior from Grant Blanc MI, was the main draw in the house to break 4:00. His story was well chronicled by MileSplit National editor Joanna Gretchel. All in all this is what is what makes track and field such a great sport and more what it needs.
Sandburg junior standout Sean Torpy wins the Magnificent elite high school mile in 4:18.35 (Colin Boyle photo)
The second leg of the "Miles Gone Crazy tour" was the Inaugural Magnificent Miles hosted by St. Ignatius High School in downtown Chicago. In a direct contrast just 24 hours in St. Louis, it was a chilly 54 degrees (depending on who you talked to or what weather app you had handy). St. Iggy coach Ed Ernst and his staff put on a great show that featured 13 races- all mile races ranging from grade school to coaches to the professional ranks. Although their wasn't a sub- 4:00 among any of the featured races, it was a good show and the hearty atmosphere proved that Chicago can put on a good show. Perhaps the massive City of Chicago bureaucracy can pitch in next year and aid a great cause. Come on Mayor Rahm Emmanuel we know you have the coffers to do it....
Chocolate Milk Mile Time! (Tony Jones photo)
Chocolate Milk Mile 2015-
As the track season comes to a close, a new opportunity arises for all aspiring milk milers. Last year in early December, Hinsdale Central and Neuqua Valley got together to race in the first semi-annual Chocolate Milk Mile and the tradition is set to continue this spring
The Event
June 6th, 2015 @ Hinsdale Central High School Track
5 PM start of “Open Race”
15 min after the end of that, Championship race
Entry fee of 2 dollars for individuals and 10 per team to cover milk and other expenses
Participants Limited to 4 teams: Neuqua Valley, Hinsdale Central, Downers Grove North, and Sandburg
Individuals may contact the twitter account @chocomilk1609 by direct message or send an email to Jake to request entry into the meet
Open race is allowed unlimited entries as long as that means less than 40
If you would like to enter, notify Jake via the twitter account or his personal email on the bottom of the document
Entries will be first come first serve
The championship race will consist of up to 8 top individuals and up to the top 10 from each of the four teams
The alley assignments will be as follows:
Alley 1: Neuqua Valley High School and 1 and 5 seed individuals
Alley 2: Hinsdale Central High School and 2 and 6 seed individuals
Alley 3: Downers Grove North High School and 3 and 7 seed individuals
Alley 4: Carl Sandburg High School and 4 and 8 seed individuals
Rules
Official rules will be in accordance with the milk mile amendment of the beermile.com rules - These rules must be read by each participant prior to the race http://www.beermile.com/rules
The first milk will be consumed in the first 9 meters of each individual alley and the following three will be consumed in the designated milk zone after each lap
Each participant is required to tilt the cup over his head to ensure that the milk has been completely consumed
As of now there is a possibility of FAT timing at the milk mile, but in the absence of that, there will be a finish line camera and an accurate stopwatch used for times
Also, all 4 milk chugs will be viewed on camera as to ensure no cheating by way of not finishing one's milk
Inquiries
Any questions or concerns should be addressed to either the Twitter account @chocomilk1609 by direct message or in an email to Jake at mceneaney_jake@yahoo.com
Meet the teams:
Sandburg-
Tom Brennan
Max Lehnhardt
Greg Burzinski
Ben Cachares
Brendan Duffy
Mark diamond
Hinsdale Central-
Christopher Brenk
Matt Tobia
Ben Schneiders (Fro guy)
Yuji Cusick
Andrew Irvine
Zach Sayre
Michael Gates (Two lap Proviso West Champ)
Zach Sayre (Drinks 1.5 Gallons Oberweis per week)
Sam Fathizadeh
Ethan Planson
Jacob Belgrad (Top returner)
Downers North-
Jack Diamond
Zac Christensen
Andrew Marek
Donny Knapp
Alec Danner
Robby Prescott
Ryan Birkmeier
Zach McGinnis
Ryan Clevenger (Clev watching, not racing)
Neuqua Valley-
Jake McEneaney
Isaiah Robinson
Aidan Livingston
Connor Horn
Caleb Ferguson
Dominic Dina
Austin Kinne
Patrick Wolak
Matt Milostan