Wheeling Park senior Torrence Walker is fast. No, not just fast. But FAST.
How fast you say? Let’s examine.
Walker is coming off a momentous performance at the OVAC Track and Field Championship on Saturday.
He won both the open 100 and 200 meter dashes and helped his Wheeling Park teammates to a runner-up team title by running a leg on the Patriots’ winning 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams.
He was named, no, he earned the Most Outstanding Athlete Award on the men’s side. His most memorable moment was his first of the afternoon, when Walker ran a PR time of 10.56 in the 100 for conference gold.
Keep in mind, that time came in sub 50-degree weather, with wind chill.
That by itself is impressive, but to truly appreciate just how special what Walker did Saturday is, you have to dig a little deeper.
For starters, this is still all relatively new to Walker. Yes, his junior year was wiped because of the pandemic. Anyone present athlete can sing that story. But Walker is still relatively new to spring, only getting serious his sophomore year?
His freshman season? No track. Basketball was his focus.
“I had hoop dreams,” Walker admitted. “Before I started track, I played on a travel basketball team, and I thought I was going to go far in basketball until after my sophomore year.
“I decided to give it up for indoor track.”
Walker was also a key member of the Park football team. But it was during his sophomore year, on the oval, where his true potential began to emerge. Even still, Park coach Chris Dunaway didn’t know he could run a sub 10.6.
“I’ll be honest, I thought he was a 10.7 guy,” Dunaway said. “We set goals of 10.7 and 21.7 (in the 200) and well, he shattered both of those. Without a junior year, we weren’t sure where he was at.”
Inside the Numbers
Walker’s 10.56 is by far the top mark in West Virginia this season. He’s the only Class AAA runner to run sub-11 seconds this season. But take it a step further. The winning time at the Division II Mountain East championships? That would be a 10.84. How about the Presidents’ Athletic Conference? A bit quicker at 10.67.
Walker’s time was four hundredths of a second off the OVAC all-time record of 10.52, set by Weir’s Sebastian Spencer? And where can you find Spencer right now? Running track at Division I North Carolina.
So not only is Walker fast; he’s Power-5 conference level fast.
The last time anyone bested Walker’s PR in the 100 in AAA was 2002, when Philip Barbour’s Scott Mayle clocked a 10.45.
Races are won on the track and in the elements, but on paper, Walker’s times are far quicker in both events than his likely state competition. There hasn’t been dominance in both events like that on the AAA level since 2007 when Woodrow Wilson’s Marquel Ali’s top times were 10.66 and 21.66 his junior year.
The last time anyone bested Walker’s PR in the 100 in AAA was 2002, when Philip Barbour’s Scott Mayle clocked a 10.45.
While his 100 time is eye-popping, it’s also the event even casual track fans know. It’s his 200 that that’s truly impressive. He didn’t PR at the OVAC meet, instead running a 22.03. He PR’d a few days earlier in the qualifying round with a 21.42.
That’s a full second faster than the next top time in Class AAA from South Charleston’s Bruce Williams (22.47). And again, that time far eclipses the winning 200 time from the MEC championship meet.
“Most people know 100 times, but it’s that 200 time that’s more impressive,” Dunaway said. “It’s like he’s running back to back 10.7s. People know 10.5 is flying (in the 100), but when you break it down for them, they start to get it.”
It’s also the race Walker happens to like better. He feels it takes better advantage his strengths as a sprinter.
“I like the 200 a lot better,” he admitted. “I’m a really strong finisher. My start isn’t the best, but I always finish strong, and the 200 being a longer race, it allows me more time.”
The Next Level?
Walker’s focus is squarely on the next meet and improving for when the West Virginia high school track postseason gets under way in a few weeks.
As a sophomore, he finished third at the state meet in the 200, helped the Park 4×100 team to a gold medal and a silver in the 4×200, a bronze in the 4×400.
He noted that the Patriots lineup may shift multiple times between now and the regional meet. There’s a possibility he may run the open 400 again. He may run the 4×400.
“I ran the 4×4 at the state meet as a sophomore; I have a love-hate relationship with the 400,” Walker said with a laugh. “I’m good at it; it’s just, I know once I’m done running it, I’m going to drop. But I may be running it somewhere toward the end of the year.
“Whatever is best for the team so we have a better chance of winning, I’m ready.”
Park has two high-level sprinters set to return, one from a minor injury that caused him to miss the OVAC meet. The other will be seeing his first action of the season after recovering from an injury during basketball season.
“I’m not committed to any lineup as we’re still a month away. But the 400 will be a big conversation,” Dunaway said.
But what about after high school. Given his times, teams should be beating down his door. Some are finally starting to knock more aggressively, but the big difference between Weir’s Spencer and Walker, is that while Spencer missed his senior season because of COVID, he had his junior body of work to show recruiters.
Walker’s last ran in high school as a sophomore, and while the potential was there, this times paled in comparison to this season. Without that junior season to improve and impress colleges, recruiters have been a little slow to the party.
“We’ve talked about it, and I told him that ‘it’s not your fault,’” Dunaway said. “Spencer has the luxury of running as a juniors, and he had offers coming in December and January of his senior year. Plus it’s a lot different conversation when you run 22 as a sophomore, and we say we think he can run a 21.42 as opposed to actually having run it already.
“Spencer had concrete times to show. But he’s starting to get more interested, and we’ll see how it plays out. But because it’s so late, when the offers come in, he’s going to have to make a rapid decision.”
Dunaway noted Division II Ashland, the defending D-II champion, has been heavily interested in him for a while. Recently, Division I Pitt started making serious inquiries. As the tape of Walker’s exploits last week makes the rounds, more are sure to follow.
But one thing Dunaway wanted to impart to whichever school is lucky enough to land Walker, is it’s not just about the type of athlete they are recruiting, but the young man behind the speed that’s just as valuable.
“He is as nice of a kid as he is talented. I’m proud to be his coach,” Dunaway said. “More so than just what he does on the track, it’s what he does for his teammates. He is always working to help the younger kids. It’s the stuff that he does that no one sees, the love they have for him. He’s always working to help his teammates.”
