Former Wheeling teammate in Beijing to watch Torres
At MacArthur Junior High and Wheeling High School, he was known as "George" and he ran like the wind. They always knew he was destined for greatness.
Today, the son of Mexican immigrants goes by the name his mother gave him, Jorge. Today, Jorge Torres will run like the wind for the U.S. Olympic team in the 10,000-meter race at Beijing National Stadium.
Unbeknownst to him, however, someone who remembers him from the days when he Anglicized his name will be in the stands, cheering him on.
Bryan Moon of Chicago purchased tickets to Beijing in early July, soon after he heard that Torres had earned a spot on the U.S. team.
A ranked professional high stakes poker player who travels all over the world to compete, Moon is a native of Wheeling who ran with Torres and his twin brother, Edwardo, in the Prospect Heights Running Club under coach Greg Fedyski and later on the 1998 state Class AA champion Wheeling High School cross country team coached by Mark Saylor.
Moon finished 81st in the state meet as a sophomore and 129th as a junior on the team that clinched the state championship.
"Jorge was always the top runner on every team," Moon recalled. "He was a year older than me, but I ran with him from fifth grade until he graduated from high school in 1999."
Torres always dreamed of making the 2008 Olympics, Moon said, and no one really doubted him, especially after he won the individual state cross country meet three years in a row and went on to win the NCAA championship for the University of Colorado at Boulder.
"When I heard that he made the Olympic team, I made arrangements for a hotel, airplane ticket and tickets to his event, one other track event and several men's basketball games," Moon recounted.
He flew out Tuesday.
"I thought it would be cool to see someone I ran with starting in the fifth grade compete in the Olympics and I've never been to China so I thought, why not?" he said before he departed.
Moon obtained a VIP pass to Torres' event so he is hoping that he will be able to get close enough to see and possibly speak with his old teammate, but admitted that he has no idea what his access will be.
"I haven't seen him since the spring of 1999 and have only talked to him on Facebook," Moon said.
After graduation from Wheeling High School, while Torres was running for the University of Colorado, Moon attended Harper College, where he was an All-American runner.
"But I discovered that I am better at poker than I was at running," Moon quipped. "So now I play poker for a living.
"I am a spontaneous person. I like to do a lot of unusual things and since I am a poker player, I don't have to report to anyone," he said. "So my friends are not at all surprised that I decided to go to China for eight or nine days to watch Jorge run in the Olympics."