The Etrain 11: It's Basic Math

by Jarrett Felix

I won’t deny the facts. I’m a man from Upper Dublin, Pennsylvania, straight in the heart of District One. I’ve been to the District One Championships for track and field on five occasions while I’ve been to just one other district championship meet of any kind (District 11 and it was more like half of a time). So it’s natural for me to be biased. On the AAA side, District One grabbed 3 of the 4 distance titles. Since 2007, D1 has had 25/36 state champions, roughly 69%. Over that span, District 3 has grabbed 7, D12 has taken 1, D6 has taken 1 and the WPIAL has the remaining 2.

But even though I’m a man that consistently puts faith in numbers and statistics, I also know that they can lie. In fact, I consistently twist statistics in my favor to help prove my point, whatever it may be. There can only be one state champion a season in each event, but there are always a slew of guys who leave without the gold that could have earned it on a different day. In it’s most basic form track is black and white. You win or you lose. You run a time faster or slower than your best. When you add two plus two, you will always get four.

But sometimes we forget that three plus one will also get you to four.

This year, the 1600m was one of the most fascinating events in the state. Jaxson Hoey from Downingtown West claimed the AAA crown in a fantastic finish and followed up his win with a convincing mile at the PA Distance Festival. He was a deserved state champion by any measure. So District One got another tally in the win column and the other districts continued to be overlooked. Two plus two equals four. But I’d like to take a moment to discuss how three plus one equals four, just in case it comes up on the test.

From an early point in their careers, Jeff VanKooten and Mike Kolor showed extraordinary potential as runners. Jeff was the younger brother of Pittsburgh Central Catholic star Scott VanKooten, an excellent and gutsy front runner who placed 7^th at the state cross country meet his senior year. This talent was quickly evident in Jeff as well. After finishing 26^th at Districts in Cross Country during his sophomore season, JVK clicked off an unreal three week stretch. On April 27^th, 2013 Jeff ran 4:39.92, a mark milesplit listed as the fastest of his career to date. A week later at Baldwin, he dropped to 4:34.52. Four days later he dipped to 4:30.62 at WPIAL qualifiers and capped it off with a 4:27.72 mark at the district championships.

Kolor entered Seneca Valley high school after flashes of brilliance in middle school. He had showcased 400m speed of around 53 seconds while in 8^th grade and it was not long before he translated that speed to the distance events, clocking 2:00 and 4:29 at the Baldwin Invitational as just a freshman. His sophomore season continued to show encouraging progress. Indoors he clocked a 4:26.26 mile at his first state championships, placing 14^th. The momentum carried through to a pair of 4:21 miles during the outdoor season as well as a crucial leg on Seneca Valley’s medal worthy 4x800m team.

By the time his Junior season rolled around, it was clear Jeff was ready to take the next step from talented underclassmen to state contender. He claimed two top five spots in early season XC invitationals before hitting his stride brilliantly for the post season: 8^th at Tri-States, 6^th at WPIALs and 15^th at the State Championships. Then, on the outdoor track, he duplicated his unreal stretch run from a year earlier: a 4:27 full mile at Baldwin, a 4:18 in the WPIAL qualifiers, a 4:17 in brutal conditions at districts and then a 4:14.05 PR, placing him third at the state championships. It was the best finish by a WPIAL athlete in the event since TJ Hobart placed second in the 2008 championships.

Both runners were well on their way to a big 2014-2015 season, but neither could know just what obstacles were hiding around the corner. For Kolor, the trouble started early. At the fast Red, White and Blue course, Mike was hoping to open his season on a fast note and possibly challenge the 16 minute mark, but he fell apart during the second part of the race, practically crawling to the finish line. Over the course of September, Kolor’s finishing problems continued despite strong, dedicated work in practice and obvious talent and ability.

At the end of September, it turned out the problem was not simply a mental obstacle: Kolor was diagnosed with severely low iron and ferritin, a measure of how iron is stored. The symptoms matched well to the eye test and Kolor began treatment to raise his iron levels. With this new material having come to light, it became clear that Kolor had been running, essentially, on pure guts for the better part of two years, especially over the longer distances where his low iron levels were more significant. This meant that, after he was recovered, Kolor had the potential to make big strides forward. But the doctor said it would take six months to get Mike’s levels fully elevated, a huge blow while in the heart of a crucial junior season, with Tri-States, WPIALs and States right around the corner.

On the flip side, VanKooten’s XC season began brilliantly. He clocked a 15:50 at RWB and then won back to back invitationals before placing 10^th at the always loaded Carlisle Invitational. He added one more gold at his home invite, clocking yet another sub 16, before an unfortunate fall at the Slipper Rock Invitational broke his near perfect record. But it did more than just cost him the race. With his momentum and health slipping, VanKooten managed a disappointing 10^th at Tri-States before disaster struck at WPIALs: he placed 28^th and missed a spot to states by just 4 seconds. After a month of races that indicated to many that Jeff was on the verge of a massive XC states race, VanKooten was suddenly watching from the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Kolor continued on with his season as he continued to try and raise his iron levels. With his body improving, Kolor began to climb into some elite company. He finished 5^th at WPIALs and then, as a member of the etrain fantasy XC team, pulled out an impressive 23^rd place finish at the state championships, earning his first individual state medal. After an indoor season that included another individual state medal in the mile, Kolor began his outdoor season, six months into his iron deficiency treatment.

On April 17^th, a motivated Jeff VanKooten and a healthy Mike Kolor began their outdoor seaons in earnest at the Butler Invitational. The two athletes stole the show as VanKooten blasted a 4:17.78 for the win in the 1600m while Kolor gave 1:50 man Elias Graca all he could handle in the 800m, running a PR of 1:55.02. A week later at the Mars Invitational Kolor officially arrived with a 4:16.17 dominating victory at 1600m and his picture on the cover of the Penntrack home page. The two WPIAL standouts were rapidly building a case as state title favorites.

Next on the schedule was the prestigious Baldwin Invitational, a race at which both men had set PRs in the past. The magic of racing under the lights coupled with top notch fields tended to bring out the best in the athletes. The mile field was setting up to be legendary with Kolor and VanKooten highlighting the field with the fastest PRs when the race began. The two AAA title contenders got out well and the pace was strong, but then Domenic Peretta took over. Kolor and VanKooten battled tough to keep up to the herculean pace set out by the Beaver Falls Junior and they were rewarded for their efforts with massive PRs: 4:13.69 for VanKooten and 4:14.69 for Kolor for a full mile. On the same night as the incredibly popular Henderson Invitational in District One, the WPIAL had held his own and put the state on alert.

VanKooten and Kolor were now budding rivals as the field began to take shape for the 2015 WPIAL track and field championships. Both men qualified easily in the 1600m while Kolor added a blazing 1:54 800m for good measure. Things were set for an excellent race on May 14^th. According to Evan Hatton, Kolor and VanKooten went through 800m at districts in about 2:10, a pace that is quite comfortable for two accomplished runners such as these. But then things started to crank up. Running down near 60 seconds for the next two laps VanKooten and Kolor flew around the track, well clear of everyone else in the field. As they hit the line, VanKooten had edged out Kolor in a narrow battle that many thought could have been a state title preview. The clock reflected it: 4:10.72 for VanKooten and 4:11.21 for Kolor. The marks would have won states 8 of the previous 10 years and no other district winners had provided marks within the realm of these two.

As Shippensburg approached, both Kolor and VanKooten were prepared to take a shot at the win. With Carlisle’s Zach Brehm entering the 3200m, the door was open for JVK. He was the top returner behind Brehm and had the fastest season best of the group. He was also a senior, racing for likely the final time in his high school career. Both Kolor and VanKooten navigated their preliminary heats well and earned a spot on the starting line. For the most part, the final shaped out as expected with Brehm and District One champ Jaxson Hoey both qualifying for Saturday’s final with relative ease.

After a truly legendary 3200m started the day, the crowd was on the edge of it’s seat for the 1600m. Many wanted to see what Brehm had left in the tank, but also fans were curious who would end up the champion in such a wide open field. After the gun, the first 200m was quite quick, but things rapidly slowed to a classic championship crawl. The pace cycled through a couple runners before VanKooten finally felt compelled to take over. At districts, he had hammered home a final 800m close to 2 minutes flat that had earned him gold. The question became would it work again.

As the surge was made, the field separated out into a group of four leaders. Brehm was spent from the 3200m, leaving the defending champion out of the mix. Instead it was VanKooten, Jaxson Hoey, Sam Webb from Pennsbury and Kolor. The four continued to battle around the track through the bell. On the backstretch, Hoey began to make his move to the front. Feeling strong, he took command of the race and began to power away.

Kolor, who had PRed each of the previous three weeks in the mile and added a couple 800m PRs, was spent and fell from the group first. By the time the group hit the final straightaway, VanKooten seemed to be the only one with any shot at besting Hoey. He rallied hard for the final 50m as Jaxson started to tie. He fought violently through the line, pressing for his last chance at gold. At the tape he leaned hard enough to question the winner for a brief moment before the times flashed: Hoey 4:11.47-VanKooten 4:11.53. A little over a week later in the Meet of Champions Mile, it would be Kolor’s turn to try and run down Hoey in the final 50m, but he too would come up just short, running 4:12.37 to Hoey’s  4:12.18. Using milesplit converters, VanKooten, Hoey and Kolor are currently ranked 26^th, 26^th and 28^th in state history for the 1600m run All Time. Both Hoey and Kolor are rising Seniors.

Each of these three runners had truly special seasons. For VanKooten, he overcame a heartbreaking finish to his cross country career and became a truly elite miler and WPIAL meet record holder. For Kolor, he fought through his iron deficiency and came out stronger on the other side, dropping roughly 10 seconds in the 1600m and grabbing three individual state medals. And Hoey, who overcame his own injury during cross country to rehab and return to form at the perfect time for a state title run. The mark of a truly great runner is not how he handles the easy times, it is how he handles the difficult times.

Sometimes the answer is not as simple as addition. Maybe you have to do some multiplication or division or even calculus. But as long as you get to four, you deserve to be recognized for getting the correct answer. And these guys are on their way to acing the course.

 

Editors Note: For those wondering, I purposely focused on Mike and Jeff rather than Jaxson in this article, because Jaxson will be involved in another one later on and I thought it seemed wise not to double up. Just clarifying so it doesn’t seem like he got snubbed.