The 1976 2-Mile Relay Race Was A Peak Moment In The History Of The Illinois State Meet

By Eric Hofmann for DyeStat

David Knoop did not need long to understand why the return trip to Charleston, Illinois had been worthwhile.

A half century had passed since he competed with the New Trier East track team at the state meet in the first year of the two-mile relay (4x880 yards).  Yet when he arrived Friday evening at a hotel conference room, where former athletes and coaches from across the country had gathered on the eve of the 2026 state meet finals, the realization struck: "Now I know I'm not the only one who has thought about this for 50 years," Knoop said.

Quite a statement about a race completed in less than eight minutes.

The reunion marked the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Illinois boys state track meet, commemorating the historic two-mile relay won by Thornton Township High School in 7:38.0, one of the fastest American high school times ever, and recognized as a national federation record at the time.

Lyons Township, Rockford East, Bloom Township, Evanston Township and Thornwood followed, all under the previous national record. Champaign Central and New Trier East finished seventh and eighth in times that would have won or contended for state championships in most subsequent years.  Students of the sport have talked about the story for years.

The reunion exemplified how the meaning of the race to its participants was not confined to the results sheet.

The event on May 29, 2026 was spearheaded by Bob Nicolls of Lyons and Jeff Small of Bloom.  Throughout Friday evening, expressions of gratitude were directed to Nicolls, who organized the venue, accommodations, food, commemorative t-shirts and more.

Each time, he graciously deflected credit, saying it was all Jeff’s idea. Nicolls’ extraordinary efforts included flying from Colorado, via a stop in Florida, to pick up his old coach Jim Kilbreth and wife Eileen in South Carolina to accompany them for the trip to downstate Illinois.

The Kilbreths’ attendance was invaluable to the feeling in the room.  Now 81, Jim coached the Lyons relay team that placed second in the historic race.  Jim brought his wife Eileen into the coaching world with him, and they are now happily retired from storied careers each.

Among the storytelling, the Kilbreths commented on their 62 years of marriage, fitting nicely into themes of the weekend of strength, endurance, loyalty and memory.

The reunion of the historic 1976 two-mile relay is unique.  In the sport of track and field, there are so many event disciplines, athletes, and competitions.  Essentially all the time marks a milestone anniversary of something major – championships, records, individual and team accomplishments.

The 1976 two-mile relay sets itself apart as a singular event for which the experience seems valued perhaps as highly by the eight-place team as the victors.  Former rivals are as eager in 2026 to reminisce with each other as they are to reconnect with their old teammates.

Representatives of six of the participating teams attended, including two complete four-man relay rosters, along with two of the coaches.

In addition to Kilbreth, Champaign Central coach Dike Stirrett was there with his full team.

Thornton, first across the line in 1976, was represented by Don White, Steve Ibarra and Bill Moran from its winning relay team. 

Other attendees included members of the broader track team rosters of the schools involved and great individual runners of the era.

Mitch Johnston brought film from his personal collection, much of it showing races from the 1976 season. Johnston was a leader of the powerhouse Thornton squad but was unable to compete in the 1976 state meet due to injury. He is regarded as every bit as valuable a teammate as those who were on the track that day. 

Mark Lenke of Bloom stopped for pies from an Amish store on the way in to supplement the Monical’s Pizza dinner supplied by Nicolls.  

The historic relay was contested on May 29, 1976, exactly 50 years prior to the day the men came together in the hotel conference room.

It was the first year the two-mile relay appeared on the Illinois state meet program, a fact that helped create the conditions for the blazing times. Various teams all thought they could win it, loading the event with their best half-milers and pulling other strong athletes up or down in distance. For example, Thornton’s anchor Don White previously was most strongly credentialed in the quarter mile, while teammate Bill Moran was geared more for the two-mile.  

Stirrett, the Champaign Central coach, remembered his boys running around 7:49 at the district meet and entering state with confidence. He had told his head coach, to skeptical reception earlier in the year, that he thought the team could run 7:45 in May.

In the state final, they recorded 7:43.6, good for seventh.

Stirrett recalled looking at his stopwatch during the race and thinking the time could not be right – everyone was just going too fast.  His crew was exhausted when he approached them after, and disappointed in their place.

Stirrett said, "For God's sake, guys, can't you do any better than that?"

After getting glum looks and a “Sorry, Coach” in return, he surprised them by gleefully announcing the time and putting the spring back in their steps.  For Stirrett, the significance of the race remains undiminished over a half century.

"The term great is so commonly used now; the G.O.A.T." he said, "these things get watered down.”  He emphasized “this is the greatest two-mile relay race ever, and 50 years later it still is."

Other reunion speeches bolstered that sentiment. 

Each had its own version of disbelief. Darrell Kooy, the sole representative from Thornwood, recalled the announcement of the new event to be held at the state meet. He did not initially think Thornwood a realistic contender, but they put up strong times week after week throughout the season alongside conference foes Bloom and Thornton, all from Chicago’s south suburbs.

By the time state came around, Thornwood athletes confidently applied athletic tape to the exterior of their hotel room door displaying the prediction "T-Wood 7:40 two-mile relay."

Kooy enjoys recounting the story of his high school state meet – he tells people he ran on a two-mile relay team that broke the national record, then adds “unfortunately, so did the five teams that finished ahead of us.”

New Trier East experienced something similar.

David Waitley, a runner on that team, noted at the reunion that New Trier ran 7:44, earning them only eighth.

His research in the years since turned up the fact that the same time would have won the state championship in thirty-seven of the forty-nine years since and would never have been worse than fourth.

Modern runners are accustomed to constant real-time splits and digital displays. 

In 1976, the athletes had less information. They knew who was near them and whether they were moving up or losing ground. They did not always know how fast they were going. 

Evanston led for much of the early going. Moran, running the second leg for Thornton, recalled the field "collapsed like an accordion," bringing a high number of teams unusually close in the late stages for a race of this distance.

Moran himself ran the fastest quarter mile of his life on the first of his two laps. Charlie White, older brother of Don and a state champion himself, recalls watching from the stands and saying to his other brother “do you realize how fast they're going?”  

Thornton’s runners experienced disappointment in the previous cross country season.

After entering fall as a favorite to contend, they missed the state podium completely and had to watch archrival Bloom stand atop for the second consecutive year.

As Don White took the baton in sixth place as the anchor of his two-mile relay team at state, he thought "we're choking again. I can't believe it."

Angry, he ripped the baton from Mike Clark's hand and unleashed with a first quarter mile in 51.7 seconds.  After the bell, White hung on for a 1:49.5 half mile, raising his arms at the tape ahead of Dave Franson, who closed in 1:51.0 for Lyons. 

Those times would contend to win the individual two-lap event in most years.

Fifty years later, the relay runners still ponder what confluence of events led to their great performances coming all at once.

There was the intrigue of a new event. Local rivalries fueled competition – Thornton, Bloom, and Thornwood in the south suburbs; New Trier and Evanston regularly pushing each other on the North Shore.

Bloom’s Mark Lenke considered the circumstances that created the psyche surrounding the event and even, perhaps jokingly, speculated about there being something in the water - his hometown of Chicago Heights had just recently switched to acquiring theirs from Lake Michigan.

Lenke also returned several times to a workout from the summer of 1975, when he traveled to Europe with other athletes who would go on to take part in the famous relay.

One day, they were assigned a session of 100 x 100-yard repetitions, with additional mileage inserted between sets – the kind of training that holds legendary status when recounted decades later. These athletes came from a time of high intensity training, heavy racing schedules, and a no-nonsense approach.

Training was not as technical as it is today, with little science or nutritional guidance. Fitness came simply from running, racing, and surviving.  

Bob Schafer of Lyons said people ask him, “why was it so fast?”

He says “this being the first year it was ever run, we looked at our teams, and all of us thought we were supposed to win.  There were no mental barriers in terms of how we were racing and what we were supposed to do.  If you got the baton and you weren’t in first, you kind of thought ‘what’s going on?’”

David Knoop, the New Trier runner, reflected on one of the reunion’s central themes.

"Culture builds success," he said.

"We laid those bricks," Knoop said. "Now people are probably going to put bricks on top of that."

David Waitley spoke of coach Robert Antus, an English teacher whose passion for track left a lasting mark. Waitley recalled the coach knowing everyone’s personal times and caring not necessarily where they placed, but whether they improved and gave their best efforts.

His workouts also had a memorable psychological element. Rather than tell athletes the entire workout, Antus would reveal only one segment at a time. When they asked how much more remained, he would answer with something to the tune of "just one more thing."

Bloom athletes spoke of their revered coach, too. Jeff Small remembered Steve Miller, who died on Father's Day last year, as "a father to so many great people and athletes over the years."

Having come up short in the race for team points in the 1976 state meet, Small wondered out loud about what might have been if a few more points could have been scraped together in various events, but expressed respect for Thornton, saying that if Bloom could not win the relay, he was happy Thornton did.

Small himself went on to a long coaching career, primarily at the college level in South Carolina and West Virginia, during which time he built a professional relationship with Kilbreth, the former Lyons coach.

Other coaches, teammates and friends were remembered throughout the evening such as George Coffey, the Lyons leadoff runner and later a firefighter, who died in 2023. His old teammate Dave Franson specifically spoke in honor of “the many coaches and runners who unfortunately left us a little too early, but we’re still thinking about them as well.”

The runners of 1976 branched out into many walks of life.

They pursued fulfilling careers in every region of the country as physicians, attorneys, educators, coaches, economists, roofers, business owners, firefighters and more.  

Bill Moran told one of the best stories of how the race stayed with him throughout his life.

Years after Thornton's championship, Moran, as an attorney, argued a case before the United States Supreme Court. 

Calling him to stand before the imposing presence of Justices William Rehnquist, Thurgood Marshall, Sandra Day O'Connor, and the rest, the Chief Justice said “Mr. Moran, you have the podium.”

At that instant, in his high-pressure moment, Moran’s thoughts went back to the track in 1976.

He told himself he faced pressure before, rose to the occasion then, and could do it now.  The confidence earned as a 15-year-old runner helped him perform as a lawyer in the country’s highest court.

“That race was a symbol of everything good that has happened in my life,” Moran said.

On Saturday morning, May 30, the runners of the historic 1976 two-mile relay attended this year’s state meet at Eastern Illinois University.

Some had been regular attendees over the years, but for many, it was their first return trip as spectators. In the place where they cemented permanent ties, they spent a day of camaraderie cheering on today’s athletes.

Kilbreth, at 81, made his way up the concrete steps to sit on bleachers in the sun.  The stadium announcer gave the group special recognition during this year’s edition of the 4x800m relay, the modern eight lap race.

New Trier was the only one of the 1976 event finalists to earn a place in this year’s field. 

The alumni rooted for their alma mater but were also pleased to see their own school record remain intact.

Over the years, track surfaces and shoes improved, training methods changed, and races became available for online streaming.

Distance measurement switched from imperial to metric.

The essence of the sport, and a relay event in particular, remained - four runners, one baton, and a shared experience.

 While some of the 1976 times have been pushed down on the state all-time list (Thornton’s winning time remains superior to the state record 4x800m relay with distance conversion considered), the reunion showed the deeper legacy of the 1976 race is permanently secure.

Men in their late 60s traveled across the country to reminisce about competition, splits, workouts, and friendship.

Knoop arrived wondering whether anyone else had thought about it for 50 years.

By the end of the weekend, he had his answer.