No disrepect to Peter Callahan. He really came of age, but Parker Thompson is head and shoulders above him. 45 minutes earlier Thompson pushed out a 1:55 800m to win the small class title in Illinois. To put this in perspective, an 800/1600m double is so rare in Illinois at the Illinois State meet(1 time in the last 15 years), the larger class rarely has anyone attempt it anymore. I know Callahan ran leadoff for his teams 4x8, but with 2x the rest period that Thompson had. The other factor that no one takes a look at is Callahan while in the Chicago area has had opportunities to run against top talent in the state while Thompson from would be able to get that from 3 kids in a 90 mile radius of 1:55 800m or 4:20 1600m talent. If Vern wants to talk about training, let him talk to Parker Thompson, because how do you get a 4:20 miler and 1:55 1/2’s out of someone whose best competition runs 4:40’s and 2:05’s? The year before, Thompson won the 1600m after finishing 2nd in the 800m.
I’ll look forward to the battle next year, but Thompson will likely win both next year and solidify his place in Illinois State Meet history, as someone who did the double, and won 2 800m and 2 1600m titles.
